The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.5% at 7,630.57 on Wednesday, after mixed trading in the U.S. overnight. "Investors may be sitting on their hands as they await the latest decision from the Federal Reserve," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said in a market comment. A first interest rate cut isn't expected before March so market watchers will be zoomed in on the messaging accompanying the Fed announcement, Mould says. GSK, the British pharmaceutical giant, helped minimize the London blue-chip bourse's dip, as it climbed 2.0% after lifting its outlook for the next fiscal year on optimism over the sale of its new RSV vaccine.

COMPANIES NEWS:

GSK Sales Rose on Shingles Vaccine Growth, RSV Drug Launch

GSK said its sales rose, driven by growth in its best-selling shingles vaccine Shingrix and the launch of RSV vaccine Arexvy earlier last year, and raised its guidance for 2024.

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NWF Group Pretax Profit Falls on Pricing Normalization in Foods, Feed

NWF Group said pretax profit fell for the first half of its fiscal 2024 due to normalizing market conditions in fuel and feed hitting profitability, but backed its expectations for the full year, saying its second half is seasonally more significant.

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James Halstead Expects Higher Profit Despite Softer Demand

James Halstead expects profit for the first half of fiscal 2024 to be ahead of the previous year, despite softening demand in some European markets.

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Smiths News Says Performance In Line With Market Expectations

Smiths News said that performance for fiscal 2024 remains in line with market expectations, as the company has secured contract renewals and new awards.

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Alfa Financial Software Sees Revenue Growth In Line With Its Views

Alfa Financial Software Holdings said that its revenue growth for 2023 was in line with its expectations and that it sees operating profit slightly ahead on lower costs.

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Pebble Beach Systems Expects to Deliver Strong Performance

Pebble Beach Systems Group said that it expects to deliver a resilient performance for 2023 and beat market forecasts for the year ahead with further growth in 2025 and beyond.

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Gusbourne Revenue Rises on Higher U.K. Wine Sales

Gusbourne said revenue for the year rose on increased U.K. wine sales despite the challenging macroeconomic environment in the second half, with robust growth across its sales channels.

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Iliad Group Says Vodafone Rejected Revised Proposal to Merge Italian Businesses

The Iliad Group said that Vodafone Group has rejected a revised proposal to merge their Italian businesses.

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Vodafone Shares Fall After Rejecting Iliad Group's Revised Proposal to Merge Italian Businesses

Vodafone Group shares dropped and are leading the FTSE 100 index fallers after the company rejected a revised proposal to merge its Italian businesses with Iliad Group's.


Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-31-24 1212ET