(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London ended higher on Thursday, overcoming early afternoon weakness, though equities in New York were feeling the heat from a US inflation print.
Figures from the Department of Labor showed the US consumer price index registered 7.5% in January, picking up steam from a rise of 7.0% in December. The latest annual inflation rate was the highest since February of 1982 and was above market forecasts of 7.3%.
The hot inflation figure ramps up pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy at its meeting next month.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 28.98 points, or 0.4%, at 7,672.40. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index ended up 23.74 points, or 0.1%, at 22,207.75. The AIM All-Share index closed 3.33 points, 0.3%, lower at 1,091.73.
The Cboe UK 100 index ended up 0.4% at 761.69. The Cboe 250 closed up 0.3% at 19,891.71, while the Cboe Small Companies ended 0.7% higher at 15,693.16.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris ended down 0.4% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed 0.1% higher.
"It's been quite a choppy session for markets in Europe today with the FTSE100 making another 2 year high, however the afternoon session did see us undergo a sharp pullback after US CPI surged to a new 40-year high of 7.5%, and US markets opened lower. The UK benchmark continues to look resilient despite the early weakness in the US, with the DAX also managing to hold up reasonably well, against a backdrop of increasing inflation risk," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.
The FTSE 100 got a boost from share price gains for Informa, on a unit disposal and buyback plans, and AstraZeneca, following strong annual results.
Frankfurt's DAX, meanwhile, saw strong gains by industrial manufacturing firm Siemens, but weakness from takeaway delivery company Delivery Hero.
The hot US inflation report initially lifted the dollar on Thursday, though the greenback has since wavered.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3629 late Thursday, up from USD1.3551 at the London equities close Wednesday. The euro was priced at USD1.1488, down from USD1.1437. The single currency hit a year-to-date high of USD1.1494. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.84, up from JPY115.44.
Stocks in New York were weaker at the London equities close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both 0.5% lower.
The Dow was lower despite a 4.3% share price gain for Walt Disney. The entertainment company late Wednesday posted a hefty annual rise in subscriptions of its flagship streaming service.
Disney+ subscribers grew 37% annually to 129.8 million from 94.9 million a year earlier.
In London, Informa topped the FTSE 100, rising 7.2%.
The business information publisher and events organiser said it would launch a share buyback and said it saw a strong performance through 2021. In addition, Informa agreed to sell Pharma Intelligence, the largest business within its Informa Intelligence division, to Warburg Pincus for GBP1.9 billion.
Ahead of its annual results on March 15, Informa said it expects to report trading in 2021 in line with guidance of GBP1.8 billion revenue and GBP375 million of adjusted operating profit. It posted revenue of GBP1.6 billion and adjusted operating profit of GBP267.8 million in 2020.
AstraZeneca added 1.6%. The drugmaker said sales shot up in 2021, helped by its Covid-19 vaccine.
Revenue for 2021 rose 41% to USD37.42 billion from USD26.62 billion in 2020. Excluding Covid vaccine revenue, total sales for the year still rose a robust 26% to USD33.44 billion.
Despite the sales growth, Astra swung to a pretax loss of USD265 million for 2021 from a profit of USD3.92 billion in 2020. This was due to research & development costs jumping 63% to USD9.74 billion from USD5.99 billion and selling, general & administrative expense increasing 35% to USD15.23 billion from USD11.29 billion.
The market was unimpressed by results from Relx and Unilever, however.
Relx closed down 2.0%. For 2021, it generated revenue of GBP7.24 billion, up from GBP7.11 billion in 2020. However, the figure missed consensus estimates of GBP7.34 billion. Pretax profit was GBP1.80 billion, up from GBP1.48 billion in 2020, but was below forecasts of GBP2.1 billion.
Unilever dropped 1.3%. The under-fire consumer goods firm launched another large share buyback programme and promised to make no major acquisition in the "foreseeable future" after its failed tilt at the GSK Consumer Healthcare business.
For 2021, Unilever generated revenue of EUR52.44 billion, up from EUR50.72 billion in 2020. The figure was higher than the company-compiled consensus forecast of EUR52.11 billion. Pretax profit rose to EUR8.6 billion from EUR8.0 billion the year prior.
Elsewhere in London, travel and leisure stocks continued to be boosted by news that remaining Covid-19 curbs could ease.
Picture house operator Cineworld rose 4.4%, low-cost gym company Gym Group rose 1.7% and travel firm On the Beach added 1.9%.
Over in Frankfurt, Siemens added 4.7%. The company narrowed its focus and confirmed its outlook for the year following a revenue rise.
In the first quarter ended December 31, revenue rose 17% to EUR16.5 billion from EUR14.1 billion and net income climbed 20% to EUR1.8 billion from EUR1.5 billion.
Delivery Hero tumbled 30%, however. While sales on the group's platforms exceeded expectations, the operating profit margin on those sales was below Delivery Hero's minus 2% target, finishing the year at minus 2.2%.
The Berlin-based company sees the same measure being between minus 1% and minus 1.2% in 2022, putting off the prospect of reaching profitability this year.
In London, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Deliveroo fell 6.3% and 3.5% in a negative read across.
Brent oil was quoted at USD92.78 a barrel late Thursday, up from USD91.90 late Wednesday. Gold stood at USD1,839.85 an ounce, higher against USD1,830.69.
Friday's economic calendar has UK gross domestic product figures at 0700 GMT. Financial markets in Japan are closed for National Foundation Day.
The local corporate calendar has annual results from Dunhill maker British American Tobacco and insurer Lancashire Holdings. Food ingredients maker Tate & Lyle posts third quarter numbers.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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