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The UK’s FTSE 100 has leapt to a near three-month high following a set of earnings announcements and profit upgrades.
The index rose 81.81 points, or 0.94%, to close at 8,781.12, its highest level since early March.
Diploma’s share price soaring to a record high helped lift the index on Tuesday.
Shares in the technical products supplier rose by nearly 14% after the company upgraded its financial guidance for the year, after profits surged over the first half.
Vodafone shares were also climbing more than 6% despite slumping to an annual operating loss of 411 million euros (£346 million) after booking write-downs in its businesses in Germany and Romania.
Nevertheless, the company announced plans for up to two billion euros (£1.7 billion) in share buy-backs and said it would return to sales growth this year.
Stock markets across Europe were also in the green on Tuesday, with Germany’s Dax rising 0.42%, and France’s Cac 40 closing 0.75% higher.
In New York, trading got off on the back foot as investors remained in gloomier spirits since Monday when ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its rating for US national debt.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones were both down about 0.4% by the time European markets closed.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: “The UK stock market enjoyed a bumper session as investors loaded up on pharma, consumer staples, banking and tobacco stocks.
“The FTSE 100 is proving to be quite the comfort blanket for investors seeking solace from tariff-related uncertainties clouding the economic outlook for the US.”
The pound was up about 0.1% against the US dollar, at 1.337, and more or less flat against the euro, at 1.188.
In other company news, Greggs said sales across the high street bakery chain have risen about 7% over the first 20 weeks of 2025, sending its share price surging.
Like-for-like sales grew by 2.9% over the period on the back of stronger trading over the past 11 weeks, while overall sales were also supported by new shops. Shares in Greggs rose 9.2% at close.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Diploma, up 638p to 4,860p, Vodafone, up 5.26p to 77.72p, Smiths Group, up 90p to 2,144p, Centrica, up 4.9p to 156.9p, and Sainsbury’s, up 8.4p to 289.2p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, down 11.8p to 758.8p, Bunzl, down 36p to 2,490p, Antofagasta, down 10p to 1,790p, Intercontinental Hotels Group, down 38p to 8,938p, and Experian, down 16p to 3,925p.