LONDON July 27 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index pushed
higher on Friday, extending the previous session's strong gains
in tandem with leaps overnight on Wall Street and in Asia, on
hopes that central bank meetings next week will take steps to
help the struggling global economy.
At 0706 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 8.41 points,
or 0.2 percent, at 5,581.57, having jumped 1.4 percent on
Thursday after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi
pledged to do whatever was needed to preserve the euro, boosting
hopes for more decisive action in the single currency's debt
crisis.
Another crop of corporate earnings provided the main
direction early on.
Barclays was the top FTSE 100 gainer, up 4 percent,
after beating expectations with an underlying half-year profit
of more than 4 billion pounds. The British bank apologised for
an interest rate rigging scandal that has rocked it and the
banking industry in the past month.
Publishing group Pearson and miner Anglo American
were the top fallers, down 2.7 percent and 2.1 percent
respectively, as their updates disappointed.
(Reporting by Jon Hopkins)
