FTSE 100 Rallies Ahead Of Fed And BoE Meetings
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks advanced on Wednesday as the Bank of England begins its two-day policy meeting today.
The central bank is likely to opt for a more cautious 25 basis-point increase while the Fed, which delivers its rate decision later in the day, is expected to raise interest rates by at least 50 bps.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 69 points, or 1 percent, at 7,256 after closing 0.3 percent lower on Tuesday.
Banks traded higher, with Lloyds Bank and HSBC Holdings rising over 2 percent ahead of an unscheduled ECB meeting to discuss the recent volatility in bond markets. Bloomsbury Publishing jumped 2.8 percent. After reporting bumper profits, the Harry Potter publisher said the pandemic surge in reading appears to be permanent.
Antofagasta was moving lower. The miner announced that full year copper production for the Group will likely be at the bottom end of the original 660 - 690,000 tonnes guidance range.
Hotel and restaurant company Whitbread soared 5 percent and retailer WH Smith jumped more than 7 percent after both said they are seeing business return to pre-pandemic levels.
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