British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS) and Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB) shares both lit up on Thursday as it appeared the industry would be given some headroom on tighter nicotine rules by the US regulator.
The US Food and Drug Administration's fall unified agenda, which sets the regulatory priorities for the year ahead, was published overnight without the plan for a new tighter nicotine standard rule, that had been mooted.
This was "good news" for the sector, said broker Liberum.
"It also appears menthol is stalling as well. As a result, we are pushing back our implementation period by one year, for conservatism.
"It appears the FDA has bigger fish to fry with the youth e-cigarette crisis."