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* British Land drops on plans to scrap rent concessions
* BP drops on plans to buy full ownership of Thorntons JV
* Howden Joinery hits record high on upbeat earnings updates
* FTSE 100 flat, FTSE 250 adds 0.1%
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar
July 13 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended on a quiet note
on Tuesday amidst weakness in travel and energy stocks as a jump
in coronavirus infections raised worries about re-openings,
while banks gave up their session gains to end lower.
Banks ended 0.9% lower after initially adding
over 2%, weighing on the FTSE 100, after the Bank of England
scrapped pandemic-era curbs on dividends for top lenders with
immediate effect.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was flat, with
financial services company Natwest Group being the top
loser, while energy major BP posed the top drag on the
index. Travel stocks dropped 1.0%.
"UK banks aren’t U.S. banks and anyone expecting a big
increase in payouts needs to temper their optimism, which
probably helps explain why, despite an initial move higher, the
bulk of, if not all of, today’s gains have disappeared," said
Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index climbed 0.1% with
retailer Howden Joinery Group the top gainer on upbeat
earnings updates as its share hit record highs.
The FTSE 100 has gained 10.6% so far this year, but has been
largely range-bound near its 7,100-mark since June.
It has underperformed the wider European index — which is
currently trading near record highs — after a recent jump in
cases of a coronavirus variant sparked fears of a prolonged
economic recovery.
Among stocks, UK commercial property firm British Land Co
Plc fell 1.6% after it said it did not expect to grant
further rent concessions to its tenants this quarter as the
easing of coronavirus restrictions had boosted its trading.
BP Plc dropped 1.1% after it said it would buy the
entire ownership of its Thorntons joint venture to expand its
presence in the U.S. fuels and convenience retail business.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu, Uttaresh.V and Mark Heinrich)
