March 22 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in a year on Friday as investors continued to cheer the dovish tilt in the Bank of England's monetary policy, while insurer Phoenix Group notched its best day in four years after issuing an upbeat forecast.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab rose 0.6% to clinch its second straight week of gains, powered by a near 2% rise on Thursday after the BoE said the economy is moving in the direction for interest rate cuts.
At top of the index was Phoenix Group (PHNX.L), opens new tab, adding 8.4% after the insurer said it expected to increase profits by nearly a half and generate higher operating cash by 2026.
The life insurance sector (.FTNMX303010), opens new tab led sectoral advances, with a 2.2% gain.
"Life insurer Phoenix is incredibly popular with retirees thanks to its generous dividends and shareholders will be celebrating after better-than-expected results and a positive outlook for cash generation and debt reduction," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Meanwhile, the pound fell to its lowest in a month after data showed UK consumer spending stagnated in February and BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said rate cuts were in play this year, boosting dollar-earners like Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab and Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L), opens new tab on the benchmark index.
On the other hand, the mid-cap FTSE 250 index (.FTMC), opens new tab slipped 0.1%, hauled by a 7.4% tumble in Darktrace (DARK.L), opens new tab after a technology growth fund advised by private equity firm KKR (KKR.N), opens new tab fully exited its investment in the cybersecurity firm.
Wall Street's three major stock indexes on Thursday registered record closing highs for the second day in a row after the Federal Reserve reassured investors about the prospects for rate cuts this year.
Among others, J D Wetherspoon (JDW.L), opens new tab said sales growth had slowed at the start of its fiscal second half and that margins were still below pre-pandemic levels, sending its shares down 6.3%.
Legal & General (LGEN.L), opens new tab climbed 1.4% after Reuters reported that the insurer and asset manager shelved a plan to obtain a China business licence and more than halved onshore headcount.
JD Sports (JD.L), opens new tab fell 6.3% after its U.S. counterpart Nike (NKE.N), opens new tab warned that its revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 would shrink by a low single-digit percentage.
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Reporting by Shubham Batra, Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian; Editing by Varun H K, Shounak Dasgupta, William Maclean
