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UK stocks rallied trading on Thursday, as investor attention turned to the Bank of England decision later today.
At 09:05, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 74 points, or 1.0%, at 7,243.75.
The Bank of England is expected to leave its policy unchanged following uncertainty over the outlook for the economy as the omicron variant of Covid-19 rips through the UK.
Boohoo fell 13.6% to 119.08 pence after warning on profit as higher return rates, supply chain disruption and inflation muddied the outlook for online fashion retailer.
For the financial year ending 28 February, the company cut its expectations net sales growth to a range of 12% 14% from 20% and 25% previously.
Podcast company Audioboom rose 2.8% to £11.05 after upgrading its profit outlook as strong momentum continued into the fourth quarter, driven by higher advertiser demand. The company said it now expects to generate 'significantly' increased adjusted EBITDA - earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share based payments, non-cash foreign exchange movements and material one-off items - and marginally improved revenue, ahead of current market expectations.
Fund management firm Schroders climbed 1.7% to £34.46 after confirming recent media speculation that it was in advanced talks with Greencoat Capital, a renewables infrastructure manager, about taking a significant stake in the business.
Investment company Hipgnosis Songs gained 0.9% to 127.30 pence despite swinging to a first-half loss as surge in costs offset revenue growth.
IntegraFin fell 10.8% to 537.00 pence after reporting a rise in annual profit as funds under direction grew underpinned by 'strong' performance in its investment platform Transact.
Insurance company Aviva was up 1.5% to 401.90 pence after saying it would increase and extend its share buyback programme from £750 million to a maximum aggregate consideration of £1 billion.
Professional services business JTC was flat at 880.00 pence after it said it had acquired New-York based alternative asset services provider Essential Fund Services.