FTSE 100 Recovers After Weak Start, Up Marginally At Noon

(RTTNews) - The U.K. stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100 was up marginally around noon on Wednesday with investors largely choosing to stay away from riskier assets due to concerns about valuations amid lingering uncertainty about global economic growth.

Investors are also continuing to react to quarterly earnings updates, and looking ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement this week.

The FTSE 100, which eased to 9,677.40 earlier in the session, was up 8.40 points or 0.09% at 9,723.36 a few minutes past noon.

Fresnillo is down by about 2.6%. Polar Capital Technology Trust is down by about 2.3%, while Scottish Mortgage, Endeavour Mining, Weir Group and Babcock International are down 1.5 to 1.8%.

Metlen Energy & Metals, Entain, Games Workshop, Barclays Group, Legal & General, SSE and Centrica are moderately lower.

Among the gainers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is rising nearly 3%. Burberry Group is up 2.5%.

Marks & Spencer is advancing by 1.7% despite profits at the retailer more than halved in first half after a major cyberattack earlier this year disrupted its online operations.

Barratt Redrow, Tesco, British American Tobacco, ICG, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Imperial Brands are gaining 0.7 to 2.5%.

In economic news, the S&P Global UK Composite PMI rose to 52.2 in October of 2025 from 50.1 in the previous month, well above the preliminary estimates of 51.1.

The services sector expanded sharply, with the PMI reading coming in at 52.3 in October, up from 50.8 in September. The manufacturing PMI edged up slightly to 49.7 from 49.6 in the previous month.

Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited (SMMT) showed new car sales in the UK inched higher by 0.5% from the previous year to 144,948 in October, holding the 13.7% jump from the previous.