Telecoms, drugs lead UK's FTSE 100 to strong close
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's largest companies
raced higher at the close on Friday fired by telecom and drug
stocks as they turned their back on Wednesday's 16-week low.
Index heavyweights, Vodafone <VOD.L> and GlaxoSmithKline
<GSK.L>, provided 27 of the day's 55-point gain, while
technology firms wobbled.
The FTSE 100 finished 55.4 points, or one percent, firmer at
5,537.0, having jumped 1.66 percent on Thursday after seven
consecutive losing sessions, with gainers outnumbering losers by
three to one.
Stocks steered a course higher and refused to be derailed by
sluggish U.S. retail sales figures for June, which showed only a
meagre rise, and a soft Wall Street, but volumes were thin at
1.4 billion shares.
((Camila Reed, London Newsroom +44 20 7542 4365, fax +44 20
7542 2120, uk.equities.news@reuters.com))
REUTERS
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