FTSE 100 lifted by bank, healthcare stocks; corporate earnings in focus

Britain's blue-chip index edged up on Wednesday, supported by heavyweight bank and healthcare stocks, while investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.3% by 1005 GMT, while the domestically focussed mid-cap index was flat.

Healthcare stocks added 0.6%, boosted by consumer healthcare company Haleon's 2.9% rise, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company's rating to "buy" from "neutral."

Heavyweight bank stocks advanced 0.7%, with HSBC up 1.1%.

Aerospace and defence company BAE Systems added 1.9%, while Chemring Group rose 1.5%.

Conversely, energy stocks fell 0.4%. Heavyweights Shell and BP were down.

Travel and leisure stocks declined, with British Airways owner IAG down 3.4%, Wizz Air falling 3.5% and EasyJet down 1.9%.

The homebuilders' index lost 1.1%, dragged by Vistry falling 4.6% to the bottom of the mid-cap index, after reporting a 33.2% drop in adjusted pre-tax profit for the first half of 2025.

Retail stocks JD Sports Fashion and Next fell about 1.4% each.

Among other stocks, Associated British Foods dropped 10.6% to the bottom of the FTSE 100, after saying underlying sales at its Primark clothing business are expected to be down around 2% in its second half.

Services provider DCC gained 4.8%, to top the benchmark index, on plans for shareholder returns post healthcare unit sale.

Anglo American advanced 2.7%, a day after gaining 9.1% on a $53 billion merger deal with Canada's Teck Resources. Berenberg upgraded the miner's rating to "hold" from "sell".

Burberry advanced 1.8%, a day after falling 8.3% on cautious comments at a luxury conference.

Software company Sage rose, climbing 1.4%, along with some European peers after Oracle projected over half a trillion dollars in booked cloud orders.

Serica Energy dropped 13.5% after cutting its 2025 production outlook.

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)