FTSE 100 higher as Bank of England keeps rates on hold

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% to 7,268.96 by midday after the Bank of England confounded market expectations by keeping interest rates on hold, while still warning a hike is coming soon.

In corporate news, Telecoms giant BT jumped 5% to 149.3p despite reporting a fall in profit in the first half of the year as higher finance expenses and a weakness in its enterprise and global business weighed on performance.

Supermarket giant J Sainsbury fell 4.17% to 276.86p despite swinging to a profit in the first half of the year owing to lower costs and an uptick in sales.

Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion rose 2% to £11.05 after the Competition and Markets Authority ordered it to unwind its acquisition of Footasylum.

Low-cost airline Wizz Air fell 0.2% to £48.06 after swinging to a first-half profit as lifting of pandemic restriction sparked an improvement in passenger demand.

For the six months to 30 September 2021, pre-tax profit was €410.8 million compared with a loss of €71.3 million year-on-year as revenue increased by 86.8% to €880.4 million.

Food and beverage ingredients supplier Tate & Lyle jumped 7% to 694.40 despite reporting that first-half profit more than halved owing to writedown on the sale of its Americas primary products business.

On an adjusted basis, however, pre-tax profit in H1 was up 20% to £85 million.

Medical technology business Smith & Nephew was up 2.8% to £13.28 after reporting an uptick in third-quarter revenue, but said it expected to report revenue at the low end of its guidance following the impact of pandemic and supply chain woes.

Electrical goods retailer Currys jumped 5.4% to 128.75p after unveiling a £75 million share buyback programme and reported a fall in first-half sales performance in its electricals business was offset by a decline in mobile sales.

UK banking group Virgin Money fell 3.7% to 188.4p despite forecasting a return to profit owing to lower costs and rise in net interest income.