FTSE 100 Gains On Earnings

U.K. stocks edged up slightly on Thursday after a string of upbeat corporate earnings.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 22 points, or 0.3 percent, at 7,650 after losing 0.7 percent on Wednesday.

Drug maker AstraZeneca fell 2.3 percent after reporting lower-than-expected profit.

Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever rallied 3 percent after launching a 1.5-billion-euro ($1.6 billion) share buyback.

Catering group Compass Group surged 4 percent after it reported an 11.7 percent jump in Q1 organic revenue and backed its FY24 outlook.

Energy group SSE lost 2 percent despite reaffirming its FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.

British American Tobacco jumped 7 percent after an announcement that it plans to sell some of its stake in India’s cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate ITC.

Anglo American rallied 2.3 percent. The miner reported a 24 percent rise in copper production last year to 826000 metric tons.

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