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(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 in London closed higher on Thursday, extending Wednesday's gains, after it was boosted by mining firms, as well as luxury fashion brand Burberry, on China optimism.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 57.85 points, 0.8%, at 7,646.05. The FTSE 250 ended down 10.79 points, 0.1%, at 19,311.73, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.2%, or 1.83 points, at 764.29.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.7% at 763.37, the Cboe UK 250 closed up marginally at 16,942.85, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.5% at 13,697.09.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2851 at the London equities close Thursday, lower compared to USD1.2890 at the close on Wednesday.
Stocks on Thursday extended gains, after closing markedly higher on Wednesday following a UK inflation slowdown. The reading showed consumer prices rose 7.9% annually in June, cooling from 8.7% the month before, and below the FXStreet cited estimate of 8.2%.
"Yesterday the leaderboard in London was dominated by the housebuilders. Today it is the turn of the mining sector, along with Burberry, with something of a China theme emerging during the session. While the rebound in that economy has slowed, the general improvement in global economic data has investors hoping that China's numbers will pick up too, and miners are likely to be prime beneficiary of such a development," IG analyst Axel Rudolph commented.
Commodity stocks ended the day higher. Anglo American closed up 3.3%.
The miner said production rose 11% year-on-year in the second quarter, which reflects the ramp-up of its new Quellaveco copper mine in Peru. The mine has now reached commercial production levels. It also noted a strong showing from its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil, and higher production from its Australian open-cut operations in steelmaking coal.
Fellow miner Glencore ended up 4.2%. Antofagasta rose 2.7%, more than recovering its 1.4% fall it suffered on Wednesday after it lowered output guidance.
China optimism lifted Burberry too. The trench coat maker rose 2.0%.
The People's Bank of China on Thursday held its one-year loan prime rate - which serves as a benchmark for corporate loans - at 3.55%. The five-year rate remained at 4.20%.
In the FTSE 250, easyJet closed down 3.9%.
In its third quarter ended June 30, the Luton Airport-based low-cost airline said revenue jumped 34% to GBP2.36 billion from GBP1.76 billion a year earlier. easyJet swung to a headline pretax profit of GBP203 million from a loss of GBP114 million.
Looking ahead, easyJet said that based on current booking trends, it expects to deliver a "record" pretax profit in its final quarter of its financial year. Although, it noted that this guidance is subject to the operational environment with the whole industry seeing challenging conditions this summer.
Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren tried to reassure investors and holidaymakers, saying: "We are absolutely focused on mitigating the impact of the challenging external environment on our customers and flying them on their well-earned holidays."
Among London's small-caps, Kier Group rose 5.3%.
The Manchester, England-based construction firm said revenue and profit for its year ended June 30 were in line with expectations, and that the year-end order book was above GBP10.0 billion.
"The group's financial 2023 results are anticipated to be in line with the board's expectations, reflecting a strong operational performance despite inflationary pressure. The company remains confident it can continue to mitigate these pressures going forward," Kier Group said.
On AIM, Portmeirion closed down 26%, after a profit warning.
The Stoke-on-Trent, England-based pottery maker said it expects sales for the first half of the year to be down 3.3% to GBP44 million from GBP45.5 million a year prior. Portmeirion partly attributed this to increased caution from customers in the US and Canada, with sales for the North American region down by 14% from a year before.
Looking ahead, Portmeirion said it expects profit for 2023 to be "significantly" below market expectations, but noted its balance sheet remains strong and remains focused on long-term growth.
Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%, whilst the S&P 500 index down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.1%.
In the US, the number of employment insurance initial claims fell from a week earlier on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the US Department of Labor on Thursday, while the unemployment rate was steady.
The number of initial claims fell to 228,000 in the week that ended July 15, this past Saturday, from 237,000 a week earlier.
Johnson & Johnson shares shot up 5.7% in New York. It raised its full-year guidance after reporting a "robust" second quarter, with solid rises in earnings and sales.
The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical and consumer goods firm reported net earnings of USD5.14 billion in the second quarter of 2023, up 6.9% from USD4.81 billion a year prior.
Diluted earnings per share rose by 8.9% to USD1.96 from USD1.80.
Second quarter sales climbed 6.3% year-on-year to USD25.53 billion from USD24.02 billion.
Sales in 2023 are now expected between USD98.8 billion and USD99.8 billion, up from previous guidance of between USD97.9 billion and USD98.9 billion. Sales in 2022 were USD94.94 billion.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.6%.
The euro stood at USD1.1144 at the European equities close Thursday, lower against USD1.1197 at the same time on Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY140.31, higher compared to JPY139.65 late Wednesday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD79.33 a barrel at the London equities close Thursday, down from USD80.39 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted at USD1,969.54 an ounce at the London equities close Thursday, down against USD1,975.43 at the close on Wednesday.
In Friday's UK corporate calendar, there are trading statements from Close Brothers and Petershill Partners.
The economic calendar for Friday has UK retail sales and public sector finances data at 0700 BST.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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