FTSE 100 Edges Higher After Inflation Data

U.K. stocks edged higher on Wednesday and the pound sterling held steady despite new data showing that U.K. inflation rose to an eight-month high in November.

The consumer price index posted an annual growth of 2.6 percent in November, up from 2.3 percent in October.

Core inflation, excluding prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, advanced to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent.

The data supported expectations that the Bank of England will hold interest rates at its final meeting of the year on Thursday.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 26 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8,221 after losing 0.8 percent the previous day.

Kingfisher, a home improvement company, rose about 1 percent after selling its Brico Dépôt Romania business to Altex Romania for €70m.

Character Group, a toys, games, and giftware company, rallied 3 percent after posting year-end results in line with expectations.

Hardide, a provider of tungsten carbide coatings to engineering components, jumped 29 percent after it secured a 10-year deal for coating aerospace cargo door components.