Flurry of orders appears to bolster Bank of England decision to raise interest rates, pushing stock market index to new record highShares in Britain’s top 100 companies reached an all-time high on Friday, after buoyant sales across the services sector last month showed the economy remained resilient following the post-Brexit vote slump. A flurry of orders that appeared to bolster the Bank of England move to raise interest rates this week, helped send the FTSE 100 index to 7,560, beating the previous end of day high of 7,556 on 12 October. Analysts said the survey showed the services sector, which makes up almost 80% of UK economic activity, remained resilient despite Brexit uncertainty. Q&A What is the impact of an interest rate rise? However, job creation in the services sector added to the picture of a weak outlook after firms reported the weakest rise in seven months.

Source: The Guardian November 03, 2017 18:22 UTC