UK stocks rise as investors assess corporate results ahead of BoE rate decision

Aug 6 (Reuters) - British equities closed marginally higher on Wednesday, as investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings and awaited a Bank of England rate cut on Thursday.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.2%, rising for a third consecutive session after touching a four-month low on Friday.

The domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC rose 0.1%.

Energy stocks .FTNMX601010 gained 1.8%, tracking higher oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on India for buying Russian crude. O/R

Heavyweight Shell SHEL.L and BP BP.L boosted the benchmark index, up 1.3% and 3.1% respectively.

Insurance stocks .FTNMX303020 rose 2.7%, after Hiscox HSX.L reported a 6.2% rise in first-half group net insurance premiums. Shares of the British insurer jumped 9.4%, making it the biggest percentage gainer in the FTSE 100.

Shares of miner Fresnillo FRES.L continued gains from the previous session with an 8.9% rise.

Conversely, British healthcare stocks .FTNMX201030 slipped 1.4% after Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would initially place a "small tariff" on pharmaceutical imports, eventually increasing it to 250%.

AstraZeneca AZN.L and GSK GSK.L were down 1.5% and 1.7% respectively.

London-listed shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners CCEPC.L and Coca-Cola HBC CCH.L - bottling units of U.S. beverage giant Coca-Cola KO.N - fell 9.2% and 6.9%, respectively, after their quarterly reports, dragging on the FTSE 100.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England is widely expected to cut its key interest rate to 4% from 4.25% on Thursday and to lower it again before the year's end, despite inflation nearing double the central bank's 2% target in June.

"The decision to cut rates again is likely to be far from unanimous... How the Bank couches its accompanying commentary will send a strong signal regarding its perception of the trajectories for economic activity and inflation in coming months", said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, European Strategist at Raymond James Investment Services in a note.

Among other individual stocks, Glencore GLEN.L fell 5.4% after the UK miner reported a drop in first-half core profit.

TP ICAP TCAPI.L fell 8.1%, among the top loser in the FTSE 250, after the British inter-dealer broker posted weaker-than-expected half-year operating profit.

      
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