FTSE 100 makes record close, GSK at 26-year high after earnings impress

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

Feb 4 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 closed at a record high on Wednesday, boosted by healthcare stocks led by drugmaker GSK after upbeat quarterly earnings, while investors awaited the Bank of England's monetary policy decision later this week.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE closed up 0.85% at 10402.34 points, while the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC was up 0.18%.

Healthcare stocks .FTNMX201030 were up 1.9%, after drugmaker GSK GSK.L hit a 26-year high, up 6.9%, following its upbeat fourth-quarter results.

CEO Luke Miels said the drugmaker's next growth phase will focus on faster research and development, programs that can redefine standard of care, and bolt-on acquisitions to boost sales growth.

Beazley BEZG.L climbed 6.9% as the British insurer agreed to the terms of a sweetened 8 billion pound ($10.97 billion) takeover proposal from Switzerland's Zurich Insurance ZURN.S. The stock boosted the nonlife insurance .FTNMX303020 index, up 4.7%, outperforming its peers.

Meanwhile, European software names remained in focus following Tuesday's selloff when updated artificial intelligence models raised fresh doubts about whether software firms can defend their business models.

"The software sector's recent two-day selloff appears to be driven by a rotation out of high-multiple growth names - amid mixed earnings - into value-oriented stocks," said Axel Rudolph, senior financial analyst at IG.

Business information group RELX REL.L slipped 1.3% after having suffered double-digit losses on Tuesday.

IT firm Softcat SCTS.L slid 9.1% to a two-year low, while HG Capital HGT.L slumped another 6.2%. Ad firm WPP WPP.L fell 3.6% to its lowest since 1998.

British interest rates are likely to fall further this year, but the BoE might be vague on Thursday about when or by how much it will cut borrowing costs, as it awaits a clearer picture on inflation. The BoE is expected to keep its benchmark borrowing costs unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday.

Activity in Britain's services sector grew strongly in January and confidence rose, a survey showed on Wednesday, but firms also reported a jump in their prices, a potential concern for the BoE ahead of the policy meeting.