The blue-chip FTSE 100 index edged up 0.1% to 10,743.35 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.3% to 24,643.52 points
International News via Reuters:
London shares edged higher on Wednesday after an in-line inflation report did little to alter interest rate expectations, while surging gold prices lifted mining stocks.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index edged up 0.1% to 10,743.35 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.3% to 24,643.52 points.
• British inflation rose to 2.9% in July from a 15-month low of 2.6% in June, according to the Office for National Statistics, though the rise was in line with economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll.
• The data, coming a day after a soft labour market report, supported bets that the Bank of England will keep borrowing costs unchanged in September.
• Meanwhile, a rout in global bonds eased after the U.S. Treasury said it would double some liquidity support operations. British government bond prices headed for their biggest daily gain in two weeks, as U.S. bond yields fell from near their highest levels since 2007.
• Gold miners Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining and Pan African Resources all rose more than 7% as gold surged 3% against a softer dollar. [GOL/]
• Oil prices climbed for a fourth straight day as investors weighed conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington on whether the Strait of Hormuz is open to ships. Energy majors Shell and BP rose about 1% each. [O/R]
• Smith+Nephew fell 3.8% after it said its finance chief John Rogers would step down after a roughly two-and-a-half-year tenure with the medical products company.
• Trainline shares fell 14% after Britain’s competition regulator said it was investigating whether the rail and coach ticketing operator, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School were transparent in disclosing total pricing when customers made bookings.
• Biotech firm Oxford Nanopore Technologies rose 14.3% after posting upbeat half-year results.
Reporting by Anand Gopal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Gareth Jones
