FTSE 100 Rallies On Earnings

U.K. stocks traded sharply higher on Wednesday, with China stimulus hopes and a slew of encouraging earnings boosting sentiment.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 125 points, or 1.5 percent, at 8,399 after falling 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

HSBC Holdings jumped 4 percent. The lender announced a share buyback of up to $3 billion after reporting a stable first-half profit.

Mining firm Ferrexpo soared 12 percent after half-year profits more than doubled.

Ricardo climbed 4 percent. The engineering and environmental consulting firm reported trading in line with expectations for FY23/24.

Commercial landlord Shaftesbury Capital added 2.2 percent on reporting robust business performance in its interim results.

Taylor Wimpey rose 1.3 percent. The real estate group has raised its outlook for house sales this year to the top end of a previous guidance.

Pharma giant GSK fell 1.5 percent after its second-quarter profit attributable to shareholders fell to 1.17 billion pounds from last year’s 1.62 billion pounds.