Leading shares are heading higher for the second day, boosted by a hefty rise on Wall Street ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Thursday.
Burberry is leading the way in the FTSE 100, up 49p or more than 3% to £14.54 after positive results from luxury group peer Richemont. China’s slowdown and the recent collapse in its share market has led to huge volatility for global investors, but it was Richemont’s comments about sales growth resuming in the country - where Burberry has a significant presence - which has helped buoy the shares.
Overall the FTSE 100 is up 43.31 points at 6180.91 following a 228 point rise on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a late surge in the Chinese stock market. Traders are still unclear whether the Fed will raise borrowing costs or whether the recent volatility in China and a spate of weak economic data would stay its hand.
UK unemployment fell back in the three months to July and earnings came in higher than expected, prompting more talk that a UK rate rise could be on the way next year.
Elsewhere SABMiller is up 86p at 3100.5p on renewed takeover speculation, while Reckitt Benckiser has added after Exane BNP Paribas raised its recommendation from underperform to outperform and its target price from £56.68 to £66.
Among the fallers, packaging group Mondi is down after Goldman Sachs moved from neutral to sell, while Inmarsat - which has risen recently after a successful satellite launch - as Berenberg reduced its rating from hold to sell.
Miners continued to be weak on global growth worries, with Antofagasta down 9.5p at 596p and Rio Tinto falling 32.5p to £23.56.
But Glencore climbed 1.25p to 129.3p as it raised £1.6bn through a placing of shares at 125p each.
