London's FTSE 100 may advance close to 6,000 points again next week in response to British economic and earnings data, dealers said. On Friday, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares ended at 5,879.58 points - down 1.17 percent or 69.52 points from a week earlier.
The FTSE 100 came close to reaching 6,000 points this week for the first time in four months, before slipping largely owing to uncertainty over the future of embattled British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "Despite declining volumes on the London Stock Exchange over the summer, the UK equity market staged an impressive rebound from its June low," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin Securities. "The sudden collapse in equity markets in May sent most investors to the sidelines but left markets in oversold conditions and primed for a recovery."
The FTSE 100 was pressured also towards the end of the latest trading week following a decision by the Bank of England to hold its key interest rate at 4.75 percent.
The BoE decision had been widely predicted by economists and came after it had unexpectedly increased borrowing costs in August from 4.50 percent to help control British inflation and dampen the nation's solid economic growth.
Next Tuesday sees the publication of British inflation data for August, followed by unemployment figures Wednesday and retail sales numbers on Thursday. On the earnings front, BAE Systems delivers its half-year results on Wednesday. The British defence group this week advised its shareholders to sell BAE's 20 percent stake in European planemaker Airbus to the Franco-German aerospace firm EADS for 2.75 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars).
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