LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened in the green on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 slightly higher supported by well-received earnings results from
Fresnillo and
BP.The FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%, or 14.34 points, at 7,715.19. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.2% at 20,914.43. The AIM All-Share index was flat at 1,096.53The Cboe UK 100 up 0.1% at 13,068.89, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,018.38, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,388.36.On the London Stock Exchange,
Fresnillo was the best blue-chip performer up 2.3%, after the gold miner boosted its gold output guidance for 2018 as both interim gold and silver production rose year-on-year.For the six months to June, Fresnillo's gold output increased 4.4% to 465,299 ounces, while silver production was up 9.7% to 30,764 ounces.Fresnillo revised its 2018 production guidance. It now expects gold production between 900,000 and 930,000 ounces, having previously guided for between 870,000 to 900,000 ounces of gold. However, silver production guidance is now lower than before, cut to between 64,500 and 67,500 ounces from the prior range of 67,000 to 70,000 ounces.British Airways parent
International Consolidated Airlines Group and budget airline
easyJet were up 2.0% and 1.9% respectively amid mixed earnings from rival Lufthansa.The German airline reported its group first-half net income edged up to EUR677 million from prior year's EUR672 million.Adjusted earnings before interest and tax, the key profit metric of Lufthansa, was roughly at its prior-year level at EUR1.01 billion. Adjusted EBIT margin amounted to 6.0%, compared to 6.1% in 2017 amid substantially higher fuel costs.Reported total first half-year revenue amounted to EUR16.90 billion, broadly in line with the prior-year level. Excluding the impact of the first-time application of the IFRS 15 accounting standard, revenue increased 5.2%.Looking ahead for all of 2018, Lufthansa said it continues to expect an adjusted EBIT for 2018 that is only slightly below 2017's record level.
BP was up 0.7% after the oil major reported a doubling in profit for the first half of 2018, with its Upstream business putting in a particularly strong performance.At the other end of the large cap index,
Centrica was the worst blue chip performer, down 5.3% after the British Gas parent reported a "resilient" first half in the face of several problems, though its consumer businesses did suffer a fall in profitability.In the six months to June, Centrica posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of GBP1.32 billion, up 7% year-on-year.However, the company's adjusted operating profit was down year-on-year, by 4% to GBP782 million. In the Centrica Consumer business, adjusted operating profit fell 20% year-on-year to GBP430 million, with the fall hardest in the UK Home segment. Centrica also said Chief Financial Officer Jeff Bell will be leaving the firm, with former Smiths Group and Vesuvius CFO Chris O'Shea taking his place.
Rentokil Initial was second worst blue chip performer, down 4.4% after the pest control company reported a drop in sharp drop in interim earnings.For the half year ending June 30, pretax profit slipped 82% to GBP109.5 million from GBP592.9 million last year, which had benefited from the sale of its Hygiene and Workwear assets. Revenue fell 4.7% to GBP1.18 billion from GBP1.23 billion last year. The company said its guidance for the full year is unchanged.
Standard Chartered was down 3.5% despite the Asia-focused bank reinstating its interim dividend as profit, return on equity and solvency ratio all improved, amid growth across its key areas.For the six months ended June, pretax profit rose 35% to USD2.37 billion from USD1.75 billion the year prior. This was after operating income increased by 6.0% to USD7.65 billion from USD7.22 billion the year before.Return on equity expanded to 6.7% from 5.2% the year prior. Common equity tier 1 ratio also improved to 14.2% from 13.8% the year before. Sterling was slightly lower quoted at USD1.3143 Tuesday, versus USD1.3146 at the London equities close on Monday.In domestic political news, Britain is ratcheting up warnings over the damage a no-deal Brexit could do to both the EU and UK as Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt launches a diplomatic offensive on the Continent.Fresh from an embarrassing slip-up in China, Hunt is visiting France and Austria on Tuesday and Wednesday to again insist London and Brussels could have to face the fall-out of an "accidental" UK exit from the EU without an agreement.The move comes as the food industry issued new warnings about the impact a no-deal scenario would have on supplies.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.1% early Tuesday.The euro was quoted at USD1.1725 early Tuesday, firm from USD1.1714 at the European equities close Monday.In economic news from the continent, Germany's retail sales recovered in June after falling a month ago, figures from Destatis showed Tuesday.Retail turnover expanded by real 1.2% month-on-month in June, reversing a revised 1.5% drop in May. Sales were expected to rebound 1%.On a yearly basis, retail sales advanced 3%, much bigger than the forecast of 1.5%.The economic events calendar on Tuesday has Germany unemployment data at 0900 BST. There is also Italy inflation and eurozone unemployment and inflation readings at 1000 BST.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.6% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.4% lower.In the US earnings calendar iPhone maker Apple reports after the market close in New York.In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.3%.The Bank of Japan retained its massive monetary stimulus and announced its plan to bring flexibility in bond operations.The central bank said it intends to maintain the current extremely low levels of short and long-term interest rates for an extended period of time. The bank will purchase government bonds so that the yield of 10-year Japanese government bonds will remain at around zero %.The board retained the -0.1% interest rate on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the bank.The inflation outlook was downgraded while maintaining growth projections. The inflation forecast for fiscal 2018 was trimmed to 1.1% from 1.3%. Likewise, projection for fiscal 2019 was lowered to 1.5% from 1.8% and that for 2020 to 1.6% from 1.8%.Elsewhere, China's manufacturing gauge slumped to a five-month low in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.The manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 51.2, compared to 51.5 in June. A figure above 50 indicates growth.
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