Tariff pause by Washington buoys FTSE 100, insurer Admiral jumps

UK shares gained for a second straight session on Wednesday over hopes of an improvement in global trade relations after Washington delayed imposing tariffs on some Chinese goods, while insurer Admiral rose after reporting a market-beating profit. The FTSE 100 index added 0.2% and the FTSE 250 midcap index rose 0.1% by 0707 GMT.

Admiral jumped 6% to the top of the main bourse after the company posted a bigger-than-expected rise in earnings, driven by more customers in its UK business. Drugmaker AstraZeneca rose nearly 2%, providing the biggest support to the index after its drug Lynparza met the primary endpoint in a phase III trial for ovarian cancer treatment.

Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty and Cybersecurity firm Avast were at the top of the midcap index with gains of 6.7% and 4.2%, respectively, after strong results.