BP Share News (BP.)

Caution ahead of a number of central-bank policy decisions kept gains on equity markets to a minimum on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 finishing slightly higher as traders digested a barrage of corporate earnings.The outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be in focus on Wednesday, though analysts widely expect the Fed to keep its asset purchase programme unchanged until at least September. Nevertheless, everyone will be awaiting any hints of when the central bank could begin to pull the plug on stimulus.Financial Sales Trader Max Cohen from Spreadex pointed out that expectations of a gradual tapering of stimulus had prompted a sharp sell-off on markets in late May, before a decent bounce-back over recent weeks."With the Federal Reserve meeting over the next two days to discuss this sensitive topic, there's no doubt that many investors will be fearful of a similar scenario playing out," Cohen said.Meanwhile, the Bank of England and European Central Bank will also be closely watched on Thursday afternoon as both release their latest policy decisions. US non-farm payrolls are also on the agenda for Friday.FTSE 100: Barclays in focus after rights issue, H1 reportShares in Barclays dropped sharply after the banking giant announced a series of actions, including an £5.8bn rights issue, to reduce its capital shortfall. The news came alongside the firm's half-year report in which it saw that adjusted profit before tax fall 17% year-on-year to £3.59bn.Banking counterparts RBS and Lloyds were also under pressure as analysts pointed out negative readacross from Barclays' provisions for PPI and interest-rate hedging products. Financial peer Aberdeen Asset Management meanwhile was hit with a downgrade by Morgan Stanley to 'equal weight' following its trading update yesterday.Oil major BP disappointed with its interim results which saw underlying replacement cost profits sink from $8.2bn to $6.9bn in the first half.Leading the upside was engineering firm GKN after posting a 5.0% increase in pre-tax profit to £278m for the first half on a 12% increase in sales to £3.8bn.ITV reported a 16% rise in adjusted pre-tax profits for the first half to £270m as the UK TV network achieved higher margins and cut costs.Weir reported a 5.0% fall in orders, a 10% decline in revenue and a 14% drop in pre-tax profits in the first half, but shares gained today after the engineering company still hiked its dividend by 10%.High Street clothing and homeware retailer Next was also performing well after raising its profit forecasts for the full year following a strong trading performance ahead of its End of Season Sale.FTSE 250: Int'l Personal Finance soars after record first halfInternational Personal Finance saw shares surge on Tuesday after the Eastern Europe- and South America-focused home credit business reported a record first-half profit before tax of £42.3m, up 35% on last year. The company also pleased investors to return £60m via a share buyback.TV and broadband technology firm Pace also impressed with its interim report, as it lifted its full-year profit guidance after a strong first half. The firm also raised its interim dividend by 27.1%.Telecity, Tullett Prebon, Domino's Pizza and African Barrick Gold were all heading the other way after investors gave a cool reaction to the companies' interim reports.FTSE 100 - RisersGKN (GKN) 348.50p +6.54%ITV (ITV) 167.00p +6.30%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,164.00p +4.19%Croda International (CRDA) 2,495.00p +3.14%easyJet (EZJ) 1,411.00p +3.14%William Hill (WMH) 483.60p +2.89%TUI Travel (TT.) 379.70p +2.59%Next (NXT) 5,020.00p +2.41%Aggreko (AGK) 1,791.00p +2.34%SSE (SSE) 1,638.00p +2.31%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 291.30p -5.74%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 386.80p -3.90%BP (BP.) 451.45p -3.41%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 317.40p -2.52%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,176.00p -1.59%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.65p -1.53%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,186.00p -0.92%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 278.60p -0.78%WPP (WPP) 1,173.00p -0.76%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,880.00p -0.66%FTSE 250 - RisersInternational Personal Finance (IPF) 647.00p +14.51%Pace (PIC) 310.90p +11.96%Elementis (ELM) 253.90p +9.20%Mondi (MNDI) 977.50p +6.25%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 761.00p +4.32%Informa (INF) 521.50p +4.09%Provident Financial (PFG) 1,699.00p +3.91%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 135.90p +3.90%Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 358.20p +3.59%888 Holdings (888) 165.80p +2.98%FTSE 250 - FallersTelecity Group (TCY) 916.00p -7.19%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 321.50p -6.68%Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 568.00p -5.33%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 111.40p -4.62%Perform Group (PER) 485.00p -4.53%Rank Group (RNK) 152.00p -3.98%Essar Energy (ESSR) 134.80p -3.65%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 715.50p -3.44%Evraz (EVR) 99.45p -3.35%Bumi (BUMI) 213.20p -3.22%BC