British FTSE 100 up 0.33 pct on Thursday
Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:
FTSE 100 Index, British benchmark stock market gauge, Thursday increased by 0.33 percent, or 21.88 points, to 6,630.47 points.
Decent gains from good economic data and blue chips BP helped London stock index to rise on Thursday, but the Greek debt crisis limited the gains.
Britain's construction sector output growth rebounds to its fastest for four months in June. Britain construction purchasing managers' index rose from 55.9 in May to 58.1 in June, marking a four-month high, data from Markit showed on Thursday.
BP Thursday reached an 18.7 billion U.S. dollars settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP' share price rose sharply.
The Eurogroup decided to take no further talks before the outcome of Greece referendum on Sunday. Investors started to trim positions before a pivotal weekend for Greece.
BP' share price increased by 4.35 percent, topped the gainers of the blue chips. RSA Insurance Group, National Grid, SSE and AstraZeneca increased by 2.04 percent, 1.93 percent, 1.69 percent and 1.69 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, Ashtead Group led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 3.81 percent, followed by Intertek Group (3.21 percent), International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (2.65 percent), Hargreaves Lansdown (2.48 percent) and ARM Holdings (2.45 percent). Endit