LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 benefiting from a sharp decline in the pound which dropped as hopes for a UK interest rate rate next month were cast into doubt. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.7%, or 49.95 points, at 7,676.28. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.5%, or 112.93 points, at 20,984.20, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.3%, or 3.10 points, at 1,097.03.The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.6% at 13,012.08, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.4% at 19,106.71, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed flat at 12,545.87."The FTSE rose for a second consecutive session on Wednesday helped higher by
BHP Billiton and
easyjet on the back of strong corporate updates; and supported by a slump in the pound as doubts emerge over an August interest rate rise," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.On the London Stock Exchange,
BHP Billion closed up after the Anglo-Australian miner reported an increase in annual production after a "strong" finish to its financial year. On a group level, output increased 8% year-on-year for the 12 months to June, with annual production records across several operations. For its newly begun financial year, ending June 30, 2019, BHP expects group production "broadly" in line with its just ended year. Copper production was up 32% to 1.8 million tonnes, with output for the final quarter to June 20% higher year-on-year.
easyJet closed up after the budget airline lifted its guidance for full-year profit and capacity following an increase in third-quarter revenue. For the quarter ended June 30, total revenue increased by 9.4% to GBP1.51 billion from GBP1.39 billion for the same period the year before, due to a benign competitive environment as a result of unfilled capacity left by collapsed holiday carrier Monarch Airlines. The number of passengers carried rose by 3.6% to 23.1 million from 22.3 million and load factor increased by 0.9 percentage point to 94.0% from 93.1%. The total revenue per seat grew by 6.6% to GBP61.62 from GBP57.78, and by 4.8% in constant currency. As a result, easyJet has increased its headline pretax profit guidance for the year ending September 30 to a range of GBP550 million and GBP590 million, improved from a range of GBP530 million to GBP580 million previously.At the other end of the large cap index,
Smiths Group closed down 7.1%, shedding GBP491 million off its total market value in the process, after the company said its sales in its medical division would take a hit.Smiths Medical division, which is the company's largest, is expected to suffer a 2% revenue decline in the full-year to the end of July. The performance was hit by the loss of two contracts in the US.The pound slumped against the dollar quoted at USD1.3058 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3173 at the close Tuesday, as the likelihood of an interest rate hike from the Bank of England in August was called into question by investors. UK headline inflation held steady for a second straight month and the core measure eased, complicating the picture for the Bank of England which is widely expected to hike interest rates next month.Consumer prices climbed 2.4% year-over-year in June, the same rate of increase as in the previous two months. Economists had expected inflation to accelerate to 2.6%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained flat in June versus the expected increase of 0.2%.Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, eased to 1.9% in June from 2.1% in May. The rate was expected to remain unchanged. Economists said the latest easing in core inflation is unlikely to deter the central bank from hiking interest rates in August.Sterling fell to an intraday low of USD1.3010 immediately after the release of the data, its lowest level since last September. "Consumers have been feeling the benefit of the summer clothing sales, and computer game prices have also fallen," ONS Head of Inflation Mike Hardie said. "However, gas and electricity, and petrol prices all rose, with consumers seeing the highest price at the pump for nearly four years, with inflation remaining steady overall".Meanwhile, Boris Johnson issued a call for Theresa May to abandon plans for close relations with the European Union after Brexit and return to the vision of 'Global Britain' which she outlined last year.In a highly-charged personal statement to the House of Commons following his resignation as foreign secretary, Johnson did not make a direct challenge to May's leadership. But the former foreign secretary denounced the plan agreed at Chequers and set out in the May's white paper last week as a 'Brexit in name only'.Johnson suggested the government had not tried to "make the case for a free-trade agreement" of the kind suggested by May in a speech earlier this year."It is not too late to save Brexit. We have time in these negotiations," Johnson said. "We must try now, because we will not get another chance to do it right"."There was grand rhetoric (although even that was muted), but little in the way of an actual plan as an alternative to the UK's admittedly-muddled current approach. The inability of Brexiteers to articulate a real plan means that the Prime Minister will sail on, defying all expectations of doom," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.5%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.8%. The euro was marginally lower against the dollar at USD1.1642 at the European equities close, versus USD1.1689 late Tuesday.In economic news, the euro area annual inflation accelerated in June, exceeding the European Central Bank's target of "below, but close to 2%", final data from Eurostat confirmed.The annual inflation rate rose to 2% from 1.9% in May, in line with the flash estimate release on June 29.Compared to the previous month, prices edged up 0.1% in June. Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, eased to 0.9% from 1.1% in May. Initially, the core inflation for June was estimated as 1%.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's second day of testimony got underway on Capitol Hill, with the central bank chief appearing before the House Financial Services Committee.The DJIA was up 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq eased after ending Tuesday's session at a fresh record closing high.In US corporate news, investment bank Morgan Stanley reported a profit for the second quarter ended June 30 that increased 43% from last year, reflecting strong performance in investment banking and sales and trading.Quarterly net revenue rose 12% from the prior year. Both earnings per share and revenues topped analysts' expectations.Earnings applicable to common shareholders for the second quarter grew 43% to USD2.27 billion from the prior year's USD1.59 billion, with earnings per share improving to USD1.30 from USD0.87 in the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of USD1.11 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.Still to come, credit card company American Express, aluminium producer Alcoa and e-commerce website eBay report earnings after the market close. Brent oil was firm quoted at USD72.21 a barrel at the London equities close from USD72.02 at the close Tuesday.Gold was down quoted at USD1,223.17 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,228.95 late Tuesday. The precious metal fell to its lowest level so far in 2018 of USD1,221.63 in early trade as the dollar strengthened following Powell's upbeat comments. The economic events calendar on Thursday has trade data from Japan at 0050 BST, UK retail sales figures at 0930 BST and the South Africa Reserve Bank interest rate decision at 1400 BST. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has full year results from sportswear retailer Sports Direct International, second quarter production results from miner Anglo American, half year results from consumer goods giant Unilever and trading statements from energy supplier SSE and support services firm Babcock International.
Last checked at 
