Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUK stocks rose as healthcare and mining shares led gains. FTSE 100 closed higher amid positive trade talks between the EU and U.S.
(Reuters) -British equities closed higher on Wednesday, with healthcare and mining shares leading gains as global investors added risk and watched global trade developments.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.2% higher, while the midcap index added 0.5%.
Healthcare stocks were among the biggest boost, with index heavyweight AstraZeneca rising more than 1%.
Industrial metal miners also rose 1.4%, tracking higher base metal prices.
Topping the blue-chip index, Babcock jumped 4.3% after JP Morgan placed the British engineering group on positive catalyst watch, citing potential new medium-term financial guidance.
Among the midcaps, DiscoverIE surged 15.6% after the designer and manufacturer of customised electronics posted a 4% rise in 2025 preliminary adjusted pretax profit.
On the downside, heavyweight energy stocks shed 1.4% as crude oil prices fell after U.S. data showed larger-than-expected inventories of gasoline and diesel.
Discount retailer B&M languished at the bottom of the midcap index, down 14.7% after saying annual underlying UK sales fell short of its target and that higher costs would pressure profits in its new financial year.
Global focus was on trade discussions, with top trade negotiators from both the EU and the U.S. saying that talks are going in the right direction.
The U.S. late on Tuesday announced it would skip doubling steel and aluminium tariffs for Britain, hours after the UK government said the two countries agreed on the need to implement a tariff relief deal as soon as possible.
Focus was on the pace of trade negotiations, as Wednesday is the deadline for U.S. trading partners to submit their proposals to avoid Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs taking effect in early July.
British equities have rebounded from their April lows after the country clinched a limited trade agreement with the U.S. earlier in May. The blue-chip FTSE 100 is now sitting about 1% away from its all-time highs.
Meanwhile, the S&P Global PMI data showed that Britain's services sector returned to tepid growth in May after fears about Trump's tariffs caused it to shrink in April.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Rashika Singh; Editing by Vijay Kishore and David Gregorio)
Healthcare and mining shares led the gains in UK stocks, with AstraZeneca rising more than 1% and industrial metal miners increasing by 1.4%.
Global focus was on trade discussions, with positive signals from EU and U.S. negotiators, contributing to the rebound of British equities from their April lows.
Heavyweight energy stocks shed 1.4% as crude oil prices fell due to larger-than-expected inventories of gasoline and diesel reported in U.S. data.
DiscoverIE surged 15.6% after reporting a 4% rise in its 2025 preliminary adjusted pretax profit.
The U.S. announced it would skip doubling steel and aluminium tariffs for Britain, which positively influenced market sentiment regarding trade relations.
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