LONDON MARKETS: Glaxo Gives FTSE 100 A Shot In The Arm

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 moved cautiously higher on Wednesday, as investors digested minutes from the Bank of England and shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC jumped after a well-received earnings report.

The benchmark index added 0.2% to 6,387.77 in choppy trade, after rallying 1.7% on Tuesday.

The Bank of England said seven of the nine members of its Monetary Policy Committee voted in favor of keeping rates at a record low at its October meeting, which was widely expected. The minutes also showed that the BOE officials expressed concerns about the U.K.'s economic prospects in October, citing increasing headwinds from overseas and a slowdown at home.

"With the near-term risks to growth and inflation on the downside, we now expect the BOE to [keep rates] on hold until June next year," said Rob Wood, chief U.K. economist at Berenberg, in a note.

Among stocks on the move in London, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) climbed 3.1% after the drug maker reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations. The company also says it expects to have the first doses of its Ebola vaccine ready late this year.

Shares of ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY) climbed 1.7% after UBS lifted the chip maker to buy from neutral.

On a more downbeat note, shares of British American Tobacco PLC slumped 3.6% after the company reported a drop in nine-month revenue, hit by a slow economic recovery in Western Europe.

Mining firms were also dropping, tracking most metals lower. Shares of Fresnillo PLC dropped 2.8%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) fell 1.2% and Randgold Resources Ltd. lost 1.9%.

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