UPDATE 1-Earnings, rate cut bets lift UK stocks

Updates with market closing price

Jan 21 (Reuters) - The main UK stock indexes rose on Tuesday, with a weaker sterling helping keep the FTSE 100 near all-time highs, while upbeat earnings from companies including Abrdn ABDN.L and Premier Foods PFD.L boosted the midcap index.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE closed up 0.3%, trading just below its intraday record high of 8548.59 points touched on Monday.

Global stocks edged higher as investors assessed new U.S. President Donald Trump's executive orders on issues including energy and immigration, while awaiting his first move on trade policy.

Sterling GBP=D3 dipped 0.1% against the dollar after data showed the UK jobless rate rose slightly to 4.4% in the three months to November, its highest since the three months to May.

The data also showed that British pay growth remained stubbornly strong in the three months to November but traders continued to price in an 86% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut from the Bank of England next month.

Overall, traders were pricing in about 65 bps of easing by the end of 2025.

Leading gains in the FTSE 100, shares in Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L rose 4% after the Financial Times reported that finance minister Rachel Reeves launched a bid to protect car-loan providers from multibillion-pound payouts in a landmark mis-selling case.

"The UK government's backing in the motor finance case is a clear positive for Lloyds, the bank most exposed to the issue," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Barclays BARC.L rose 1.4%, while the wider FTSE 350 banks index .FTNMX301010 climbed 0.8%.

Boosting the FTSE 250 midcap index by 0.5%, shares in Abrdn jumped 4.5% after the asset manager reported 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) of net inflows of client cash in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Premier Foods stock climbed 2.6% after the food producer forecast its annual profit at the upper end of analysts' expectations, following robust sales of its branded products during the key holiday season.

Marston's MARS.L dropped 5.3% after the pub group reported higher overall sales over the 16 weeks to Jan. 18, although cold and stormy weather in November and this month slowed growth.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2787;))

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