FTSE 100 GAINS AS POWELL SIGNALS RATE CUTS

The UK's benchmark FTSE 100 edged higher on Friday as markets globally cheered U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's nod to initiate rate cuts at the Jackson Hole economic symposium. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.5%, but logged in weekly declines. The mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.4%, touching highest levels in two weeks and marked its second week of gains.

In a highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said "the time has come" for the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates as rising risks to the job market left no room for further weakness and inflation was in reach of the Fed's 2% target, offering an explicit endorsement of an imminent policy easing.

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