Market snapshot
Good receptions to trading updates from Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) and BP PLC (LON:BP) have given the FTSE 100 an early boost.
Coffee Costa and Premier Inn outfit Whitbread saw its share price perk up, rising 3.5% to 4,004p, as it hiked the full-year dividend 10% on the back of a 5.8% increase in profit before tax.
Integrated oil giant BP advanced 3.3% to 372.2p, despite a dip in profits. The company said weak supply growth should start to underpin crude prices by the end of the year.
Weak miners tempered the top-share index's advance, however, and at 8.35am the index was up 32 points (0.5%) at 6,292.