British equities rose at the open on Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, with software company Sage leading advances on the FTSE 100 index.

By 0712 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.3%, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index added 0.3%.

Sage Group gained 3.3% to top the FTSE 100 after JP Morgan upgraded the company’s rating to “overweight” from “neutral”.

Global trading sentiment was also buoyed by upbeat US economic data that helped ease worries of an imminent recession in the world’s largest economy, pushing the S&P 500 index more than 1% higher on Tuesday.

London stocks log sharp weekly declines

UK banks and healthcare stocks were amongst early gainers.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will be taking part in the European Central Bank’s panel discussion in Sintra, Portugal with ECB President Christine Lagarde, the Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda.