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U.K. stocks were little changed on Friday after a Bank of England survey showed British public’s expectations for inflation over the coming year dropped to its lowest in three years.<\/p>\n
An interest rate cut from the Bank of England next week looks unlikely due to mixed signals regarding price pressures.<\/p>\n
That said, a 0.25 percentage point reduction is fully priced for November and investors are now looking for clues on its quantitative tightening program.<\/p>\n
The benchmark FTSE 100 was marginally higher at 8,246 after gaining 0.6 percent on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Mining stocks were broadly higher as copper prices surged ahead of a major Chinese holiday. Antofagasta rose half a percent and Glencore added 0.8 percent. <\/p>\n
Drug maker AstraZeneca fell 2.5 percent after a rating downgrade from Deutsche Bank.
Unilever rose half a percent after launching the second and final phase of its substantial \u20ac1.5 billion share buyback program.<\/p>\n
Vodafone shares were up 0.7 percent. The company said it disagrees with the CMA’s provisional findings that its merger with Three UK raises competition concerns and could lead to price rises for customers. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n