London close: FTSE higher ahead of Trump's tax reform unveiling

Stocks in London ended Wednesday on a positive note ahead of US President Donald Trump's big unveiling of his much-anticipated tax reform proposals.

The White House has mooted a variety of tax cuts, among them slashing the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 15%, but the fine grain and budget detail on this remained outstanding.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.18% to 7,288.72, and the FTSE 250 ended the day higher by 0.49% to 19,678.82. Wall St was making minor gains in early deals, with Europe generally a little ahead.

"A feeling of anticipation has gripped financial markets today as investors prepare for Trump's big announcement clarifying how and when his 'phenomenal' tax reforms will play out," said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.

"Although there is the possibility of the dollar stabilising in the short term if Trump delivers, concerns still linger over the plan being light on details."

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, added that indices in Europe were well supported as they attempt to build on the gains of the last two days.

He cited another record high for the FTSE 250 ahead of further details about a framework for US tax reform. Markets were also looking ahead to the European Central Bank's rate call tomorrow.

"This afternoon's comments from US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin ... suggests that we'll get an aspiration list," said Hewson.

"Anything tangible will have to wait until much later in the year, meaning that we're not really that much better off than we were 24 hours ago in terms of detail."

"This probably helps explain why European stocks have remained in a holding pattern just below this week’s peaks, as we look ahead to tomorrows ECB rate meeting, as well as next week's Fed meeting."

Back in London, pharmaceutical, financial, banking and property stocks on the FTSE 100 did well overall, with miners lagging the leaders.

In corporate news, emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered rose after reporting a near doubling of its first-quarter profits as revenue increased and loan impairments declined.

Shares of London Stock Exchange rose after saying it made a strong start to the year, with sales growth across the group apart from capital markets was hit by lower trading levels than last year.

Croda International rallied as it reported a 19% rise in first-quarter sales and kept its outlook for 2017 unchanged.

GlaxoSmithKline has reported a strong first set of quarterly results, as the drug group grew sales better than forecast, improved profit margins and kept its dividend on track.

Fresnillo was also on the back foot after a production report. Tullow Oil gushed lower after backing its oil production guidance.

Building materials group CRH firmed as it said it had a "satisfactory" start to the year, with a 4% increase in first-quarter sales as European growth offset a flat US performance.

Engineer GKN retreated after saying it had a good first quarter with organic sales growth, but warning that its growth rate may not be sustained for the full year due to tough comparators.

BHP Billiton has downgraded its full-year guidance for copper and metallurgical coal, but iron ore production was not too badly affected by Cyclone Debbie in Australia.

Antofagasta was just a touch lower after the Chilean miner reasserted its guidance for 2017 as it posted a 9.4% jump in first-quarter copper production.

Retailer Next fell after being cut to 'underperform' at Jefferies, while Severn Trent was in the red after HSBC downgraded the stock 'Reduce'.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,288.72 0.18%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,678.82 0.49%
techMARK (TASX) 3,489.57 0.37%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 757.30p 4.01%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,797.00p 3.77%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 499.70p 2.90%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,943.00p 1.99%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,061.00p 1.91%
Prudential (PRU) 1,723.00p 1.71%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 826.00p 1.66%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 248.90p 1.63%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,411.00p 1.60%
Tesco (TSCO) 180.50p 1.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,566.00p -2.06%
GKN (GKN) 359.60p -1.78%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 731.00p -1.55%
BT Group (BT.A) 310.05p -1.08%
Hammerson (HMSO) 596.50p -1.00%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,305.00p -0.99%
Glencore (GLEN) 309.40p -0.90%
Standard Life (SL.) 365.90p -0.81%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,090.00p -0.71%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,115.00p -0.71%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aggreko (AGK) 904.50p 5.67%
BTG (BTG) 675.50p 4.89%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,255.00p 3.33%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 479.10p 3.25%
Berendsen (BRSN) 822.00p 3.14%
Workspace Group (WKP) 870.00p 2.78%
IP Group (IPO) 141.00p 2.77%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 576.00p 2.67%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 360.60p 2.62%
Assura (AGR) 60.85p 2.35%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 157.40p -4.61%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 391.00p -3.07%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 321.60p -2.55%
Ibstock (IBST) 220.50p -2.39%
Sanne Group (SNN) 652.00p -2.18%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 593.50p -1.66%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 1,070.00p -1.38%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 214.20p -1.29%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 400.70p -1.26%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 354.00p -1.26%