4th Sep 2014 09:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK indices are largely mixed on Thursday morning as investors wait for the Bank of England's interest rate decision at midday, ahead of the much-anticipated European Central Bank interest rate decision and press conference.
At mid-morning Thursday, the FTSE 100 is trading up 0.1% at 6,880.36, while the FTSE 250 is trading down 0.3% at 15,940.8 and the AIM All-Share is down 0.3% at 776.69.
European markets are trading lower, with the CAC 40 trading down 0.3% and the DAX down 0.8%.
Standard Life is the stand out mover in the FTSE 100, with its shares up 10% at one point in the morning. The long-term savings and investment business said it is selling its Canadian business for GBP2.2 billion in a deal that leaves the company expecting to return GBP1.75 billion to shareholders, while the remaining GBP450.0 million will be retained for general corporate purposes.
It is selling its Canadian long-term savings and retirement, individual and group insurance business and Canadian investment management business to The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corp for CAD4.0 billion at closing.
Additionally, Standard Life's asset management business, Standard Life Investments, has entered into a global collaboration agreement with Manulife, through which Manulife will distribute Standard Life Investments' funds in Canada, the US and Asia.
By mid-morning, the company was comfortably the FTSE 100's biggest riser, up 7.9%.
Another notable mover is SuperGroup, which leads the FTSE 250, gaining 10%. The company, which owns the Superdry brand, said it remains on track to deliver profitable growth in the full year as it posted a rise in group revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year, with positive performances from its wholesale and retail arms and a gradual improvement in like-for-like retail sales against strong comparatives. The company said group revenue for the period between April 27 and July 26 hit GBP87 million, up 16% from the GBP75.1 million posted a year earlier.
The Bank of England will announce its interest rate and asset purchase decisions at 1200 BST and will release a Monetary Policy Statement. The ECB's decision will be at 1245 BST, followed by a press conference at 1330 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]
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