London's FTSE 100 opened higher, shrugging off the ramp-up of hostilities in the Red Sea as the US launched more missile strikes and hawkish comments from Fed chief Jerome Powell.
The Footsie was up around 26 points at 7,641 shortly after trading got underway led by Ocado, luxury goods group Burberry and GSK.
Vodafone led the fallers on another low-key trading update. Stated revenues dropped again though there was some progress on an underlying basis form the mobile giant.
Boeing is another giant under pressure, with the boss of airline Emirates warning the plane maker is in the ‘last chance saloon’ after its latest mechanical failures. Emirates is one Boeing’s largest customers.
Spread better CMC Markets was a good riser after announcing it would save £21 million a year through cutting 200 jobs or around 17% of its workforce. A one-off charge of £2.5 million will be taken in 2024 for the cuts.
Among the small caps, Helium One doubled as well-testing has "clearly confirmed" the presence of a producing helium province in the Rukwa Rift Basin in Tanzania, said the junior.