FTSE 100 inches up on strong earnings, gains in miners; Aveva slumps

Glencore climbed 1.8% to lead gains among the miners. However, shares in Diageo were the biggest drag on the index , falling 1.1%, after Deutsche Bank downgraded the Johnnie Walker whisky maker's stock to "hold" from "buy".

London's FTSE 100 edged up on Wednesday, driven by gains in miners and strong corporate updates, although a fall in consumer staple stocks and industrial software company Aveva Group capped the rise. The blue-chip index gained 0.1%, with Lloyds Banking Group rising 2.7% to top the index after Britain's largest mortgage lender reported upbeat first-quarter profits, largely shrugging off the country's worsening cost of living crisis.

WPP advanced 1.2% as the world's largest advertising group raised its full-year net sales outlook after strong demand for digital media, ecommerce and data services helped it top estimates for first-quarter trading. Glencore climbed 1.8% to lead gains among the miners.

However, shares in Diageo were the biggest drag on the index , falling 1.1%, after Deutsche Bank downgraded the Johnnie Walker whisky maker's stock to "hold" from "buy". Aveva slumped 14.8% to the bottom of the index after it warned a revenue hit from sanctions on Russia would drop through to its operating profit this year, while wage inflation, increased travel costs and investment in cloud would also take a toll.

The domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index declined 0.2%.