BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks are up firmly in positive territory about an hour past noon on Wednesday, with pharma stocks figuring prominently in the list of gainers following Pfizer reaching a deal with the U.S. government to lower prescription drug prices in exchange for tariff relief.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 60.06 points or 0.65% at 9,410.49 nearly an hour past noon.
AstraZeneca Pharma, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and GSK are up 6.3%, 3.5% and 2.75%, respectively.
JD Sports Fashion is gaining nearly 4%. Intertek Group, Croda International, Burberry Group, Antofagasta, Melrose Industries, Spirax Group, Centrica, Standard Chartered, Shell, Glencore, DCC. Associated British Foods, Schroders, Pearson and 3i Group are up 1 to 2%.
Babcock International is down 2.7%. Howden Joinery, Tesco, Imperial Brands, Coca-Cola HBC, Experian, Auto Trader Group, Relx, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Pershing Square Holdings, Persimmon and Rightmove are down 1 to 2.5%.
British baker and fast-food chain Greggs is soaring 7% as it reported 6.1% sales growth over the third quarter of 2025.
Spirits major Diageo is up 1.5% after pricing €1 billion of fixed rate bonds under its European Debt Issuance Program.
UK house prices growth accelerated in September amid easing borrowing costs, data from the mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society showed. House prices logged an annual growth of 2.2% in September, slightly faster than the prior month's 2.1% rise. The annual increase was forecast to ease to 1.8%.
On a monthly basis, house prices rebounded 0.5% after a 0.1% drop in August. This was also faster than economists' forecast of 0.2%.
Data showed that house prices climbed 0.4% in the third quarter from the preceding quarter. Compared to the last year, house prices increased 2.3%.
The S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI dropped to 46.2 in September 2025, a five-month low and well below the 50.0 growth threshold, marking a twelfth straight month of contraction, in line with preliminary estimates, data drom S&P Global showed.
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