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UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday after broadcaster ITV and retailer Marks & Spencer reported upbeat earnings results ahead of the release later in the day of crucial US inflation data.
At 0832, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 25.69 points, or 0.4%, at 7,299.95.
ITV rallied 8.2% to 118.25p after it reported 28% growth in nine-month external revenue to £2.38 billion year-on-year, led by a strong performance in its studios devision.
Hits delivered by the studios division included Vigil for BBC One, Physical for Apple TV+ and Snowpiercer season 2 for Netflix.
Clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer leapt 15% higher to 223p on revealing that it had swung to a £187.3 million first-half profit after demand recovered following an easing of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Marks & Spencer, however, refrained from declaring an interim dividend as it continues to work on its turnaround strategy.
Pub chain JD Wetherspoon slumped 3.5% to 993p, having reported an 8.9% drop in like-for-like sales in the first 15 weeks of its financial year compared to the same period in 2019.
Wetherspoon noted that with no music at its branded pubs, a material proportion of its trade comes from older customers, 'some of whom have visited pubs less frequently in recent times'.
Telecom company Vodafone edged up 0.2% to 112.16p following news that it had agreed to transfer its 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt to Vodacom, its sub-Saharan African subsidiary.
The transaction valued Vodafone's 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt at €2.72 billion, Vodafone said.
Online fashion retailer Asos added 2.3% to £26.4503 after it said it was targeting £7 billion of sales during the next three to four years amid plans to bolster growth of its US and EU businesses.
The £7 billion in sales equated to a 15%-to-20% compound annual growth rate. Asos was also targeting an operating margin of at least 4%.
Software company Aveva shed 0.8% to £34.75, having reported a wider first-half loss owing to one-off acquisition costs, though its adjusted pro-forma operating earnings rose by 21%.
Aveva declared an interim dividend of 13p per share, up 4.8% year-on-year.
Motoring and cycling group Halfords jumped 12% to 313.26p as it upgraded its outlook on full-year performance after first-half profit grew by more than a third. Halfords upped its its full-year underlying pre-tax profit guidance to between £80 million and £90 million, up from £75 million previously.
Advertising firm S4 Capital slumped 10% to 705p, even as its third-quarter gross profit had almost doubled, putting it on track to meet 'top line' expectations for the full year.
S4 Capital's gross profit for the three months through September had risen 92% year-on-year to £144.4 million, or by 42% on a like-for-like basis.
Industrial chain maker Renold rallied 9.6% to 33.87p as booked a rise in first-half profit after its sales continued to recover as economies re-opened.
Alternative fuels group Velocys rocketed 41% higher to 8.66p on announcing that US carrier Southwest Airline had agreed to acquire sustainable aviation fuel from its planned biorefinery project in Mississippi.