The FTSE 100 index closed up 5.3 points today at 4,413.4 after UK stocks rose paced by Barclays and Reed Elsevier Group.
As widely expected, the Bank of England increased interest rates by another quarter-point to 4.75%, in hopes it would dampen accelerating inflation. Barclays rose 10p to 480p after the bank announced net income increased 24% to a record £1.72bn. Friends Provident also gained half a penny to 135.5p after saying first-half profit rose 25%. Reed Elsevier, publisher of the Lancet and other scientific journals, jumped 7.5p to 483.5p. Water companies led today’s gains Severn Trent rose 15.5p to 811.5p, and United Utilities added 17.5p to 528p. Anglo American rose 6p to 1,192p as t...
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