London shares built on gains as corporate results buoyed traders ahead of news on US interest rates.
The FTSE 100 Index climbed 45.99 points to 6601 in midday trading after a flurry of numbers from firms big and small.
Shares in Barclays (LON:BARC) lifted 5.9p to 285.5p after the troubled bank posted higher profits and said it was speeding up its shake-up. Rivals rose including HSBC, up 1.2p at 574.6p.
Sky (LON:SKY) lost early gains to fall 10p to 1114p as the satellite broadcaster, which is under attack from rival BT, posted a 96,000 annual rise in broadband customers.
BP (LON:BP.)was in the black by 3.8p to 396.45p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) spurted 2p to 1754.5p as US light crude rose 0.59p to US$47.98, although Brent crude was slightly down.
Asian markets were volatile again overnight with declines in both Tokyo and Hong Kong. But US markets rose despite the ongoing pre-occupation with interest rates.
Sentiment later on Wednesday will be dominated by the latest US Fed meeting, where it is widely expected that a nod towards the long–anticipated higher cost of borrowing will be forthcoming.
Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: "General consensus is that there will be no rate hike in July, but the statement will imply it could happen at any of the next meetings without giving any clues as to which one."
Meanwhile, a survey from US financial house State Street showed confidence among North American investors decreased in July.
The North American ICI fell 20.6 points to 122.6, down from June’s revised reading of 143.2. The Asia ICI rose 2.6 points to 89.5 and the European ICI fell 2.1 points to 100.4.
In the UK, a survey of 117 firms by the Confederation of British Industry showed consumers buying new clothes helped boost retail sales in the year to July, but the pace of growth is expected to slow next month.
In equities, house-builder Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.) pared early losses to rise 1.3p to 184p after it forecast a second half sales slowdown.
Bus and rail group National Express (LON:NEX) reversed 2p to 299.7p as it said competitive pressure had increased, particularly in Spain where high speed rail competition hit intercity coach revenues.
Baker Greggs (LON:GRG) heated up 37p to 1221p on news of a 6.4% rise in first-half sales to £398mln and an increase in profit to £25.6mln from £16.9mln a year ago.
Drug group GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) was 45.5p healthier at 1374p on news that it had topped profit hopes despite lower sales of its lung drug Advair.
Electronics distributor Premier Farnell (LON:PFL) crashed 28.6p to 138p on a profit warning after a summer slowdown.
Quintain Estates & Development (LON:QED) got a 25.5p boost to 132.5p as the property group received a £700mln takeover offer from investor Lone Star.
There was a 19.9p bounce to 242.9p in Foxtons's (LON:FOXT) shares as the estate agent forecast a stronger property sales performance in the second half.