FTSE 100 higher today; CPI data satisfactory; GBP falls

Investing.com – U.K. equities started mixed on Wednesday. The top gainers were Tobacco, Mining and Household Goods sectors; while the top losing sectors were Personal Goods, Beverages and Support Services.

At the market open in London, the FTSE 100 Index rose 0.61%. The FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE 350 Index also climbed. The FTSE 250 increased 0.36%, while the FTSE 350 was up by 0.67%.

Top Gainers:

Pershing Square (LON:PSHP): Increased 2.86% or 101.41 points to 3,653.41.

Whitbread (LON:WTB): Climbed 2.67% or 82.0 points to 3,154.0.

Barratt Developments (LON:BTRW): Rose 2.44% or 11.50 points to 483.50.

Top Losers:

Admiral Group (LON:ADML): Fell 3.21% or 89.0 points to 2,687.0.

Rentokil (LON:RTO): Dropped 1.60% or 5.60 points to 344.40.

Diageo (LON:DGE): Declined 0.72% or 18.5 points to 2,561.0.

In Commodities Trading:

• Gold Futures for December delivery rose 12.75 points to 2,691.65 a troy ounce.
• Crude Oil for November delivery climbed 0.65 points to 71.23 a barrel.
• December Brent Oil Contract increased 0.75% or 0.56 points to 74.81 a barrel.

Currency Markets:

• GBP/USD is below the 1.30 line at 1.2985.
• EUR/GBP is at 0.8379.
• The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 103.165.

Main Economic Events:

Inflation data were the top focus in today's UK economic calendar. Both monthly and yearly CPI numbers were slightly better than expected.