By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks posted modest gains on
Thursday, with banks and resource firms pushing higher, after the
Bank of England made no changes to its monetary policy.
The FTSE 100 index closed 0.2% higher at 6,439.16, rebounding
from a 0.1% decline on Wednesday.
The index stayed higher after the Bank of England kept its key
interest rate 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?
Additionally, the European Central Bank kept its key lending
rate on hold at 0.75%.
"Going forward, further QE [from the BOE] 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, an economist at Royal London Asset Management,
in a note.
Among notable movers in London, shares of temporary-power
provider Aggreko jumped 10%, after the firm reported a rise in
full-year pretax profit and affirmed its outlook for 2013. See:
Aggreko '12 year pretax net up; outlook affirmed
IMI PLC shares rallied 4.5%. The engineering group declared an
8% increase in its 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 2.5%, 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
Resource firms were also on the rise as most commodity prices
moved higher. Shares of oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) rose
0.4%, while heavyweight miner Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gained 2.4%. See:
Oil futures head for highest level of month and See: Gold up as
dollar slips, but off high after Draghi
Among banks putting in positive performances, Barclays PLC (BCS)
gained 2.4%, HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) rose 0.6% and Standard
Chartered PLC climbed 0.4%.
On a more downbeat note, Aviva PLC slumped 13%. 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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