FTSE 100 Modestly Higher Ahead Of BoE Policy Announcement

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks are modestly higher on Thursday as investors await the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement later in the day. Optimism about U.S. agreeing on a trade deal with a major country is also aiding sentiment.

The BoE is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points amid fears of U.S. tariffs hitting domestic growth.

Optimism on the trade front has increased after the U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would soon announce "a major trade deal with representatives of a big and highly respected country."

According to reports, Trump is likely to announce a framework of a trade deal with the U.K. Meanwhile, representatives of the U.S. and China are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend for trade talks.

Investors are also digesting the Federal Reserve's policy announcement. On Wednesday, the Fed held its interest rates and also warned of increasing risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 36.45 points or 0.43% at 8,595.78 a few minutes before noon.

IMI is gaining more than 5.5%. Mondi, Weir Group, Melrose Industries, Whitbread, Intermediate Capital Group, Spirax, JD Sports Fashion, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Scottish Mortgage and Polar Capital Technology Trust are up 3 to 4.2%.

Associated British Foods, Ashtead Group, Antofagasta, Persimmon, Kingfisher, Barclays and Experian are gaining 2 to 3%.

Airtel Africa is down 7.4% despite turnaround results. The telecommunications and mobile money services company reported full year 2025 profit -before-tax of $661 million compared with pre-tax loss of $63 million last year. Earnings per share for the full year were 6 cents versus loss per share of 4.4 cents last year.

Centrica is declining more than 6%. Fresnillo, AstraZeneca, Vodafone Group, Rio Tinto, Severn Trent, Endeavour Mining, Imperial Brands and BT Group are down 1 to 3%.

On the economic front, UK house prices rose moderately in April despite an end to the stamp duty holiday and worsening economic outlook, data published by mortgage lender Halifax revealed.

House prices climbed 0.3% on a monthly basis in April after falling for two straight months. Prices were expected to grow 0.2%, following a 0.5% drop in March and a 0.2% decrease in February. On a yearly basis, growth in house prices accelerated to 3.2% from 2.9% in the previous month.