By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 scaled toward
its best close since late 1999 on Wednesday, rising alongside the
broader European market after Kiev said it reached a cease-fire
deal for eastern Ukraine.
U.K. stocks were also boosted by data showing growth in activity
in the services sector.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office during mid-morning
trade said Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir 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 RIA Novosti report citing a Kremlin official.
Later in the morning, Poroshenko modified the earlier statement and
instead said the "parties reached mutual understanding on the steps
that will facilitate the establishment of peace."
Market moves: The FTSE 100 jumped to an intraday high of
6,898.20, according to FactSet data, after Poroshenko's statement.
The leap in the FTSE 100 put it closer to its best-ever close at
6,930.20 reached in Dec. 30, 1999. The Stoxx Europe 600 also shot
up to intraday highs after Poroshenko's statement. But each of the
indexes pared gains following the RIA Novosti report.
Among the standout gainers in London trade, Ashtead Group PLC
rose 2% 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 1.6%. 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 to as high as $1.6500 against the U.S.
dollar to after the release, but later returned to Tuesday's level
around $1.6473.
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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