India, May 30 -- UK stocks are up in positive territory a little past noon on Friday, remaining firm after a steady start. Despite concerns about inflation and uncertainty about tariffs, investors are picking up stocks amid cautious optimism about growth.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 60.44 points or 0.7% at 8,776.89 a few minutes past noon.

M&G, the top gainer in the FTSE 100 index, is up 5.7%. GSK is up by about 2.3% and BT Group is rising 2%. Unite Group, Severn Trent, SSE, Tesco, Whitbread, Hiscox, Weir Group and United Utilities are gaining 1.5 to 2%.

Reckitt Benckiser, Beazley, IMI, St. James's Place, Intertek Group, Schroders, Tayler Wimpey, Associated British Foods and Babcock International are also notably higher.

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