Dec 12 (Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 index inched higher on Thursday, boosted by Diageo after a brokerage upgrade, while SThree weighed on the midcap index as it dropped to a more than four-year low on a profit warning.
The benchmark FTSE 100 (.FTSE), was up 0.1% and the midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), fell 0.1%.
Leading the blue-chip index’s gains was Diageo (DGE.L), which rose 2.8% after brokerage UBS upgraded the spirit maker’s rating to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’, helping the beverages (.FTNMX451010), sector lead sectoral gains with a 2.4% rise.
Precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030), led the sectoral losses, falling 2.9%, after gold prices edged down after hitting its highest since Nov. 6 earlier in the session, as investors awaited U.S. PPI data for signals on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
Severn Trent (SVT.L), advanced 1.8% after Barclays raised target price on the water supplier to 2,800p from 2,500p.
SThree (STEMS.L), tumbled…
