Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher Tuesday, having traded lower for most of the day as investors reacted to the terrorist attacks in Brussels, but finding support later in the session after a rise in the oil price on reports of a potential output freeze.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1%, or 8.16 points, at 6,192.74, recovering after touching an intraday low of 6,110.39 shortly after the open.
A series of terrorist attacks in Brussels left at least 34 people dead and almost 200 injured, local media reported, with the Belgian capital under lockdown as authorities rushed to secure other sites and hunt down the perpetrators. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks, according to the extremist group's Amaq Agency.
Two explosions that ripped through the departure hall at the Brussels airport around 0700 GMT left 14 people dead and 81 people injured, the broadcaster VRT reported.
About an hour later a second explosion went off in a subway train stopped at the station of Maelbeek, which is located near EU institutions. Twenty people died in that attack, while 106 were injured, according to VRT. The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that the three explosions "were terrorist attacks" and that a terrorism investigation has been launched.
Travel and tourism-related stocks bore the brunt of the hit from the attacks in Belgium on the London market. Among the blue-chips, British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group fell 3.7%, hotel operator InterContinental Hotels Group lost 2.3%, cruise operator Carnival was down 1.6% and travel operator TUI fell 2.8%.
The story was much the same in the FTSE 250, with travel operator Thomas Cook Group down 4.3%. Thomas Cook share declines were exacerbated by the group's trading update, in which it said that while winter season bookings were in line, summer bookings were much weaker year-on-year, due to a "volatile geopolitical backdrop".
Thomas Cook said market conditions remain challenging, amid depressed consumer confidence not helped by continued disruptions in some regions, though the group has seen some benefit from re-balancing its capacity to countries such as Spain and other long-haul destinations with relatively low demand.
The gold price spiked to a high of USD1,260.10 an ounce on news of the explosions, but it gave back some of those gains throughout the session, standing at USD1,250.44 an ounce at the London equities close. At the close Monday, the metal was quoted at USD1,245.30 an ounce.
FTSE 100 gold miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo ended among the best performers, up 2.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the pound dropped against the dollar, quoted at USD1.4208 at the close, having stood at USD1.4396 prior to the news from Brussels. Some analysts said the events in Brussels could be supportive for the 'Leave' campaign vote ahead of the Brexit referendum on June 23. Sterling stood at USD1.4393 at the equities close Monday.
Meanwhile, the euro slid against the greenback. The single currency was quoted at USD1.1209 at the close, against USD1.1250 at the equities close on Monday.
Stocks in London found some support to take back some of their early losses following a surge in crude prices after Saudi Arabia said it is prepared to freeze its oil output next month even if Iran does not agree to follow suit. It potentially would pave the way for a deal to be struck between other producing nations, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
Brent reached a high of USD42.05, standing at USD41.60 a barrel at the London close. The North Sea benchmark was quoted at USD41.27 at the close Monday.
Some of the world's largest oil producing nations are set to meet in Doha, Qatar, on April 17 to discuss restraining output into the global market, following on from a provisional agreement reached by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela last month to keep production at the rate being produced in January of this year.
Elsewhere, building materials company Wolseley ended up 1.7% after it said pretax profit more than tripled to GBP367.0 million in the first half of its financial year on the back of strong commercial and residential markets for its US business, as it said it expects full-year results in line with analyst expectations.
Meanwhile, Barclays closed down 2.1% after HSBC cut the stock to Hold from Buy, while Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target on the bank's shares.
The FTSE 250 ended up 0.2%, or 41.10 points, at 16,903.93 and the AIM All-Share finished up 0.4%, or 2.99 points, at 709.04.
Mid-cap online financial trading house IG Group Holdings ended up 6.3% after as it saw third-quarter revenue rise thanks to volatility in markets. IG said revenue for the three months to the end of February hit GBP122.0 million, 18% higher year-on-year and a 9.0% increase on the second quarter. The group said the constant flow of macroeconomic news through the quarter created "reasonable" volatility levels in financial markets, creating a range of trading opportunities for IG clients.
Housebuilder Bellway rose 3.3% after it delivered surging profit and a hiked dividend as it sold more houses at higher prices in the first half.
Bellway's pretax profit grew 43% to GBP226.6 million in the six months to the end of January, from GBP158.9 million a year earlier. The group sold 4,188 homes, up 12% year-on-year, at an average selling price of GBP257,280, up 17%. Bellway's revenue mix benefited from sales of higher-value apartments in London in the half. The results prompted the company to hike its interim dividend to 27.90 pence per share, up 36% year-on-year.
Sports Direct International, the sporting goods retailer demoted from the FTSE 100 in the last quarterly review, spent its second day in the mid-cap index sharply lower following comments made by founder Mike Ashley to The Times.
Ashley, the executive deputy chairman of Sports Direct, told the newspaper the retailer was "in trouble" and he was concerned the business was "losing momentum". He blamed the problems on MPs, who have been calling for him to face the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee to answer questions about working practices at Sports Direct.
Ashley has refused to come before the committee and claimed MPs had created a "spiral of negative publicity" around Sports Direct.
"We are in trouble, we are not trading very well. We can't make the same profit we made last year," Ashley said in an interview with the newspaper. "We are supposed to be taking the profits up, they are not supposed to be coming down, and the more the media frenzy feeds on it, the more it affects us."
Ashley's comments sent Sports Direct shares down 12%, the worst mid-cap performer.
On the economic front, UK inflation held steady in February and factory gate prices dropped less than expected, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
On a yearly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in February matching the January's reading. Prices were expected to increase 0.4%. Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 0.2% reversing January's 0.8% fall. Economists had forecast a 0.4% rise. However, core inflation excluding energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco held steady at 1.2%.
In the US, Markit manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index flash reading for March came in at 51.4, compared to the score of 51.3 seen in February.
At the London close, US stocks were mixed to higher, with the DJIA flat, the S&P 500 up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%. Europe's main indices ended higher, with the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.1% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt up 0.4%.
There is a thin economic calendar expected Wednesday, with just US new home sales data due at 1400 GMT and the Energy Information Association oil stocks change data at 1430 GMT.
In the UK corporate calendar, B&Q-owner Kingfisher Group and life insurer Phoenix Group Holdings publish final results. Sofa retailer DFS Furniture and video games retailer Game Digital publish half-year results, while home emergency cover provider Homeserve publishes a trading statement.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
At the London close, US stocks were mixed to higher, with the DJIA flat, the S&P 500 up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
