London stocks opened a touch higher on Wednesday, with all major indices making modest early gains. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 9,905.60, the FTSE 250 added 0.1% to 22,159.18, and the AIM All-Share inched up 0.1% to 759.48.
Investors are watching closely as the FTSE 100 edges towards the 10,000 mark. Reaching that level this year would mark the fastest rise between 1,000-point milestones in history, with the index only crossing 9,000 in July. It’s already been a standout year for UK equities, which have outperformed all major US benchmarks, a result few predicted at the start of 2025.
SSE powered the market higher, soaring 11% after unveiling a fully funded £33 billion investment plan through 2030. The energy group said £27 billion will go into UK networks and £6 billion into renewables and flexibility projects. SSE expects to grow earnings per share by 50% and raise dividends by 5% to 10% annually over the next decade.
For the six months to September, pretax profit fell 31% to £586.3 million, hit by lower generation earnings, but revenue rose nearly 4% to £4.63 billion. The company lifted its interim dividend to 21.4p and reaffirmed full-year guidance.
Games Workshop gained 4.5% after Jefferies raised its target price to 18,300p, maintaining a ‘buy’ rating, while BAE Systems added 0.5% on steady trading and strong order momentum, including £4 billion in new Typhoon aircraft contracts for Turkey.
At the other end, Auto Trader slipped 2% after Bank of America cut its rating to ‘neutral’ and lowered its price target to 820p.
In the mid-cap space, Taylor Wimpey fell 4% after warning of softer conditions in the second half, while Avon Technologies jumped 6.6% on upbeat guidance for 2026 and a 5.6% dividend increase.
Among small caps, Quantum Blockchain soared 38% after unveiling its latest Method C software, saying the software-only approach gives it a “commercial advantage.”
Over in New York, markets had a mixed session on Tuesday. The Dow Jones hit a record close, up 1.2%, while the S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher and the Nasdaq slipped 0.3% as investors rotated out of high-flying tech stocks into more traditional names.