FTSE 100 lifted by Aviva results
- Published
(Close): A rally in insurance stocks pushed the FTSE 100 higher following well-received results from Aviva.
Shares in Aviva rose 7.14% after it reported a 6% rise in operating profits to £2.17bn and a 30% increase in its final dividend.
Friends Life - which is set to be bought by Aviva - climbed 7.11%, Friends Life posted a 38% rise in operating profit to £556m.
The FTSE 100 index was up 41.90 points at 6,961.14.
As expected, the Bank of England kept the benchmark UK interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, and it has now been at its record low for six years.
In the FTSE 250, shares in online betting website Betfair jumped 17.86% after it raised its full-year profits guidance.
Betfair said it now expected core profit for the 2014-15 financial year to be between £113m and £118m, compared with its previous estimate of between £97m and £103m.
The company also reported a 17% rise in third-quarter earnings to £23.6m, well above analysts' forecasts.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.28% against the dollar to $1.52230, while against the euro it rose 0.3% to €1.3820.