Britain’s FTSE gets a boost

Britain’s top share index climbs on Wednesday, helped by bullishness over pharmaceutical stocks.

London - Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday, helped by bullishness over pharmaceutical stocks from brokers, though software firm Sage fell after results.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 21.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,416.80 by 09h02 GMT, with pharmaceutical stocks contributing the most to gains.

GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Shire combined to add over 8.5 points to the index, with the sector lifted by a note from Morgan Stanley.

AstraZeneca benefited from a double upgrade to “overweight”, while GlaxoSmithKline saw its target price lifted.

“AstraZeneca... has underperformed dramatically over the past year, but looks set to reap the rewards of heavy investment, at an attractive valuation,” Morgan Stanley said in the note.

The biggest faller was Sage, down 5.3 percent. The software firm said it achieved its target of growing revenue by 6 percent in the 12 months ended September and it would equal or better the performance in its new financial year.

While the underlying performance was strong, brokers said, currency swings and an accounting change muddied the picture.

“Our initial take is that Sage's underlying performance is possibly a touch ahead of expectations, albeit currency headwinds mean that the overall numbers are in-line,” analysts at Numis said in a note, cutting their rating to “hold” from “buy”.

“However this is all slightly muddied by an accounting policy change which we expect to cause some early sell-side confusion this morning.”

Among mid-caps, Greene King gained over 8 percent after it posted a rise in profit in its first set of interim results since taking over smaller rival Spirit Pub, as more customers flocked to its pubs.

It also increased its synergy guidance from the merger.

Among FTSE 250 fallers, price comparison site Moneysupermarket fell nearly 7 percent after its founder sold a stake in the company.

REUTERS