London stocks rise as shrinking economy fuels rate-cut hopes

Close Brothers Group dropped 12.0%, as the lender said it would not pay dividends for the current financial year. RELX added 2.4% after the information-and-analytics group said it expected to see another strong performance this year, as it reported 13% growth in adjusted operating profit.

UK equities gained on Thursday, buoyed by a fall in yield on government bonds after latest economic data showed the British economy was in recession, building the case for the Bank of England to ease its monetary policy.

The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was up 0.5%, as of 0810 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.3%. Data showed Britain's economy entered a recession in the second half of 2023, after it shrank by a worse-than-expected 0.3% in the three months to December, and it also contracted by 0.1% between July and September.

Shares were also supported by a fall in yield on the 10-year UK gilts after the data, last standing at 3.993%. Money markets raised their bets of an interest rate cut from the BoE, now pricing in about 78 basis points (bps) of cuts this year, compared with about 70 bps before the data.

The data follows the softer-than-expected domestic inflation print on Wednesday that bolstered hopes of an early rate cut and caused the stock indexes to close higher. Close Brothers Group dropped 12.0%, as the lender said it would not pay dividends for the current financial year.

RELX added 2.4% after the information-and-analytics group said it expected to see another strong performance this year, as it reported 13% growth in adjusted operating profit.

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