AstraZeneca, Smurfit Kappa boost FTSE 100 higher

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
AstraZeneca, Smurfit Kappa boost FTSE 100 higher
Credit: © Reuters.

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* FTSE 100 up 0.4%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%

April 30 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 edged higher on Friday, boosted by earnings updates from AstraZeneca and Smurfit Kappa, while optimism around a speedy recovery from pandemic-led crash set the blue-chip index for its biggest monthly gain since November 2020.

The FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 0.4%, with AstraZeneca AZN.L gaining 2.6% after it forecast higher sales in the second half of the year. shares of Europe's largest paper packaging producer Smurfit Kappa Group SKG.L jumped 2.7% after it posted 6% increase in first-quarter revenue on strong packaging demand. index was further supported by tobacco makers British American Tobacco (JO: SNHJ ) BATS.L and Imperial Brands IMB.L which rose after their peer Swedish Match SWMA.ST reported upbeat quarterly profit. domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index .FTMC advanced 0.3%. Both the indexes have gained nearly 4% each in April and are tracking their third consecutive monthly gain so far this year.

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