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* BHP slips as annual profit misses estimates
* Outsourcer Capita plunges on first-half loss
* Persimmon jumps on reinstating dividend
* FTSE 100 falls 1%, FTSE 250 down 0.9%
(Updates to close, adds comments)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Shreyashi Sanyal
Aug 18 (Reuters) - London stocks fell on Tuesday as lower
oil prices and lacklustre earnings reports from miner BHP and
outsourcer Capita sparked a round of profit-taking, while
housebuilder Persimmon jumped after reinstating its dividend.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 1%, wiping out gains
made in the previous session, while the mid-cap FTSE 250
slipped 0.9%.
Miner BHP Group among the biggest weights on the
FTSE 100, slipped 2.7% after reporting a lower-than-expected
annual profit. The wider mining index fell 1%, but
was still among the handful of FTSE sub-indexes close to
breaking even for the year.
Aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus has supported a bout
of buying for global equities, with Wall Street's S&P 500 index
touching an all-time high on Tuesday. Analysts say they expect a
"buy everything" rally to push major benchmarks even higher.
After China's central bank said on Monday it would pump more
money into financial markets, investors are betting on another
dose of fiscal stimulus from the U.S. government.
Persimmon jumped 8% after it said it would reinstate
its dividend after an "excellent start" to the second half of
the year but posted a plunge in first-half profit.
"Persimmon's decision to reinstate the dividend ... shows
both confidence and caution. Confidence because the group thinks
it can safely return cash to shareholders, caution because
management clearly doesn't think the investment opportunities
are especially compelling at the moment," said William Ryder,
equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Capita Plc plunged 20.3% after posting a 28.5
million pound ($37.44 million) loss for the first half of 2020.
Retailer Marks & Spencer slid about 5% after saying
it planned to cut a further 7,000 jobs due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani and Shreyashi Sanyal in
Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Alison Williams)
