London open: Stocks advance ahead of UK Budget 2016

UK stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors awaited the details of the 2016 Budget.

Chancellor George Osborne will set out £4bn in extra spending cuts and announce investment in the UK's infrastructure when he presents the Budget at 1230 GMT.

The Budget will also include a £1.5bn education package to turn all state schools into academies and allow some to open later in the day.

Meanwhile, UK jobs data is due at 0930 GMT with analysts’ expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady and average weekly earnings growth to improve slightly.

The Bank of England is taking the health of the labour market into consideration as it determines the timing of an interest rate hike. The central bank meets on Thursday to announce its latest policy decision but is expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

The Federal Reserve is also expected to stand pat on rates when it announces its policy decision at 1800 GMT amid a slowdown in the global economy.

Wednesday’s calendar is also packed with US data including mortgage applications at 1100 GMT, housing starts at 1230 GMT, inflation at 1230 GMT, industrial and manufacturing production at 1315 GMT and crude oil inventories 1430 GMT.

In company news, shares in the London Stock Exchange were slightly lower after agreeing a merger with Deutsche Boerse.

Tullow Oil gained as it said its Cheptuket-1 well in Northern Kenya has encountered good oil shows.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals slumped after it reported revenue of $1.44bn (£1.02bn) in its final results for 2015 on Wednesday, down 3% on what was an exceptionally strong 2014.

Smiths Group declined after it said pre-tax profits declined 9% to £189m on revenue 3% lower at £1.37bn in the six months to 31 January.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,163.41 0.38%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,664.73 0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 3,080.21 -0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 498.95p 2.36%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 833.50p 2.14%
Glencore (GLEN) 143.85p 2.13%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 232.50p 1.93%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 467.60p 1.92%
BP (BP.) 348.40p 1.87%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 564.50p 1.71%
Fresnillo (FRES) 930.50p 1.69%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 551.50p 1.66%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,688.00p 1.66%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,612.00p -6.33%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 999.50p -4.45%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,637.00p -3.45%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,066.00p -1.02%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,983.00p -0.97%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,403.50p -0.88%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 509.00p -0.88%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 460.80p -0.69%
BT Group (BT.A) 451.60p -0.56%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,819.00p -0.55%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Allied Minds (ALM) 366.40p 3.80%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 226.60p 3.47%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 277.30p 2.55%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 241.00p 2.34%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 260.20p 2.24%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 195.60p 1.82%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 91.60p 1.78%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 265.30p 1.61%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 284.70p 1.61%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,859.00p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 95.20p -6.30%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 322.60p -6.11%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,525.00p -3.24%
Evraz (EVR) 81.85p -3.19%
AO World (AO.) 170.10p -2.35%
Just Eat (JE.) 373.80p -1.53%
P2P Global Investments C (P2P2) 925.00p -1.49%
Homeserve (HSV) 422.90p -1.40%
Indivior (INDV) 164.30p -1.32%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 166.30p -1.31%