BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks eked out modest gains on Thursday as investors digested a mixed bag of corporate earnings and the news of a massive cabinet reshuffle as Boris Johnson works to build a government dominated by Brexit loyalists.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 17 points or 0.22 percent at 7,518 after losing 0.7 percent the previous day.
Consumer goods giant Unilever fell over 1 percent after its second-quarter sales growth fell short of estimates.
Defense and aerospace group Cobham jumped as much as 35 percent after U.S. private equity group AdventInternational agreed to buy it for 4 billion pounds ($5billion).
Drugmaker AstraZeneca rallied 5.5 percent after raising its annual product sales forecast.
Generic pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharmaceuticals rose 1.3 percent after it signed an exclusive license agreement with Gedeon Richter PLC to commercialize cariprazine, a novel antipsychotic, in certain Middle East and North African markets.
Food and support services company Compass Group climbed 2 percent after a positive trading update.
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