Energy higher (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 23 Aug - Shares in London closed higher after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said that the 'time has come' for the US central bank to start cutting interest rates.

Powell said inflation had declined "significantly", adding the labor market was no longer overheated, and "conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic.' According to the CME's FedWatch tool, the market is currently discounting a 65.5% chance of a 25 basis point cut and a 34.5% chance of a 50 point cut.

Energy shares were mostly higher as crude prices rose.

BP and Shell added 0.73% at 429.30 pence and 0.44% at 2,720.00 pence, respectively.

The London FTSE 100 closed up 0.48% at 8,327.78 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 23-08-24 18:26:08 (0424) 5 NNNN