UK's equity benchmark FTSE 100 moved higher on Thursday, outperforming other major markets in Europe, thanks to strong gains in the mining sectors. Investors also reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates and looked ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement.
The BoE is widely expected to hold interest rates but is likely to hike rates later on in the year.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.