FTSE 100 Up Firmly In Positive Territory; AstraZeneca Up On Strong Earnings

(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is up in positive territory around early afternoon on Tuesday with earnings news aiding sentiment to a notable extent. Bank and pharmaceutical stocks are among the notable gainers.

Investors are also looking ahead to some crucial economic data, and the monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve later this week.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 48.86 points or 0.53% at 9,130.30 a little while ago.

AstraZeneca is up 2.8% on strong earnings. The drug major said its second quarter profit climbed 30% to $3.13 billion from last year's $2.40 billion. Earnings per share were $1.57, up from $1.24 a year ago. Core earnings per share were $2.17 for the period.

AstraZenecas's EBITDA climbed 22% to $4.90 billion in the second quarter, from last year's $4.03 billion.

Looking ahead, AstraZeneca continues to expect fiscal 2025 Core earnings per share to increase by a low double-digit percentage, and total revenue to increase by a high single-digit percentage.

Barclays Group is up more than 2%, lifted by news about a 1 billion pound share buyback. Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, HSBC Holdings and Natwest Group are also up with strong gains.

Games Workshop is gaining more than 4.5%, buoyed by a 30% jump in annual pre-tax profit.

Entain, Rolls-Royce Holdings, 3i Group, Informa, Centrica, Convatec Group and BAE Systems are up 1.5 to 3%.

Reckitt Benckiser, IMI, Melrose Industries, IAG, Endeavour Mining and Polar Capital Technology Trust are also notably higher.

Croda International is down 7.7% as the company's operating cash flow for the first half dropped to £96.5 million, down sharply from £194.5 million a year earlier, primarily due to working capital outflows. Free cash flow declined to £34.2 million from £122.7 million.

Glencore is declining 2.3%, while Rentokil Initial and Unite Group are down nearly 2% from previous closing levels.

WPP, Whitbread, BT Group, Anglo American Plc, Vodafone Group, Segro, Schrodders, Antofagasta and Marks & Spencer are also down in negative territory.

In economic news, UK mortgage approvals rose to a three-month high in June and consumer credit increased notably, official data revealed on Tuesday.

Approvals for house purchases increased to a three-month high of 64,167 in June from 63,288 in May, the Bank of England reported. Approvals were above economists' forecast of 63,000.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by GBP 3.1 billion to GBP 5.3 billion in June, compared to a GBP 2.8 billion increase of net borrowing to GBP 2.2 billion in May.