Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Tuesday, with the US Federal Reserve in focus as its policy-making committee kicks off its latest meeting.
Avatrade analyst Naeem Aslam commented that, while no monetary policy change is expected, investors will eye any commentary on inflation, which has continued to accelerate.
Aslam added: "Stock traders will be closely watching the tone of officials to see how the Fed will respond to macroeconomic changes such as updates on inflation and economic growth over the next few months."
In early UK corporate news, Reckitt Benckiser swung to a first half loss on a business revaluation and warned on cost inflation but backed annual guidance. Specialty chemicals maker Croda International posted an interim earnings hike. Greetings card retailer Moongpig reported an annual profit rise in its maiden set of results following its float.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 22.3 points, or 0.3%, lower at 7,003.13. London's blue-chip index closed just 2.15 points lower at 7,025.43 on Monday.
Consumer goods firm Reckitt said revenue for the first half ended June 30 fell 4.5% yearly to USD6.60 billion, but rose 1.5% like-for-like at constant currency. The Dettol disinfectant maker swung to a first half pretax loss of GBP1.94 billion from a GBP1.44 billion profit a year earlier.
Reckitt suffered a GBP3.00 billion hit related to the remeasurement of IFCN China, the infant nutrition business that it has agreed to sell to Beijing-based investment firm Primavera Capital Group for USD2.2 billion.
Reckitt declared a 73 pence payout, in line with a year earlier.
"Against a challenging environment, I am encouraged by the progress we have made in the first half of the year. Around 70% of our revenue, excluding IFCN China, is from brands growing by mid-single digits in the period, in line with our strategic vision. The remaining 30% includes our disinfection brands, which are structurally rebasing, as well as our cold and flu brands, which are now starting to show positive momentum," Chief Executive Laxman Narasimhan said.
"The markets are dynamic, reflecting several factors which we are closely monitoring, including the prevalence of Covid strains and government guidelines such as new lockdowns and social distancing. Although the third quarter will be slower due to strong prior year comparators, as the world gradually opens up and socialisation returns, cold and flu trends indicate a moderate season which should strengthen performance in the fourth quarter."
CEO Narasimhan expects like-for-like net revenue growth within the 0% and 2% range the company set out in February. The CEO cautioned, however, that cost inflation accelerated during the second quarter.
"It will take time to offset this headwind with productivity and pricing actions being implemented in the back half of the year and early next year," Narasimhan added.
Croda International hailed "record" first half profit. Sales in the six months ended June rose 39% to GBP934.0 million from 672.9 million a year earlier.
Pretax profit was 41% higher at GBP204.1 million from GBP144.9 million, while adjusted pretax profit jumped by more than 50% to a record GBP229.5 million.
Croda raised its payout by 10% to 43.5p, "continuing an unbroken trend of increasing returns over nearly 30 years". It had paid a 39.5p dividend for the first half of 2020.
The FTSE 100 company now expects adjusted pretax profit in 2021 to "significantly" top expectations.
"The first half year has seen a strong performance across the group, reflecting the global recovery in demand, the accelerated implementation of our strategic priorities and increased investment," Croda added.
It said it expects adjusted profit after tax in 2021 to be "significantly ahead" of current market expectations.
Recently floated Moonpig said revenue in its financial year that ended April 30 more than doubled to GBP368.2 million from GBP173.1 million. Pretax profit inched up 1.1% to GBP32.9 million from GBP31.8 million.
Moonpig affirmed that it does not intend to pay a dividend as it "invests in growth".
The company added: "The new financial year has started moderately ahead of expectations, consistent with the slower lifting of lockdown restrictions in the UK and the Netherlands.
"As restrictions have eased, we have seen customer purchase frequency start to normalise from elevated levels, and we expect this trend to continue until customer purchase frequency has settled at a level approximately 5% higher than before Covid-19."
Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday.
Danske Bank analysts commented: "Chinese stocks continue lower after the recent crackdown on big tech and lately the education sector."
The Shanghai Composite was down 1.6%, tumbling following the lunch break. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 2.6% lower. Both the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
In Hong Kong, Tencent shares were off 6.7%, down sharply for a second session in a row. Tencent shares have slumped after China's market regulator said on Saturday that it must relinquish its exclusive music label rights.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3811 on Tuesday morning in London, down from USD1.3820 at the local equity market close on Monday. The euro fell to USD1.1793, from USD1.1809. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY110.20, down from JPY110.31 late Monday in London.
Brent oil was quoted at USD74.77 a barrel early Tuesday, up from USD73.99 at the London equities close on Monday. Gold was priced at USD1,793.89 an ounce, down from USD1,799.56.
The international economics calendar has US durable goods at 1330 BST.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
