BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were up in positive territory a little past noon on Thursday with investors reacting to a slew of earnings announcements and digesting the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rate by 25 basis points.
The Bank of England today raised its interest rate to 4%, as widely expected, after holding the rate at 3.75% since December 2025.
The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to increase the Base Rate by 0.25%, up from 3.75%, in its first rise in three years. The base rate significantly affects the cost of mortgages and loans and the interest rates banks offer on savings accounts.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 79.23 points or 0.73% at 10,908.44 a few minutes past noon.
Mining stock Endeavour Mining surged nearly 7%. Fresnillo moved up 3.6%, Rio Tinto climbed 2.5%, Glencore advanced 2.3% and Anglo American Plc gained 2.1%.
Lion Finance rallied 4.1%. BT Group gained nearly 4% after the telecom major reported strong first-half 2027 results.
U.K. fashion and homewares retailer Next climbed up more than 1%. The company retained its full-year profit guidance after full-price sales rose 8.1 percent in the 13 weeks to 31 October.
Drinks giant Diageo rallied 3.5% after posting an unexpected gain in quarterly organic sales.
National Grid, Diageo, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Next, Standard Chartered, Croda International, Investec, Kingfisher, WPP, Spirax Group, Airtel Afrca, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Lloyds Banking Group gained 2%-3%.
BAE Systems tumbled 5.2%. AutoTrader Group drifted lower by 3.7%. Babcock International, Associated British Foods, Polar Capital Technology Trust, IG Group Holdings and Convatec Group posted moderate losses.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Construction PMI fell to 43.6 in October from 46.1 in September, missing expectations of 46.1 and signaling the sharpest contraction in construction output since June.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited showed UK new car registrations increased 5.4% year-on-year to 152,730 units in October, marking an 11th consecutive monthly gain, although growth slowed following September's seasonal surge.
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