UK stocks muted in holiday-shortened week

Dec 23 (Reuters) - UK stocks were little changed on Tuesday, as gains in healthcare were offset by losses in consumer staples, with trading subdued during a shortened three-day week leading up to Christmas.

The UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.06% at 0958 GMT. The index continued its upward momentum in the previous session, having reached a five-week high on Friday, a day after the Bank of England's 25-basis-point interest rate cut.

The domestically focussed midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC index added 0.07% amid thin volumes.

Among sectors, healthcare stocks .FTNMX201030 were up 0.5%, mirroring gains in European peers, after heavyweight Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO clinched U.S. approval of its weight-loss pill.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies ONT.L gained 1.3%, while Oxford Biomedica OXB.L and AstraZeneca AZN.L added 0.8% and 3.1%, respectively.

Consumer staples lagged, with the index of personal goods .FTNMX402040 down 0.8% and beverage stocks .FTNMX451010 slipping 0.4%.

The FTSE 100 is on track for its best year since 2009 with a 20.8% year-to-date climb, buoyed by defence and financial stocks.

By comparison, pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX is up 15.9% and Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX has risen 16.9% so far.

Among individual stocks, Pets at Home [RIC:RIC:PETSH.UL] was up 1.6% after the pet-care provider said it had appointed former Waitrose executive James Bailey as its chief executive officer, effective March 30, 2026.

Oakley Capital OCIO.L was also up 1% after British sailor Ben Ainslie's Athena Racing team secured a majority ownership investment from the British equity firm.

Trading volumes usually taper off towards year-end with traders away on holidays and markets closed on December 25 and December 26.