European equities advanced on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first time since December and signaled that further reductions are likely, citing growing weakness in the labor market.
In the U.K., the Bank of England left its policy rate unchanged at 4.00%, with seven members of the Monetary Policy Committee backing the hold and two voting for another cut. The central bank also announced plans to shrink its government bond portfolio by £70 billion over the next year.
On the continent, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 both gained 1.1%, while London’s FTSE 100 rose just 0.2%.
In corporate news, Bytes Technology Group (LSE:BYIT) surged after reporting solid first-half results that highlighted resilience in its IT services business.
Engineering company Renishaw (LSE:RSW) also traded sharply higher after posting record annual revenue and stronger adjusted earnings.
By contrast, retailer Next Plc (LSE:NXT) slumped after cautioning that sales growth is likely to slow in the second half of the year.
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