FTSE 100 up 0.3, FTSE 250 flat
Aston Martin drops after biggerthanexpected Q1 pretax loss
Haleon falls after missing Q1 revenue estimates
U.S. Fed policy decision due at 1800 GMT

May 1 Reuters Britain39;s FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday after recording backtoback monthly gains, with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve39;s policy decision later in the day for hints on its interest rate path.

The bluechip index rose 0.3, as of 0830 GMT, after posting monthly gains of 2.4 and 4.2 in April and March, respectively.

Investors are awaiting a new statement and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that could give a clearer sense of how recent disappointing U.S. inflation readings have changed the expectation for rate cuts this year.

Money markets are pricing in about 28 basis points of U.S. rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps estimated at the start of 2024, as per LSEG data.

The Fed39;s tone will be more towards that there hasn39;t been enough evidence of inflation coming down to a point where there is confidence to start cutting rates in May or June, said Karim Chedid, head of EMEA investment strategy for iShares at BlackRock.

With this sort of tone, I expect that European markets will benefit from the interest rate differentialsmacro tailwind.

Traders are anticipating rate cuts of about 38 bps from the Bank of England by the end of 2024, and nearly 60 bps from the European Central Bank, taking the pressure off European stock markets form higher rates,…