BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were moving higher on Thursday as exporters benefited from a weaker pound on fears of a coronavirus-induced recession.
The government announced that schools in England will close on Friday until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest figures from Public Health England show that there are a total of 2,626 confirmed cases in the U.K., up from 1,950 yesterday. A total of 103 deaths have been recorded nationwide, with 43 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 10 points, or 0.19 percent, at 5,090 after declining 4.1 percent in the previous session.
Tobacco company BAT, beverages company Diageo and consumer goods firm Unilever all were moving higher.
Luxury brand Burberry Group fell 3 percent after a warning that sales have halved since 24 January.
Next Plc shares jumped 4.3 percent. The company reported that its profit before tax for fiscal year ended January 2020 increased 2 percent to 748.5 million pounds from 733.6 million pounds last year.
Regarding the coronavirus stress test, the company said it is concluded that the business could sustain the loss of more than 1 billion pounds or 25 percent of annual full price sales.
Engineer Meggitt slumped 9 percent after issuing a trading update.
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