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FTSE 100 ends the day higher as Reckitt Benckiser, BT and Pearson gain

The FTSE 100 ended the day higher, regaining 7,700 as it was..

The FTSE 100 ended the day higher, regaining 7,700 as it was buoyed by a slew of positive company news updates.

The overall mood in the markets was positive today, with no new threats to global trade emerging and some positive data from the US.

Michael van Dullken of Accendo Marks said that the stronger US dollar and higher Brent crude price were "adding extra notes of positivity to market sentiment, extending the risk appetite to recently more docile banks and financials."

The FTSE 100 closed up almost 40 points at 7,701.31.

The biggest riser was consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, which upped its sales guidance this morning on the back of a successful acquisition. Shares were up more than eight per cent.

Also gaining was BT Group after its profits jumped and Pearson, which was bolstered by the sale of its English-language unit.

But shares in Rightmove fell amid concerns about the tricky climate in the UK property market, making it today's biggest faller on the blue-chip index.

In the US, GDP hit a four-year high. President Donald Trump said the numbers were "great" on Twitter just before they were released.

GREAT GDP numbers just released. Will be having a news conference soon!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018

Stocks on Wall Street opened higher off the back of the data and Amazon's strong results from last night.

But shares in Twitter were down more than 18 per cent at the time of writing, as the platform revealed it has shed a million users.

"Twitter has provided yet another knockback for the tech-focused Nasdaq index, with the social media platform following Facebook lower," said Joshua Mahoney, market analyst at IG.

"Crucially, while Facebook saw a decline in revenues, todays Twitter fears were borne from a decline in monthly users. Unfortunately for social media platforms, there is always going to be a saturation point, beyond which you are likely to plateau out. However, there is a fear that Twitter is slowing well ahead of its time, with users of the platform at a measly 33m, compared with the 2.2bn Facebook users."

Read more: Facebook's share price plunges, losing over $120bn off its market value

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