Healthcare boosts UK's FTSE 100 as earnings, Fed meeting in focus

Tue, 29th Jul 2025 17:30

AstraZeneca up after Q2 profit beats expectations

Greggs falls on lower first-half profit

Inchcape slips on HY profit drop

July 29 (Reuters) -

Britain's FTSE 100 closed higher on Tuesday, led by healthcare shares, as investors assessed mixed corporate updates and awaited the Federal Reserve's next policy decision on Wednesday.

The benchmark index rose 0.6%.

Healthcare stocks gained 2.2% after AstraZeneca beat second-quarter revenue and profit expectations. Shares of the drugmaker climbed 3.4%.

Heavyweight bank stocks advanced 1.5%, tracking gains in European peers. Barclays gained 2.8% after the British lender's first-half profit rose by a better-than-expected 23%.

Europe's bank stocks rose to their highest level since September 2008 as investors bet on improved profits and resilience in an industry broadly insulated from tariff turmoil.

Precious metal miners led sectoral gains with a 2.4% rise as gold prices steadied after hitting their lowest level since July 9 on Monday.

Conversely, chemical stocks lost 5.4%, pressured by Croda International's 10.4% fall, after the chemical company reported first-half sales below estimates.

Industrial miners lost 1.3%, tracking lower copper prices.

Glencore and Anglo American fell 3.4% and 1.6% respectively.

Among other individual stocks, Games Workshop surged 5.4% to top the FTSE 100 index, after the miniature wargames maker reported a nearly 30% jump in annual pre-tax profit.

The domestically-focused midcap FTSE 250 index closed down 0.7%, pressured by Inchcape's 11.7% fall after the car distributor reported a 4% drop in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit at constant currency.

Greggs slipped 4.7% after reporting a 14% fall in first-half profit.

On trade, U.S. Commerce chief Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump would make his trade deal decisions this week, even as separate negotiations with China and the European Union continue.

U.S. and EU officials were still discussing steel and aluminium tariffs as well as digital services regulations.

Trump also flagged a "world tariff" rate of 15% to 20% on Monday for countries that were not negotiating a deal, among the highest rates since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Focus will be on the U.S. central bank's policy meeting, which is expected to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)