FTSE 100 Advances As Miners, Pharma Stocks Rally

RTTNews | 322 days ago

(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is up firmly in positive territory on Wednesday, led by gains in mining and pharmaceutical sectors, thanks to a rebound in metal prices and stronger than expected earnings from drug major GSK.

Meanwhile, investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision due later in the day, and the upcoming meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The benchmark FTSE 100 9,757.45 was up 60.71 points or 0.63% at 9,757.45 nearly half an hour before noon.

Next is rising 6.6%. Fresnillo and Glencore are up 6.5% and 6.1%, respectively. Endeavour Mining is gaining 3.4%, Anglo American Plc is surging 2.5% and Rio Tinto is up by about 2.3%, while Antofagasta is advancing 1.8%.

GSK is gaining more than 2%. The British drug major announced that its profit before tax surged to 2.46 billion pounds in the third quarter, from last year's 64 million pounds. On an after-tax basis, profit attributable to shareholders was 2.01 billion pounds or 49.1 pence per share, compared to loss of 58 million pounds or 1.4 pence a year ago.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2025, the company now expects core earnings per share growth of 10 - 12%, while it previously expected towards the top end of the 6 - 8% range.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Airtel Africa, Beazley, Games Workshop Group, AstraZeneca, Shell, BP, Scottish Mortgage, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings are up 1 to 2.5%.

Meanwhile, Babcock International, Barratt Redrow, Persimmon, Weir Group, IMI, Berkeley Group Holdings and Croda International are down 1 to 2%.

In economic news, net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals in the UK rose by £1.2 billion to £5.5 billion in September 2025, the highest since March 2025 (£13.2 billion), data from the Bank of England showed.

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