Lunchtime market roundup: FTSE 100 up ahead of US rate decision

London’s blue chip index was higher at midday on Wednesday, though gave back some earlier gains, as Diploma remained the index’s top performer.

The FTSE 100 index was up 12.20 points, 0.1%, at 10,415.80. The FTSE 250 was up 102.60 points, 0.5%, at 22,289.22, and the AIM all-share was up 1.94 points, 0.3%, at 762.08.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,035.28, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.7% higher at 19,460.42, and the Cboe small companies was down slightly at 17,526.57.

In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.6% higher.

Sterling was at $1.3356 at midday on Wednesday, up slightly from $1.3345 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro was marginally higher at $1.1542 from $1.1531. Against the yen, the dollar was unchanged at JP¥159.01.

‘Talk of a deal between Iraq and Turkey to restart oil supplies has helped to calm financial markets,’ said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.

The state-owned North Oil Company said it ‘has begun operating the Sarlo pumping station to resume pumping and exporting Kirkuk oil to the port of Ceyhan with an initial capacity of 250,000 barrels per day’.

‘This provided some relief to investors on the edge of their seats amid worries about disruptions to oil supplies,’ AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said.

He added that ‘getting the commodity value significantly lower still depends on resolving issues around the Strait of Hormuz’.

Brent oil was trading higher at $104.35 a barrel at midday on Wednesday from $101.95 on Tuesday.

Investors are also looking ahead to the US Federal Reserve decision this evening. The Bank of England decision will follow on Thursday.

‘It’s a big week for interest rates in the UK and US, but the Middle East crisis could put any monetary changes on ice. It’s a wait and see situation as policymakers get to grips with whether an inflation shock will be short lived or a long-lasting pain to fight,’ AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould said.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury slimmed to 4.19% at midday on Wednesday from 4.20% at Tuesday’s close. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury narrowed to 4.83% from 4.85%.

Back in London, shares in Diploma jumped 18% and led the FTSE 100 as it said trading remains ‘very strong’ as it announced a ‘significant’ increase to full-year guidance.

The London-based supplier of specialised technical products and services now expects organic revenue growth of 9% in the financial year to September, up from 6% previously. It expects an operating margin of around 25%, raised from around 22.5% before.

Overall, Diploma said this represents an around 13% upgrade to consensus operating profit for the financial year, which it currently puts at £377 million.

Unilever shares were down 2.3% after Bloomberg reported that it is in the early stages of considering a separation of its food assets as it seeks growth from beauty, personal care and wellbeing brands.

Bloomberg sources said the London-based consumer goods firm, which owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Marmite spread, is speaking with advisers as it studies future options for streamlining its sprawling portfolio, including a potential separation of most or all of the food business.

A transaction would likely value the Unilever food brands at tens of billions of dollars, the report added.

‘Unilever knows how to execute a demerger and could repeat the same process for the food arm as it did with the ice cream assets, assuming a buyer with a reasonable offer fails to emerge,’ said AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth.

On the FTSE 250 index, shares in Moonpig jumped 8.3% as it announced plans for a new £65 million share buyback amid strong cash flow generation and confidence in future prospects.

The London-based online greeting cards and gifting platform said the group has continued to trade in-line with expectations through the second half of the financial year which ends in April.

As a result, Moonpig expects to deliver full-year guidance of mid-single digit percentage growth in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation from £96.8 million in the year prior.

It anticipates growth in adjusted earnings per share to be at the top-end of guidance of 8% to 12% growth, supported by strong free cash flow generation and the accretive impact of buybacks.

Moonpig intends to commence a further share buyback of up to £65 million in financial 2027 after completing its £60 million buyback by the end of the financial year.

Among small caps, Genel Energy climbed 4.2% as it said its pretax loss narrowed to $12.7 million in 2025 from $62.1 million a year prior.

Revenue fell 8.0% to $68.7 million from $74.7 million.

‘We have established an ever more resilient business with significant upside potential, and we are now well-placed to deliver value to our shareholders and build a business that generates resilient, diversified and predictable cash flows that will support the resumption of distributions to shareholders,’ said Chief Executive Paul Weir.

Gold was lower at $4,912.80 an ounce at midday on Wednesday from $4,994.57 late Tuesday.

Still to come on Wednesday’s economic calendar is the interest rate call in the US, as well as producer inflation and factory orders. Canada also has its rate decision.

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