FTSE 100 Sees Cautious Gains; Prudential Shares Climb Over 3%

U.K. stocks were seeing modest gains on Wednesday after Prudential impressed investors with its earnings.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 11 points, or 0.2 percent, at 7,476 after rallying 1.7 percent on Tuesday.

Insurer Prudential rallied 3.5 percent after first-half operating profit rose 6 percent.

Direct Line Insurance Group rose 1.2 percent after the motor and home insurer poached Adam Winslow, a senior executive at rival Aviva, to be its new chief executive.

Oil & gas giant BP Plc gained 0.6 percent and Shell added 0.3 percent as oil prices climbed after a large U.S. stockpile draw and amid Hurricane Idalia jitters.

Hi-tech software firm Instem soared 40 percent after it agreed to a £203m takeover by a U.S. private equity firm.

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