UK’s FTSE 100 rises ahead of Fed decision

UK’s FTSE 100 index saw a slight increase of 0.2 per cent at 0721 GMT on Wednesday, continuing its upward trend with monthly gains of 2.4 per cent in April and 4.2 per cent in March, according to Reuters.

This comes as investors anticipate the Federal Reserve’s policy decision, which could provide insights into potential interest rate cuts this year following recent disappointing US inflation figures.

In the pharmaceutical sector, GSK’s shares rose by 0.4 per cent after the company increased its full-year profit forecast and predicted higher sales for the first half of the year.

However, the UK’s midcap stocks experienced a downturn, with shares of luxury carmaker Aston Martin dropping by 7.6 per cent due to a larger-than-expected pretax loss in the first quarter. Consequently, the mid-cap FTSE 250 index declined by 0.2 per cent, marking its second day of consecutive losses.