Healthcare boosts UK's FTSE 100 as earnings, Fed meeting in focus (updated)
29/07/2025 17:30
FTSE 100 up 0.6%, FTSE 250 down 0.7%
AstraZeneca up after Q2 profit beats expectations
Greggs falls on lower first-half profit
Inchcape slips on HY profit drop
Updates after market close
July 29 (Reuters) -
Britain's FTSE 100 closed higher on Tuesday, led by healthcare shares, as investors assessed mixed corporate updates and awaited the Federal Reserve's next policy decision on Wednesday.
The benchmark index .FTSE rose 0.6%.
Healthcare stocks .FTNMX201030 gained 2.2% after AstraZeneca AZN.L beat second-quarter revenue and profit expectations. Shares of the drugmaker climbed 3.4%.
Heavyweight bank stocks .FTNMX301010 advanced 1.5%, tracking gains in European peers. Barclays BARC.L gained 2.8% after the British lender's first-half profit rose by a better-than-expected 23%.
Europe's bank stocks rose to their highest level since September 2008 as investors bet on improved profits and resilience in an industry broadly insulated from tariff turmoil.
Precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 led sectoral gains with a 2.4% rise as gold prices steadied after hitting their lowest level since July 9 on Monday.GOL/
Conversely, chemical stocks .FTNMX552010 lost 5.4%, pressured by Croda International's CRDA.L 10.4% fall, after the chemical company reported first-half sales below estimates.
Industrial miners .FTNMX551020 lost 1.3%, tracking lower copper prices. MET/L
Glencore GLEN.L and Anglo American AAL.L fell 3.4% and 1.6% respectively.
Among other individual stocks, Games Workshop GAW.L surged 5.4% to top the FTSE 100 index, after the miniature wargames maker reported a nearly 30% jump in annual pre-tax profit.
The domestically-focused midcap FTSE 250 index .FTMC closed down 0.7%, pressured by Inchcape's INCH.L 11.7% fall after the car distributor reported a 4% drop in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit at constant currency.
Greggs GRG.L slipped 4.7% after reporting a 14% fall in first-half profit.
On trade, U.S. Commerce chief Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump would make his trade deal decisions this week, even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue.
U.S. and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations.
Trump also flagged a "world tariff" rate of 15% to 20% on Monday for countries that were not negotiating a deal, among the highest rates since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Focus will be on the U.S. central bank's policy meeting, which is expected to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
((Sukriti.Gupta@thomsonreuters.com;))
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