FTSE 100 Steadies Amid Global Pessimism, Vodafone Surges on Italian Arm Sale

The UK's FTSE 100 remained largely unchanged on Friday as investors monitored global pessimism, with persistent U.S. inflation dampening hopes for interest rate cuts, while Vodafone shares surged following the sale of its Italian arm.

The export-focused FTSE 100 UK100 held steady at 7,741.65 points by 0824 GMT, while the domestically oriented FTSE 250 (.FTMC) ticked up 0.1%.

Market sentiment mirrored declines seen in Wall Street and Asian equities, with higher-than-anticipated consumer and producer inflation figures tempering investor expectations for imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts, potentially influencing other central banks' policies.

Sectors such as medical equipment and services (.FTNMX201020), beverages (.FTNMX451010), and personal care (.FTNMX452010) experienced declines of 0.7% to 1%.

Investors are now awaiting the Bank of England's interest rate decision next week, widely anticipated to remain unchanged, but unlikely to provide clear signals regarding future rate cuts. Notable among individual stocks, Vodafone UK VOD surged 4%, contributing to the benchmark index's gains, following Swisscom SCMN's announcement of its €8 billion ($8.70 billion) acquisition of Vodafone Italia to merge with its Italian subsidiary Fastweb.