The FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday while US stocks slipped, as markets looked ahead to interest rate calls from both countries’ central banks later in the week.
The Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve are poised to announce their latest decisions on interest rates, with traders expecting both to hold rates at their current levels.
In the UK, policymakers have been gradually cutting borrowing costs since August last year, easing pressure on some borrowers who have seen lower mortgage rates enter the market.
But the bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, has stressed a “gradual and careful approach” to reducing rates.
Danni Hewson, an analyst at AJ Bell, said markets will be “paying more attention to what (central bankers) say about the outlook for the coming year, with tariff uncertainty and concerns about global growth expected to dominate discussions”.
London’s blue-chip index rose 25 points to finish the day at 8,705, a 0.3% rise.
Meanwhile Wall Street fell back after strong gains at the start of the week, with the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Dow Jones down 0.9% as UK markets were closing.
Germany’s Dax index rose 1% and France’s Cac 40 gained 0.5%.
Sterling was up 0.1% against the dollar at 1.2996, while it was 0.1% down against the euro at 1.1882.
In company news, Close Brothers said it swung to a loss after setting aside £165 million in provisions for the motor finance commission scandal.
Shares in the company slumped by 21.8% after it posted a statutory pre-tax loss of £103.8 million for the six months to January 31, against profits of £87 million a year ago.
It came after Close Brothers last month put by the provision to cover possible legal and compensation costs following recent developments in the car loans commission affair.
Meanwhile, H&T Group announced higher profits for the past 12 months as pressure on consumer finances helped drive higher demand for pawnbroking.
The UK’s largest pawnbroker said “the need for small sum, short-term lending continues to grow given macroeconomic conditions” and a “continued lack of supply of small-sum credit”.
The company said it also benefited from strong retail sales of jewellery and watches at its high street stores.
Shares rose 2.6% on Tuesday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were JD Sports, up 3.4p to 77.94p, Standard Chartered, up 42.5p to 1206p, NatWest Group, up 16.2p to 464.9p, Marks & Spencer, up 11.5p to 332.2p, and Airtel Africa, up 4.7p to 159.4p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Games Workshop, down 420p to 14240p, Sage Group, down 22p to 1170p, Halma, down 46p to 2644p, Unilever, down 67p to 4529p, and Rightmove, down 9.4p to 677.2p.
