UK stocks are moving in a tight band Wednesday morning with investors largely focusing on earnings updates, and digesting the data on the nation’s manufacturing and services sector activity for the month of January.
With U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against several major trading partners raising fears of a prolonged trade war, the outlook for global economic growth remains somewhat uncertain.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 3.30 points or 0.05% at 9,574.07 a little while ago.
DCC, Croda International, Spirax Group, Diageo, Convatec Group, Whitbread, Halma, EasyJet, Coca-Cola HBC, Diploma, Scottish Mortgage, Prudential, Kingfisher and Airtel Africa are down 1 to 3.2%.
GSK is climbing nearly 5.5%. The pharmaceutical giant reported robust 2024 performance and lifted its long-term sales outlook.
Fresnillo is up almost 4%. BT Group, Entain, Marks & Spencer, Endeavour Mining, Auto Trader Group and Tesco are gaining 1 to 1.5%.
On the economic front, the S&P Global UK Composite PMI rose to 50.6 in January of 2025 from 50.4 in the previous month, recovering from a 14-month low.
The services sector PMI reading came in at 50.8 for January, after a 51.1 score a month earlier, while the manufacturing PMI came in at 48.3 vs 47.0.
Market Analysis
FTSE 100 Roughly Flat; GSK Rises Over 5%
2025-02-05 11:22:23
