London stocks edged higher in early trading on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 up 0.3% and the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbing 0.6%, as a raft of half-year results and a rally in metals prices lifted sentiment.
European peers also advanced, with Germany’s DAX up 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 adding 0.1% and the Stoxx 50 up 0.2%.
Retailer Next is the standout gainer so far, surging 7.2% after upgrading full-year profit guidance by £25m to £1.243bn following second-quarter full-price sales growth of 9.2%, well ahead of its 4% forecast, driven by warm UK weather and stronger overseas demand.
Miners have also rallied as metal prices climb…
Spot gold has jumped 2.2% to $4,165, with Fresnillo up 4.75% and Antofagasta up 3.84%.
Meanwhile, Glencore has risen 4.1% after posting an 86% jump in first-half adjusted EBITDA to $10.1bn, unveiling a $1bn special distribution and $500m buyback, and confirming plans for a secondary ASX listing targeted for October.
On the downside, HSBC slipped 2.6% and Prudential fell 1.2%, while Autotrader dropped 2.2%.
Elsewhere in the FTSE 100, Legal & General shares opened lower, but are now up around 0.5% after the company reported its half-year results.
In the FTSE 250, 4imprint has jumped 8.6% despite a 12% drop in adjusted operating profit, as the promotional products group said full-year revenue and earnings would beat analyst forecasts.
Precious metals miners Pan African Resources and Hochschild Mining also gained on the metals rally, up 5.5% and 5.0% respectively. Funding Circle, A.G. Barr and Syncona were among the laggards.
Elsewhere, half-year and trading updates flowed in from Hiscox and Beazley, Ibstock, Tullow Oil, and Harworth Group.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that TCC Group Holdings Co., the Taiwanese conglomerate behind Taiwan Cement, is leaning toward London as the venue for a planned listing of its European business.
Brent crude has climbed 1.2% to $80.29 a barrel after President Trump said his administration had held “very good discussions” with Iran during all-day talks on Tuesday, easing fears over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump is said to have told Fox News the strait “is going to be very open very soon” — or Iran will “get hit really hard,” which had earlier sent oil lower and equities higher on Tuesday.
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