BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks gained ground on Thursday as hopes for another round of government stimulus for the virus-stricken U.S. economy and an upbeat quarterly earnings report by Unilever helped investors look past an escalation in Sino-U.S. tensions.
The benchmark FTSE 100 rose 36 points, or 0.59 percent, to 6,243 after declining 1 percent on Wednesday.
Unilever soared almost 8 percent as it beat analyst expectations of a drop in sales in its latest half-year results. Second-quarter underlying sales declined just 0.3 percent versus expectations of a 4.3 percent drop.
British Airways' parent company International Airlines Group was slightly lower after the U.K pilots union BALPA recommended its members at British Airways to accept a deal to avert 1,255 job losses.
Advertising firm WPP rose nearly 3 percent. Its French rival Publicis Groupe SA beat expectations for underlying sales in the second quarter and said it continued to record significant wins in new business across the world.
Electronics trading major IG Group Holdings slumped 6.6 percent after announcing its financial results for the twelve months ended May 31, 2020.
Risk insurance and reinsurance provider Beazley Group jumped 6 percent. The company swung to a loss in the first-half after setting aside $170 million for coronavirus-related claims.
Security contractor G4S climbed 6.3 percent after posting a higher-than-expected first-half operating profit.
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