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(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 nudged cautiously higher on Thursday as the nervous wait for US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium continues.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 8.23 points, or 0.1% at 7,479.74 on Thursday. The FTSE 250 ended down 47.36 points, or 0.3%, at 19,257.87. The AIM All-Share closed up 2.14 points, or 0.2% at 900.76.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 747.25, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.4% at 16,547.70, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 13,213.29.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.4%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.1815 at the London equities close Thursday, up marginally from USD1.1813 at the close on Wednesday.
The euro stood at USD0.9975 at the European equities close Thursday, down against USD0.9981 at the same time on Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY136.72 late Thursday, lower compared to JPY136.80 late Wednesday.
"The US dollar has seen a bit of a sell-off ahead of tomorrow's widely anticipated speech by Fed chairman Jay Powell. This appears to be the market performing an element of position tidying ahead of an event that could trigger an outsized reaction," said CMC Market's Michael Hewson.
The Jackson Hole Economic Symposium is a meeting of the world's top central bankers. The annual event kicked off on Thursday under the theme 'Macroeconomic Policy in an Uneven Economy'.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to deliver a keynote speech Friday morning local time, around 1400 GMT.
Powell's address follows successive 75 basis point rate hikes by the Fed, with markets now looking for clues in his speech as to whether the central bank will enact a similar move next month.
"Any suggestion the Fed might ease up a bit would likely spark a very positive response in the markets, but if Powell goes the other way and is even more hawkish than many have been predicting, it could exacerbate the recent wobble in markets," explained Russ Mould of AJ Bell.
The second-quarter contraction in US economic growth was not a severe as originally calculated, according to the latest estimate from the Department of Commerce, though the country remains in a technical recession.
The US economy shrank at an annual pace of 0.6% in the second quarter, following a 1.6% drop in the first quarter. However, the latest reading was revised slightly from a preliminary estimate of a 0.9% contraction.
Two consecutive quarters of falling gross domestic product meets a long-held basic view of a recession. However, the US National Bureau of Economic Research is the official arbiter of recessions and uses multiple factors in making this determination.
The German economy, meanwhile – Europe's largest - grew slightly in the second quarter, revised figures from the country's statistics office showed on Thursday.
German gross domestic product grew 0.1% in the second quarter from the first. Whilst slowing from 0.8% quarter-on-quarter growth in the first quarter, the figure was better than expected, improving from Destatis' preliminary estimate of no growth whatsoever.
In the FTSE 100, CRH finished as the best blue-chip performer, rising 4.1%.
The Dublin-based firm upped its dividend and reported a jump in interim profit, due to robust demand and progress in Europe and North America.
For the first half of 2022, the Dublin-based building materials company posted a pretax profit of USD1.20 billion, up 29% from USD929 million a year before. This was on revenue growth of 14% to USD15.0 billion from USD13.17 billion.
In the FTSE 250, Harbour Energy surged 10% as its interim profit jumped on the back of higher production and commodity prices.
For the six months to June 30, revenue and other income was USD2.67 billion, surging 78% from USD1.50 billion last year and pretax profit was USD1.49 billion, multiplied from USD120.2 million.
The strength of its results led the North Sea-focused oil and gas firm to bump up the scale of its share buyback to USD300 million from USD200 million.
Grafton fell 2.5% after the builders merchant reported a slip in profit for the first half of 2022 and gave a cautious outlook, flagging weaker-than-expected trading in July.
Revenue for the first half of 2022 rose 12% to GBP1.15 billion from GBP1.03 billion, but pretax profit slipped 7.3% to GBP132.4 million from GBP142.9 million.
Elsewhere in London, Cineworld continued its losing streak, shedding another 31% and leaving the former FTSE 250 constituent with a market capitalisation of just over GBP26 million.
The Picturehouse operator on Monday warned it is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, as it continues to battle with liquidity issues. Last week, it said recent cinema admission levels have been below expectations.
Hunting jumped 15% as the firm narrowed its half-year loss amid a buoyant energy industry backdrop.
The London-based energy services provider posted a narrowed pretax loss in the half-year to June 30 of USD500,000, from USD28.6 million a year prior.
Hunting noted strong commodity prices in the half, and said the current positive energy market backdrop has resulted in a "marked increase" in orders and enquiries.
Stocks in New York were green at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.
Peloton shares were 18% lower at the time of closing bell in London. The home exercise equipment maker, grappling with weaker demand as Covid curbs ease, posted revenue of USD678.7 million in the three months to June 30, down 28% year-on-year.
Its net loss ballooned to USD1.24 billion from USD313.2 million.
Brent oil was quoted at USD100.48 a barrel at the London equities close Thursday, down from USD100.77 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,756.33 an ounce at the London equities close Thursday, higher against USD1,752.55.
In Friday's UK corporate calendar, there are half-year results from life sciences-focused investment firm Malin and investor CT Private Equity Trust.
In the economic calendar, there is a consumer confidence survey from Germany at 0700 BST, before Fed Chair Powell's long-awaited speech at the Jackson Hole symposium at 1500 BST.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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