FTSE 100 Inches Higher On Rate Optimism
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks eked out modest gains on Wednesday after comments from several Fed officials suggested that the U.S. central bank might not hike rates again this year.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 13 points, or 0.2 percent, at 7,641 after gaining 1.8 percent on Tuesday.
Investors await minutes of the Fed's September policy meeting and the release of U.S. inflation data for further direction.
BP Plc rose 1.6 percent and Shell added about 1 percent as oil prices ticked higher on lingering worries about supply disruptions.
Avingtrans surged over 5 percent after bagging two nuclear waste contracts. Bus and rail operator FirstGroup rallied 3.6 percent after raising its annual profit outlook.
Pub group Marston's fell nearly 2 percent despite reporting a 11.3 per cent rise in sales in the year to the end of September.
Travis Perkins plunged 8 percent after the building merchant warned its annual profits will be far lower than forecast.
Page Group lost 5 percent. The recruitment firm warned that its full-year profits are likely to fall by at least a third as a result of ongoing challenging conditions across Asia, the U.K. and U.S. markets in the third quarter.
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