London open: FTSE rises as investors eye Fed, BoE

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, taking their cue from positive sessions in the US and Asia, as investors eyed the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and this week's Bank of England announcement.

At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,712.22.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "UK markets have continued on the front foot, with yesterday's close marking four consecutive days of gains for the FTSE 100, with another jump higher this morning.

"Positive earnings reports and growing optimism about China's economic recovery helped lead insurers and miners to the forefront in yesterday's session. This week, all eyes are on the Bank of England's upcoming interest rate decision on Thursday, with markets pricing in a 90% chance of no change as policymakers navigate the challenging task of balancing slowing growth with sticky inflation."

Before that, the Fed's two-day policy meeting kicks off on Tuesday.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "We don't expect the Fed to change policy on Wednesday; but the updated economic forecasts and dot plot will be crucial for the direction of asset prices later this week."

In equity markets, Anglo American rallied after an upgrade to 'sector perform' from 'underperform' at RBC Capital Markets. Miners more generally were doing well, with Glencore and Antofagasta also among the top gainers on the FTSE 100.

Bytes Technology surged as it reported double-digit growth across all key financial metrics over the year to 28 February, with gross invoiced income topping the �2bn mark for the first time.

IT firm Computacenter made solid gains as it posted lower annual profit in line with expectations amid an uncertain macroeconomic environment and softer market conditions in the UK, offset by stronger performances in the US and Germany, particularly in the second half.

Trustpilot jumped as it lifted its full-year outlook for 2025 following a "strong" performance in 2024.

STEM-focused recruiter SThree advanced as it held on to its full-year guidance despite a weak first quarter with double-digit declines in fees for both contract and permanent positions.

On the downside, Close Brothers tanked after the merchant banking group said it swung to a hefty loss in the first half on the back of a �165m provision for motor finance commissions.

Close Brothers reported a pre-tax loss of �103m for the six months to 31 January, compared with a �88.1m profit a year earlier. The �165m motor finance provision had already been well flagged.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,712.22 0.37%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,108.33 0.40%

techMARK (TASX) 4,777.85 0.36%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,388.50p 1.90%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,924.00p 1.61%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 529.40p 1.50%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,415.00p 1.40%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,019.00p 1.39%

BP (BP.) 437.80p 1.38%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 324.90p 1.31%

Glencore (GLEN) 323.00p 1.30%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 292.40p 1.18%

Barclays (BARC) 298.30p 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 10,920.00p -0.55%

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,439.00p -0.53%

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,590.00p -0.48%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,186.00p -0.44%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,576.00p -0.44%

National Grid (NG.) 972.40p -0.43%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 984.60p -0.40%

GSK (GSK) 1,530.00p -0.39%

Haleon (HLN) 390.90p -0.36%

SEGRO (SGRO) 704.20p -0.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 476.20p 14.91%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 309.50p 11.93%

Computacenter (CCC) 2,556.00p 9.51%

Softcat (SCT) 1,586.00p 5.66%

JTC (JTC) 999.00p 4.72%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 629.00p 3.71%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 724.00p 2.84%

Future (FUTR) 896.00p 2.69%

Moonpig Group (MOON) 210.50p 2.68%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 81.10p 2.66%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 399.40p -4.04%

International Workplace Group (IWG) 175.80p -2.77%

AO World (AO.) 95.10p -2.76%

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 149.40p -2.23%

Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 92.00p -2.13%

Trainline (TRN) 278.80p -0.99%

Elementis (ELM) 148.00p -0.94%

Harworth Group (HWG) 165.00p -0.90%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 572.00p -0.78%

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 107.20p -0.74%