BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors digested crucial economic data and looked ahead to a slew of corporate earnings announcements.
The benchmark FTSE 100, moving between 10,702.83 and 10,757.33, was up 5.13 points or 0.05% at 10,738.13 nearly half an hour past noon.
Riding on higher oil prices, Ithaca Energy and BP gained 3% and 2%, respectively.
Computacenter gained more than 3%. Convatec Group, Lion Finance, Experian, WPP, Admiral Group, Compass Group, Games Workshop and Scottish Mortgage advanced 1%-2%.
Bank stocks Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings, Barclays Group, Natwest Group and Lloyds Banking Group are modestly higher.
Aberdeen shares dropped nearly 4% after the company said its assets under management and administration rose 4% at the end of September from the end of 2025.
Miners Fresnillo and Antofagasta lost 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively. Anglo American Plc drifted down 1.1%.
3i Group drifted lower by 3.3%. Kingfisher shed about 2.1%. Unilever, Vodafone Group, Howden Joinery Group, United Utilities and Rolls-Royce Holdings also weakened.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer price inflation rose to a one-year high in September on motor fuel prices. Consumer prices registered an annual growth of 3.5% after rising 3.1% in August. The rate was the highest since last October and also came in above forecast of 3.4%.
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, accelerated to 2.8% in September from 2.6% in the prior month.
The CPI goods annual rate advanced to 3.2% from 2.7% and services inflation rose to 3.7% from 3.4%.
Month-on-month, consumer prices grew 0.4%, slightly slower than the 0.5% rise seen in August. Prices were forecast to rise 0.3%.
Another report from ONS showed that output price inflation hit the highest since April 2023. Factory gate prices were up 4.6%, following a revised 3.8% rise in August. On a monthly basis, output prices gained 0.8% after rising 0.7% a month ago.
Input price inflation rose to a four-month high of 8.3% in September from 6.7% in August. Monthly input prices moved up 1.5%, up from a revised increase of 0.5% in the prior month. per
A separate data from ONS showed the UK budget deficit widened more than estimated in September, increasing to GBP 24.5 billion from GBP 22.8 billion in the previous year. This was GBP 1.9 billion above the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast as spending growth outpaced the increase in receipts.
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