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British FTSE 100 closes marginally higher

Xinhua, May 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

FTSE 100 Index, Britain's benchmark stock market gauge, increased by 0.09 percent, or 6.16 points, to 6,933.74 points on Wednesday.

The stock market was curbed by pre-election uncertainty and cautious comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen warned that when the Fed starts to raise it's rates, this could create "potential dangers" for bond markets. She also added that stock valuations were "quite high."

However, British services purchasing managers' index (PMI), a gauge measuring the industry activity, picked up to 59.5 in April from 58.9 in the previous month, said Markit Economics on Wednesday.

Sage Group's share price increased by 7.96 percent, topping the gainers of the blue chips. St. James's Place, Imperial Tobacco Group, Vodafone Group and Mondi increased by 1.84 percent, 1.76 percent, 1.60 percent and 1.55 percent respectively.

Aberdeen Asset Management led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 4.33 percent, followed by Sainsbury (3.16 percent), Hikma Pharmaceuticals (2.17 percent), Antofagasta (2.00 percent) and London Stock Exchange Group (1.66 percent).

The index has gained 7.19 percent so far this year when measured in U.S. dollars. Endit