(Reuters) - Britain's main index hit a 10-month high on Wednesday as comments from the Bank of England raised hopes of an interest rate cut and hurt the pound, while AIM-listed Telford Homes surged after a buyout offer.
The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> rose 0.3%, boosted by shares of companies that book a major chunk of their revenue from overseas such as BAT <BATS.L> and AstraZeneca <AZN.L>. The FTSE 250 <.FTMC> added 0.1% by 0708 GMT.
The pound struggled for traction after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday that the global trade war and a 'no-deal' Brexit may warrant a near-term policy response, which markets interpreted as a dovish signal.
Supermarket group Sainsbury's <SBRY.L> was the biggest blue-chip loser as it shed 2% after its underlying sales declined for a third consecutive quarter, hurt by weak clothing and general merchandise markets.
Telford Homes <TELF.L> climbed 12.4% to 354 pence after U.S. real estate firm CBRE <CBRE.N> said it would buy the British residential property developer for 350 pence a share in cash.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)