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The FTSE 100 opened 73 points higher at 10,338, backed by early gains from miners. The sentiment was lifted by Donald Trump’s high-stakes diplomatic visit to Beijing, where he is set to meet President Xi Jinping to discuss trade and the Iran conflict.
Intertek Group surged 7.26% to £5,685, while Antofagasta advanced 5.16% to £4,158 and Fresnillo gained 4.73% to £3,812.
Among other gainers, Anglo American rose 4.39% to £4,069, while Endeavour Mining added 4.29% to £5,032 and Rio Tinto edged higher by 3.88% to £8,227.
On the downside, RELX dropped 1.75% to £2,412, while Imperial Brands declined 1.34% to £2,794 and Coca-Cola HBC slipped 1.03% to £4,226.
Among other laggards, Spirax Group eased 0.49% to £7,130, while London Stock Exchange Group fell 0.47% to £9,304 and Next edged lower by 0.28% to £12,410.
Babcock International has revealed a new £200 million share buyback despite taking a £140 million hit on its Type 31 frigate programme.
Profits were dragged lower by a non-recurring charge linked to the Royal Navy frigate contract, followed by an engineering "maturity review" of the five-ship programme after higher levels of rework than expected during the outfitting stage of the first two vessels.
The first two ships have been floated off, with the keel of ship three laid, and construction has formally started on ship four. Around £100 million of the £140 million charge will be recognised as a revenue reversal in the 2026 financial year.
Underlying operating profit excluding the Type 31 charge rose 19% at constant currency, while revenue climbed 10%.
Intertek is poised to accept a £10 billion offer from a Swedish private equity firm after months of uncertainty.
The firm said on Wednesday morning that it “would be minded” to recommend the latest offer from EQT to its shareholders. This £10.6 billion offer is the fourth one by the Swedish firm in recent months.
The new deal proposes £60 cash per share, valuing Intertek at £10.6 billion including debt, and follows previous offers of £51, £54 and £58 per share, which the firm said “significantly” undervalued the company.
Vertu Motors suffered a loss of profit in the last year owing to the cyber-attack at Jaguar Land Rover. The firm said pre-tax profit fell by 18% in the year to February to £20 million.
The JLR cyber-attack last year disrupted Vertu Motors’ vehicle supply and access to car parts. The car dealership was handed a £3.4 million insurance payout earlier this year but said the total losses from the cyber-attack stood at £3.9 million.
In US, stocks were mixed overnight, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq sliding 0.7%, while the S&P 500 closed down less than 0.2% and the Dow Jones rose 0.1%.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.5% to 7,825.8 points. Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.8% to 63,281.1 points, but Taiwan’s TAIEX tumbled 1.2% as investors opted to take profits from leading tech stocks. In China, the CSI 300 gained 0.6%, and the Shanghai Composite increased 0.5%. In India, the Nifty 50 gained 0.63%, and the Sensex rose 0.58%.
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