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FTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 flat

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AB Foods slumps on weak Primark sales outlook

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Haleon ( HLN ) rises after GS upgrade

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Vistry slips on H1 profit drop

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index edged up

on Wednesday, supported by heavyweight bank and healthcare

stocks, while investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.3% by 1005 GMT,

while the domestically focussed mid-cap index was flat.

Healthcare stocks added 0.6%, boosted by

consumer healthcare company Haleon's ( HLN ) 2.9% rise, after

Goldman Sachs upgraded the company's rating to "buy" from

"neutral."

Heavyweight bank stocks advanced 0.7%, with

HSBC ( HSBC ) up 1.1%.

Aerospace and defence company BAE Systems

added 1.9%, while Chemring Group ( CMGMF ) rose 1.5%.

Conversely, energy stocks fell 0.4%.

Heavyweights Shell and BP were down.

Travel and leisure stocks declined, with

British Airways owner IAG down 3.4%, Wizz Air ( WZZAF )

falling 3.5% and EasyJet ( EJTTF ) down 1.9%.

The homebuilders' index lost 1.1%, dragged by

Vistry falling 4.6% to the bottom of the mid-cap index,

after reporting a 33.2% drop in adjusted pre-tax profit for the

first half of 2025.

Retail stocks JD Sports Fashion and

Next fell about 1.4% each.

Among other stocks, Associated British Foods ( ASBFF ) dropped

10.6% to the bottom of the FTSE 100, after saying underlying

sales at its Primark clothing business are expected to be down

around 2% in its second half.

Services provider DCC gained 4.8%, to top the

benchmark index, on plans for shareholder returns post

healthcare unit sale.

Anglo American advanced 2.7%, a day after gaining

9.1% on a $53 billion merger deal with Canada's Teck Resources ( TECK )

. Berenberg upgraded the miner's rating to "hold" from

"sell".

Burberry ( BBRYF ) advanced 1.8%, a day after falling 8.3% on

cautious comments at a luxury conference.

Software company Sage rose, climbing 1.4%, along

with some European peers after Oracle projected over

half a trillion dollars in booked cloud orders.

Serica Energy ( SQZZF ) dropped 13.5% after cutting its 2025

production outlook.