U.K. stocks advanced on Wednesday despite the latest manufacturing and service sector readings coming in below expectations.
The manufacturing PMI fell from 45.3 to 41.5 in August, hitting a 39-month low, while the services PMI fell from 51.5 to 48.7, touching a 7-month low.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 46 points, or 0.6 percent, at 7,317 after closing 0.2 percent higher on Tuesday.
In corporate news, GSK rose about 1 percent after reporting significant positive findings from its first efficacy trial of the ‘Shingrix’ shingles vaccine in China.
Cohort’s, an aerospace defense company, jumped over 4 percent after its unit Systems Engineering & Assessment secured a contract worth 17.5 million pounds from a U.K. customer.
Oil & gas company Ithaca Energy fell nearly 2 percent after posting a drop in first-half attributable profit and revenue.
Market Analysis
FTSE 100 Gains Despite Weak PMI Data
2023-08-23 09:04:09
