The FTSE 100 Index Opens 0.28% Higher

The FTSE 100 Index is up by 30 points or 0.28 percent on Wednesday. Top gainers are Rentokil Initial (2.15%), Babcock International (1.41%) and The Sage Group (1.35%). Biggest losses came from Spirax-Sarco Engineering (-1.86%), Vodafone (-1.72%) and Smiths (-1.44%).

The FTSE 100 traded higher on Wednesday after falling 0.3% in the previous session, supported by continued weakness in oil prices and renewed hopes for progress in US-Iran diplomacy. Oil prices extended their decline for a sixth consecutive session, putting Brent on track for its longest losing streak in more than a year. Prices fell after President Donald Trump said US officials had held a “very good” meeting with Iranian envoys as Washington renewed efforts to end the conflict. Among individual stocks, JD Sports rose almost 1% after maintaining its guidance, despite trimming its outlook last month amid weakness in the trainer market. Diageo fell around 0.8% after appointing Joanne Wilson, currently CFO of WPP, as its new chief financial officer from 2027. Meanwhile, Airtel Money confirmed plans for a London listing that could become the city’s largest IPO since 2021. On the data front, the UK Composite PMI eased to 51.7 in September, slightly under market expectations of 52.

The FTSE 100 Index dropped 17 points or 0.16 percent on Tuesday to close at 10722 points. Losses were led by Admiral (-3.39%), BT (-3.24%) and BAE Systems (-2.55%). Offsetting the fall, top gainers were Kingfisher (12.23%), Smiths (7.80%) and JD Sports Fashion (6.79%).