FTSE 100 Rallies On BoE Rate-cut Bets
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks rose sharply on Friday while the British pound weakened against other major currencies after data showed British retail sales declined unexpectedly in December on falling food store sales.
Retail sales volume decreased 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in December, in contrast to the revised 0.1 percent increase in November and confounding expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales grew 3.6 percent, weaker than forecast of 4.2 percent. The data added to expectations for a Bank of England interest rate cut next month.
The benchmark FTSE 100 rallied 1 percent to 8,475 after gaining 1.1 percent the previous day.
Glencore jumped nearly 3 percent and Rio Tinto added 1.5 percent after reports emerged that both held talks last year about combining part or all of their businesses.
AstraZeneca rose about 1 percent. The pharmaceutical giant said that the FDA approved its drug Calquence (acalabrutinib) to treat previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) in adults who cannot have a stem cell transplant.
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