(Reuters) -London’s FTSE 100 reached a fresh intraday peak on Wednesday, propelled by gains in the healthcare sector, while investors assessed the ramifications of the U.S. government shutdown on the release of critical economic indicators.
The blue-chip index rose 0.7% as of 0950 GMT, building on its record-breaking close in the previous session and capping off the third quarter with a gain of about 7%.
Healthcare stocks emerged as the standout performers, surging 4.6%.
Industry giants AstraZeneca rallied 6.1%, Hikma rose 3.6% and GSK was up 2.6%, in unison with their European counterparts.
This comes a day after Pfizer and President Donald Trump said the U.S.-based drugmaker had agreed to lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid programme in exchange for tariff relief.
However, caution prevailed in world markets due to concerns surrounding the U.S. government shutdown.
Federal operations in the U.S. were largely suspended on Wednesday, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty at a juncture when markets are particularly sensitive to signals about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy direction.
The midcap index FTSE 250 fell 0.2%.
Tate & Lyle was the biggest drag on the index after the food ingredients maker warned that its annual profit and revenue would fall due to a demand slowdown in the Americas, its key market.
Its shares plummeted 9.7% to levels not seen since 2009.
The aerospace and defence index was the biggest decliner among sectors, down 1.4%, after gaining more than 2% in the previous session.
On the data front, British house prices rose slightly faster than expected in September with a 0.5% increase, after dropping 0.1% in August, mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society said.
An index of the UK’s homebuilding companies was 0.5% lower.
Among other stocks, Greggs rose 7.4% after the bakery and fast-food chain reported a 6.1% rise in third-quarter total sales, saying business improved in August and September.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
