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* FTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 adds 0.7%
Feb 3 (Reuters) - British shares rose for a third straight
session on Wednesday, as investors hoped for a faster economic
revival due to a slew of favourable earnings updates and quicker
vaccine rollouts, while Vodafone jumped after its earnings beat
estimates.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE climbed 0.8%, with
insurance .FTNMX8570 and travel .FTNMX5750 stocks leading
the gains, while the mid-cap index .FTMC added 0.7%.
Markets in Asia and the United States rose on renewed hopes
for U.S. President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19
aid bill and an acceleration in vaccine roll-out programmes.
MKTS/GLOB
Vodafone VOD.L , the world's second-largest mobile
operator, rose 4.4% and was the top boost to the FTSE 100 after
saying its organic service revenue returned to growth in its
third quarter, beating analysts' expectations. nL8N2K91JJ]
Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L gained 0.3% as it struck a
150 million euros ($180 million) deal to develop next-generation
vaccines against COVID-19 with German biotech firm CureVac
5CV.DE . Glencore GLEN.L which mines coal, nickel, silver, zinc and
copper, climbed 0.6% after it stuck to all of its production
targets for 2021.