UK Stocks Edge Higher; Kingfisher Soars on Surprise Profit Upgrade

The FTSE 100 is treading water this Tuesday, up just 0.32% to 9,565.56 as traders play it cautious ahead of fresh US economic data. But not everyone’s sitting still.

Kingfisher just caught fire—up 5.2%—after throwing investors a curveball with a chunky profit upgrade. The home improvement chain pulled in GBP 3.252 billion in Q3 sales (barely budging YoY at +1%), but here’s the kicker: they’ve now guided full-year adjusted pre-tax income at GBP 540-570 million, a solid jump from their old GBP 480-540 million range. On a like-for-like basis, sales only crept up 0.9%, so the upgrade is pure margin magic.

Other gainers worth watching: Airtel Africa (+4%), Antofagasta (+2.75%), Burberry, Anglo American, Vodafone and Lloyds all climbing 1.5-2.3%. Rolls-Royce, Mondi and Rio Tinto are also in the green.

Not everyone’s celebrating though. Beazley got absolutely hammered, down nearly 10%, after warning that growth is hitting the brakes—they’ve cut their annual written premiums forecast to flat-to-low single digits (was low-to-mid). Easyjet surprised with better-than-expected profit but still dropped 2.7%. Intertek (-4.5%), Compass Group (-2.3%), and a few travel/consumer names are also taking losses.

The vibe: selective optimism, but traders aren’t pushing too hard until we see what the US macro data says next.