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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed on Tuesday with a weaker pound giving the internationally-exposed FTSE 100 a boost, as one of London's largest miners outlined plans to leave for Sydney.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.13 points, or 0.4%, at 7,181.11. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed down 19.14 points, or 0.1%, at 23,693.53. The AIM All-Share index ended down 2.59 points, or 0.2%, at 1,257.55.
The Cboe UK 100 index ended up 0.3% at 714.40. The Cboe 250 lost 0.3% at 21,491.90, and the Cboe Small Companies closed 0.4% lower at 15,410.90.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended flat.
Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close following disappointing US retail sales numbers for July.
The DJIA was down 0.8%, the S&P 500 index down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.9%.
US retail sales slumped in July, data from the the US Census Bureau showed, coming in far worse than market consensus.
Retail and food service sales in the US fell 1.1% in July compared to the previous month to USD617.7 billion, following June's revised 0.7% growth. Market consensus, according to FXStreet, had expected a 0.3% fall in July.
"US markets are on track to end their winning streak, with the FTSE 100 outperforming thanks to a weaker pound," said IG Group's Josh Mahony.
In the FTSE 100, BHP Group ended the best performer, up 3.4%, after the Anglo-Australian miner revealed an all-stock merger of its petroleum portfolio and record final dividend.
London and Melbourne-based BHP and Perth-based Woodside Petroleum have agreed to merge their oil and gas portfolios to create one of the 10 largest independent energy producers in the world and the largest listed in Sydney. Upon the merger's completion 52% of the new company will be held by Woodside shareholders and 48% by BHP shareholders.
The move comes as BHP tries to change focus toward metals such as copper and nickel, as well as green commodities and away from oil and coal.
Turning to annual results, BHP reported pretax profit jumped to USD24.60 billion in its financial year ended June 30, up 82% from USD13.51 billion a year prior and 63% above the USD15.05 billion reported in financial 2019.
BHP declared a a record final dividend of 200 US cents per share for an overall annual dividend of 301.0 cents, at the higher end of analysts predictions and up sharply from 120.0 cents the previous year. In financial 2019, BHP issued a final dividend of 133.0 cents.
The payout brings BHP's shareholder returns to over than USD15 billion for the full year, the company noted.
BHP also said that it plans to unify its corporate structure under its Australian parent company and move its primary listing to Sydney's Australian Securities Exchange by the first half of 2022.
Just Eat Takeaway closed up 2.9% after the food delivery platform reported a wider first-half loss after heavy investments to battle food delivery rivals, but said profitability will start to improve from the second half.
Revenue in the first half of 2021 more than doubled year-on-year to EUR1.77 billion from EUR675 million. The company's pretax loss widened to EUR395 million from EUR26 million. On a combined basis - including the acquired Just Eat and Grubhub businesses for both periods - revenue was up 47% to EUR2.61 billion from EUR1.78 billion.
At the other end of the large-caps, BT ended 1.0% lower. The telecommunications firm named Adam Crozier as its new chair, a position he will vacate at online retailer ASOS.
BT said Crozier will take the chair from December 1, but will join the board as a non-executive director and chair designate from November 1. His appointment confirms a Sunday Times report from earlier in August. Crozier is chair of Premier Inn-owner Whitbread, a role he will keep despite joining the former state monopoly. ASOS closed 0.4% lower.
In the FTSE 250, Plus500 was the best performer, finishing up 5.1%, after the contract-for-difference provider launched a share buyback, but also posted a first-half earnings decline.
Pretax profit fell to USD188.7 million in the six months that ended June 30 from USD363.2 million a year before. Revenue dropped 39% year-on-year to USD346.2 million from USD564.2 million.
However, earnings were sharply higher than in the first half of 2019, when Plus500 reported pretax profit of USD63.9 million on revenue of USD148.0 million.
Looking ahead, Plus500 expects revenue for 2021 "to be significantly ahead" of analyst forecasts. Company-compiled consensus forecasts annual revenue of USD476.7 million, which would be down 45% from USD872.5 million. Revenue in 2020 benefited from volatility in financial markets in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, Plus500 announced plans for a USD12.6 million buyback. This follows the completion of a USD25.0 million share repurchase programme which it announced in February.
The dollar was higher across the board as investors flocked to its safe-haven allure. The pound was quoted at USD1.3742 at the London equities close, down sharply from USD1.3850 at the close Monday.
Sterling was unmoved by upbeat economic data which showed the UK unemployment rate came in slightly lower than expectations in the second quarter of 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The unemployment rate for the three months to June was estimated to be 4.7%, down a touch from 4.8% for the three months to May.
This improved upon market expectations, cited by FXStreet, which saw the unemployment rate remaining unchanged. The UK jobless rate started 2021 at 5.0%, representing the three months to January.
The euro stood at USD1.1715 at the European equities close, down from USD1.1785 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.60, up from JPY109.15 late Monday.
On the continent, new flash data from the eurozone pointed to an improving economic picture, with gross domestic product growth and a steady rise in employment.
For the second quarter, seasonally adjusted GDP increased 2.0% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU compared with the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published by the statistical office of the EU, Eurostat. This compares to a first quarter GDP decline of 0.3% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU.
Annually, second quarter GDP surged 14% in the euro area compared with a 1.3% drop in the previous quarter.
Brent oil was quoted at USD69.75 a barrel at the equities close, rising from USD69.15 at the close Monday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,783.45 an ounce at the London equities close, slightly lower against USD1,786.04 late Monday.
The economic events calendar on Wednesday has inflation readings from the UK and eurozone at 0700 BST and 1000 BST respectively.
The UK corporate calendar on Wednesday has interim results from housebuilder Persimmon, gold miner Hochschild Mining and construction firm Balfour Beatty.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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