By Alexis Xydias
Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose, led by Aviva Plc after Britain’s second-biggest insurer by market value reported a first-half profit. Unilever advanced after posting an unexpected increase in sales by volume.
The FTSE 100 Index added 48.92, or 1.1 percent, to 4,696.05 as of 8:34 a.m. in London. The FTSE All-Share Index climbed 1 percent and Ireland’s ISEQ Index increased 2.3 percent.
The FTSE 100 has rebounded 34 percent since March 3 amid speculation a global recession is easing and as companies beat analysts’ earnings estimates. Investors will hear today from the Bank of England on whether signs of an economic recovery are strong enough to allow the central bank to stop its bond- purchase program that has pumped money into markets.
“We believe we are through the worst of the global economic recession courtesy of unprecedented levels of government support and central bank liquidity provision,” Bank of America Corp. strategists Gary Baker and Patrik Schowitz wrote in a report today. “This provides economic and corporate earnings catalysts to allow markets to take advantage of still undemanding valuation levels.”
Aviva surged 7.5 percent to 383.1 pence. The insurer swung to a profit as margins on the sale of life insurance policies increased. Net income in the first half was 675 million pounds ($1.1 billion) while operating profit, measured on a market- consistent embedded value basis, rose to 1.69 billion pounds, beating the 1.23 billion-pound median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Unilever jumped 5.4 percent to 1,628 pence. Second-quarter sales by volume in western Europe unexpectedly rose 1 percent, the company said today, as it cut prices by 2 percent to keep cash-strapped consumers in countries including Germany and Spain.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Xydias in London at axydias@bloomberg.net.
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