Market round-up: FTSE outperforms European stocks as investors await Fed's decision

UK stocks gained ground on 27 January as London's main stock outperformed its European counterpart after oil prices halted their latest slide and staged a timid rebound late in the session.

London's FTSE 100 gained 1.33% to 5,990.37, while Germany's Dax and France's CAC 40 rose 0.59% and 0.54% respectively and the Pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.31%. The late rally came as oil prices wavered throughout the day, before gaining late on as Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate rose 1.76% and 0.97% to $32.37 (£22.69) a barrel and $31.76 a barrel respectively.

"The turbulence in the oil sector reflects the wider commodities industry, with global prices of raw materials having fallen significantly in recent months," said Mike Coady, managing director of financial consultancy firm deVere UK. "The volatility looks likely to remain for the foreseeable future."

Investors were also awaiting the latest policy decision from the US central bank, which is set to be announced at 2pm EST (7pm GMT), which will mark the first time since raising interest rates in December 2015 that the Fed will offer a hindsight on its stance. The global economic picture has changed over the past month and a half, and some have suggested the US central bank might have tightened its monetary policy too soon.

"Sentiment is clearly geared more towards the notion that the FOMC could provide a relatively dovish stance, given falling inflation expectations and deterioration in global
trade driven by the Chinese slowdown," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

On the company front, Sage led the FTSE 100 risers after the business management software provider posted an increase in first quarter revenue, while Dixons Carphone gained after analysts at Investec upgraded the retailer from "add" to "buy" as the company's core businesses improve and gain market share.

At the other end of the scale, Royal Bank of Scotland was among the worst performers on London's blue-chip index after the lender revealed it set aside £2bn to cover charges of past misconduct including the PPI mis-selling scandal and reserved £1.5bn to pay for litigation claims in the US in connection to residential mortgage-backed securities.

Britvic was among the best performers on the FTSE 250, after the soft drinks maker reported a rise in first quarter revenue and reiterated its full year earnings guidance, while ICAP rose after analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded the interdealer broker to "outperform" from "neutral" citing deal synergies.

Meanwhile, there was negative news for Just Eat, after analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "equalweight" and cut the price target to 390p from 450p, which saw shares in the company plunge over 10%.

FTSE 100 - Top 5 risers

Sage Group +7.14%
Glencore +5.20%
Compass Group +3.55%
BG Group +3.13%
Aberdeen Asset Management +2.92%

FTSE 100 - Top 5 fallers

ARM Holdings -2.51%
ROYAL Bank of Scotland -2.45%
Capita Group -2.23%
Shire -2.16%
Burberry Goup -2.06%

FTSE 250 - Top 5 risers

TalkTalk Telecom Group +6.16%
Britvic +5.31%
Greggs +4.72%
ICAP +4.44%
Esure Group +4.30%

FTSE 250 - Top 5 fallers

Just Eat -10.23%
Evraz -7.40%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment -4.31%
Wood Group (John) -4.13%
Tullow Oil -3.59%