By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks held onto gains in midday
trade Thursday, after the Bank of England stood pat and made no
changes to its monetary policy, while Aggreko PLC rallied after a
well-received earnings report.
The FTSE 100 index traded 0.4% higher at 6,450.16, climbing back
from a 0.1% decline on Wednesday.
The index stayed higher after BOE kept its key interest rate a
at a record low of 0.5% and made no changes to its asset-purchase
program, as widely expected. See: Bank of England holds fire, but
for how long?
"Going forward, further QE remains possible, however, we think a
rate cut is unlikely, given the likely squeeze on lenders margins
and the detrimental effect on money markets," said Ian Kernohan,
economist at Royal London Asset Management, in a note.
Among notable movers in London, shares of temporary-power
provider Aggreko jumped 14%, after the firm reported a rise in
full-year pretax profit and affirmed the outlook for 2013. See:
Aggreko '12 year pretax net up; outlook affirmed
IMI PLC shares picked up 5.4%. The engineering group declared an
8% increase in the full-year dividend and said it plans to buy back
175 million pounds ($263.64 million) of its stock over the next 12
months. See: IMI '12 pretax net up; payout lifted; buyback set
Global asset-management company Schroders PLC gained 1.6%, as it
raised dividends for the full year to 43 pence from 39 pence in
2011. It also posted a decline in revenue and pretax profit. See:
Schroders '12 pretax profit off 12%; dividend up
On a more downbeat note, Aviva PLC slumped 12%. The firm
reported a total loss after tax of GBP3.05 billion and cut its
full-year dividend to 19 pence from 26 pence. See: Aviva '12
operating net off 10%; dividend reduced
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