By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 climbed
Wednesday, making a run toward its best close since 1999 and rising
alongside other European markets in anticipation that Russia and
Ukraine are nearing a cease-fire.
U.K. stocks were also boosted by data showing growth in activity
in the services sector.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Wednesday that he and
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed to the outlines of a
cease-fire plan between Kiev's forces and pro-Russian separatists
fighting in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. A
final agreement on the plan could be reached at talks slated for
Friday.
Poroshenko's office during midmorning trade had said Poroshenko
and Putin struck an agreement for a permanent truce in the Donbas
region, where the Russian separatist-held city of Donetsk is
located. The Kremlin then said it only discussed a peace process
and not a cease-fire agreement as Russia isn't party to the
fighting in Ukraine, according to a RIA Novosti report citing a
Kremlin official. Later in the morning, Poroshenko modified the
earlier statement
Market moves: The FTSE 100 settled up 0.7% at 6,873.58. It had
surged to an intraday high of 6,898.20, according to FactSet data,
after Poroshenko's initial statement, and that move put the
benchmark near its all-time closing high of 6,930.20 on Dec. 30,
1999.
The Stoxx Europe 600 shot up more than 1% after Poroshenko's
statement, and closed the session with a 0.7% gain at 344.97.
In London, shares of Ashtead Group PLC rose 3.6%, topping the
FTSE 100, after the equipment-rental company said full-year results
should come in ahead of its previous expectations, following a
strong first quarter. First-quarter profit was 74.7 million pounds
($124.5 million), up from GBP60.7 million a year ago.
Vodafone Group PLC picked up 0.4%. Its shares ended up 1.1% on
Tuesday, pushed up late in the session after a Nikkei newspaper
report that Japanese mobile-services company SoftBank Corp.
(9984.TO) may be considering a takeover bid for Vodafone.
Data: Growth in business activity in the U.K. reached its
fastest pace in 10 months in August, according to data from Markit
and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. The
services-sector purchasing managers index, was 60.5 in August, up
from 59.1 in July.
The pound (GBPUSD) rose as high as $1.6500 against the U.S.
dollar after the release, but lost grip of gains. It was buying
$1.6450 late Wednesday compared with $1.6473 on Tuesday.
Separately, the Office for National Statistics issued a report
showing annual growth in gross domestic product after inflation has
been raised by an average of 0.1 percentage point for the years
1998 to 2012.
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