India, June 16 -- U.K. stocks edged higher on Wednesday and the pound held steady, as investors react to the extension of the lockdown relaxation plan and a rise in CPI inflation past the Bank of England's 2 percent target for the first time since July 2019.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that U.K. consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.1 percent in May from 1.5 percent in April. This was above economists' forecast of 1.8 percent and the Bank of England's target of 2 percent.
Output price inflation came in at 4.6 percent versus 4.0 percent in April, while input price inflation increased to 10.7 percent from 10.0 percent in April.
The benchmark FTSE 100 inched up 8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,180 after ending 0.4 ...