Britvic soars (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 21 Jun - UK shares closed lower amid lacklustre manufacturing data and as investors continued to assess the Bank of England's monetary policy.

In June, the UK's purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector rose to a 23-month high of 51.4 from 51.2 in May while that of the services sector was at a seven-month low of 51.2, down from 52.9 the earlier month, according to data released by S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).

The manufacturing output index was at a 26-month high of 54.2 compared to 53.4 the month earlier while the composite output index, a weighted average of services PMI and manufacturing output, was at a seven-month low of 51.7, down from 53.0.

Yesterday, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25%, as widely expected.

A majority of economists polled by Reuters recently forecast a cut in August, after the country's July 4 election.

Among individual stocks, UK soft drinks maker Britvic jumped 7.78% at 1,094.00 pence after it confirmed it had rejected two unsolicited takeover proposals from Danish drinks giant Carlsberg.

The London FTSE 100 closed down 0.42% at 8,237.72 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 21-06-24 18:45:39 (0569) 5 NNNN