Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - After a solid week-to-date, stocks showed signs of weakness on Thursday heading into US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 25.14 points, or 0.3%, at 7,124.98. The FTSE 250 ended down 33.98 points, or 0.1%, at 23,952.39, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.27 of a point at 1,279.52.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 709.14, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.2% at 21,769.79, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.1% at 15,465.89.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.4%.
"Financial markets have continued to coil as traders await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at ThinkMarkets.
Traders will be on high alert for any comments from the Fed chief on possible taper plans - though a recent resurgent in coronavirus cases, which forced the in-person Jackson Hole event online for a second year running, has seen uncertainty grow over how forthcoming he may be this week.
Ahead of Powell's appearance was some mixed US economic data.
Positively, figures showed the US economy grew by 6.6% in the three months to June, accelerating slightly from 6.3% in the first quarter of the year. The latest reading was slightly higher than the 6.5% growth in gross domestic product first estimated for the second quarter.
However, the US Department of Labor separately reported a rise in initial jobless claims amid worker shortages and the ongoing Covid-19 resurgence, driven by the Delta variant. For the week to August 21, US initial jobless claims increased to 353,000 from 349,000 claims in the week prior. The latest figure was higher than the consensus estimate, cited by FXStreet, of 350,000.
After digesting the data, the dollar was lacklustre heading into Jackson Hole.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3723 at the London equities close Thursday, largely unchanged compared to USD1.3726 at the close on Wednesday.
The euro stood at USD1.1760 at the European equities close Thursday, firm against USD1.1754 at the same time on Wednesday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY110.04 compared to JPY110.06 late Wednesday.
Stocks in New York were in the red at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones down 0.1% and both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
In London, weighing down the blue-chip FTSE 100 index was its sizeable mining contingent.
"The basic resource sector has been the main drag on the back of weaker energy and metals prices, although the losses aren't huge, sentiment today feels slightly less exuberant than it was earlier in the week, with Antofagasta and Rio Tinto amongst the bigger fallers," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Brent oil was quoted at USD71.40 a barrel at the London equities close Thursday, soft against USD71.61 late Wednesday.
Miner Antofagasta closed down 2.7% and peer Rio Tinto shed 2.0%.
Precious metals miner Polymetal International fell 3.6%, the worst performing large-cap in London. It posted improved first-half earnings as commodity prices surged, though the gold miner lifted its capital expenditure guidance for the whole of 2021.
For the six months to June 30, revenue was USD1.27 billion, up 12% from USD1.14 billion last year. Pretax profit was USD521 million, rising 11% from USD470 million.
Polymetal said its average realised gold and silver prices tracked market dynamics and increased by 8% and 59%, respectively, during the period.
Gold was quoted at USD1,794.77 an ounce at the London equities close Thursday, up from
USD1,786.95 at the close on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, Polymetal said it is on track to meet its 2021 production guidance of 1.5 million ounces of gold equivalent. However, the company lifted its capital expenditure guidance to between USD675 million to USD725 million, from the previous forecast of USD560 million.
Topping the FTSE 100, however, was CRH. The building materials company rallied 3.9% on a jump in interim revenue and profit, and its outlook was upbeat amid US President Joe Biden's plans to boost infrastructure spending.
The Irish firm reported revenue of USD14.04 billion in the six months that ended June 30, up 15% from USD12.22 billion at the same time last year and 9.3% above the USD12.85 billion recorded two years earlier. Pretax profit doubled year-on-year to USD1.05 billion from USD518 million, and rose 46% when compared with 2019.
Looking ahead, the Dublin-based company said it is encouraged by the progress being made in relation to the Biden administration's plans for infrastructure spending in the US.
Biden's plans to spend nearly USD5 trillion to change the world's largest economy advanced in the House of Representatives earlier this week, after Democratic leaders reached an agreement with centrist lawmakers to end a dispute threatening the bills.
At the top of the FTSE 250 was Hays, the recruitment firm rising 4.1% as it resumed dividend payments.
Hays posted a pretax profit of GBP88.1 million for the year that ended June 30, up 2.1% from GBP86.3 million the year before. The London-based recruiter reinstated dividend payments with a core payment of 1.22 pence per share and a special dividend of 8.93p.
Elsewhere, shares in Macfarlane surged 13% on a boost to full-year guidance.
The Glasgow-based packaging company reported revenue of GBP133.5 million in the six months ended June 30, up 27% from GBP105.5 million last year, while pretax profit doubled to GBP7.8 million from GBP3.5 million. The company raised its expectations for the full-year, despite noting some challenges for the second half.
The UK corporate calendar on Friday has half-year results from student accommodation provider Unite Group and Irish commercial property investor Yew Grove REIT.
Friday's economic calendar is headlined by US Fed Chair Powell's appearance at Jackson Hole, with him giving a speech at 1500 BST. Before this are German import prices at 0700 BST, Irish retail sales at 1100 BST and US core personal consumption expenditures at 1330 BST.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
