(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks eked out modest gains on Wednesday after reports emerged that China's finance ministry will convene a press conference on Saturday to introduce work on strengthening countercyclical adjustments of fiscal policy and promoting economic development.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 29 points, or 0.4 percent, at 8,220 after falling 1.4 percent on Tuesday.
Mondi, a packaging and paper group, jumped 3.3 percent after it agreed to acquire the Western European packaging assets of Schumacher Packaging for an enterprise value of 634 million euros.
CMC Markets surged nearly 5 percent. The provider of online financial trading and B2B institutional solutions reported that it expects a profit before tax in its first half, compared to last year's loss, with higher operating income.
Rio Tinto dropped half a percent after the mining giant announced a definitive agreement to acquire Arcadium in an all-cash deal for $5.85 per share, valuing Arcadium's share capital at approximately $6.7 billion.
