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* Shell, Anglo American jump on strong earnings, dividends
* Caterer Compass reports Q3 margins at top end of forecast
* BT, Smith & Nephew top FTSE 100 losers
* FTSE 100 up 0.9%, FTSE 250 adds 0.2%
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar
July 29 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended higher on
Thursday, as encouraging earnings and huge dividend payouts from
some of the UK's biggest corporates helped support optimism
around faster economic growth.
The blue-chip index rose 0.9%, led by a set of
strong earnings and bumper dividends from oil major Royal Dutch
Shell, miner Anglo American, pest control
company Rentokil Initial, and event firm Informa
. Their shares ended up between 3.8% and 7.3%.
Shell jumped 3.8% to be the top boost to the FTSE 100 after
its second-quarter profit jumped to $5.5 billion, the highest in
over two years, while Anglo American gained 5.4% after it
increased its shareholder payout to $4.1 billion, following
bumper earnings.
"Some of today’s updates could raise optimism that there
still remain a significant number of UK companies that may have
further to go in terms of share price upside," said Michael
Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Also supporting sentiment was Bank of England data that
showed mortgage lending surged by a record amount in June as
home buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax break before it
was scaled back. Shares of homebuilders gained
0.9%
The domestically focussed mid-cap index edged 0.2%
higher.
The FTSE 100 has recovered 41% from its March 2020 lows,
supported by dovish central bank policies, although it has
largely underperformed the local mid-cap index and wider
European market peers on concerns about higher inflation and
rising coronavirus cases.
"The UK market has been underowned and unloved for most of
the global funds since Brexit and this perception doesn't look
to change soon enough," said Keith Temperton, sales trader at
Forte Securities.
Among other earnings, caterer Compass Group and
information provider Relx added 3.8% and 3.5%
respectively after reporting strong results.
Shares of communications company BT and medical
technology company Smith & Nephew were the top losers on
the FTSE 100 as their results failed to impress investors.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V and Jonathan Oatis)
