London stocks rise over 1% on upbeat earnings, BoE decision in focus

The medical equipment and services index climbed 3.1%, leading sectoral gains. Sainsbury's moved 4.5% higher after the supermarket group said full-year profit would come in at the upper half of its forecast.

Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 rose on Thursday, buoyed by a slew of upbeat earnings from industry giants such as BT and Sainsbury, while investors braced for Bank of England's monetary policy decision, due later in the day.

The internationally-focused FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 8:57 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 moved 2.0% higher. Both indexes are on track for their best day in over three weeks. BT Group jumped 6.4% after its second-quarter earnings came in slightly ahead of forecasts.

Smith+ Nephew gained 3.4% after the medical products maker beat third-quarter revenue expectations and named a new finance chief. The medical equipment and services index climbed 3.1%, leading sectoral gains.

Sainsbury's moved 4.5% higher after the supermarket group said full-year profit would come in at the upper half of its forecast. Shell gained 2% after it posted in-line quarterly profit and announced a share buyback programme of $3.5 billion over the next three months.

The broader oil and gas index was up 1.3% on the news, while higher oil prices also supported gains. Precious metal miners added 1.4%, while industrial metal miners advanced 2.5% as prices of most non-ferrous metals, including copper and gold, gained on the weakness in the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields.

Investors will now closely monitor BoE's monetary policy meeting, later in the day where the central bank is widely expected to hold borrowing costs at a 15-year high of 5.25%. "The BoE don't want to squeeze too hard and damage the economy but first rate cut can only be expected at this time next year", said Russ Mould, Investment director at AJ Bell.

Entain shares slipped 3.9% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 as the owner of Ladbrokes betting shops posted a fall in online net gaming revenue for the third quarter, hurt by adverse sporting results and ongoing regulations.