On Wednesday, UK stocks experienced a modest increase, establishing yet another record high. This occurred while the value of the British pound fell slightly in anticipation of the Bank of England's policy announcement scheduled for Thursday.
Although an immediate interest rate reduction is not widely expected, investors are keen to discern if the central bank is planning on initiating rate cuts in the summer.
The principal FTSE 100 rose by 27 points, an uptick of 0.3 percent, reaching 8,341 following a 1.2 percent rise on Tuesday.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca saw a 1.6 percent surge. This follows their announcement to begin the process of globally withdrawing their Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine due to low demand and the plentiful supply of new vaccines.
Conversely, oil and gas titan BP Plc witnessed a fall of over 2 percent. This is a day after revealing a 45 percent drop in Q1 earnings.
The Workspace Group, a real estate investment trust, experienced a 1.7 percent decline after announcing the designation of Lawrence Hutchings as their new CEO.
On a positive note, publishing and exhibitions firm Informa saw a boost of 2.3 percent. This comes after the successful start to 2024 which led to an increase in its share buyback program by 50 percent.
Additionally, HSBC Holdings, the lending institution, garnered more than a 1 percent increase after publicising their intention to launch four separate cash purchase offers for all four series of notes.