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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Tuesday with oil producers giving the FTSE 100 a boost, while in the FTSE 250 Pennon fell sharply after the UK water regulator opened a case against the company.
The large-cap index was up 62.79 points, or 0.9%, at 7,321.11. The mid-cap index was up 141.41 points, or 0.7%, at 19,265.12. The AIM All-Share index was up 5.12 points, or 0.6%, at 908.61.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.9% at 730.60. The Cboe 250 was up 0.5% at 17,015.33 and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.7% at 13,596.71.
Paris and Frankfurt were also making gains. The CAC 40 stock index was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 was up 0.7%.
In the FTSE 100, energy stocks BP, Shell and Harbour Energy all were up more than 2%, tracking spot oil prices higher.
Brent oil was quoted at USD117.21 a barrel Tuesday morning, up 2.2% from USD114.74 late Monday in London.
At the other end of the FTSE 100 index, Severn Trent was the worst performer, down 4.1%, after JPMorgan downgraded the water company to 'underweight' from 'neutral'.
Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion was down 1.0% in a negative read-across after Nike lost 2.9% in after-hours trade in New York.
The athletic apparel maker late Monday reported a drop in fourth-quarter earnings. For the three months ended May 31, revenue slipped 1% to USD12.23 billion from USD12.34 billion a year prior. On a currency-neutral basis, revenue was up 3%.
Net profit for the period fell 5% to USD1.44 billion from USD1.51 billion, as diluted EPS dropped to USD0.90 from USD0.93.
In the FTSE 250, Petrofac was the best performer, up 4.5%. The oilfield services firm its performance and expectations remain in line with guidance provided at the end of May.
Petrofac said its Engineering & Construction arm is expected to deliver first-half revenue of around USD0.6 billion and a loss before interest and tax of USD35 million to USD45 million. In the second half, Petrofac is expecting similar revenue and a marginal operating profit. However, the unit is expected to secure strong order intake in the second half and deliver backlog growth year-on-year.
Looking ahead, Petrofac said it is well positioned with a "healthy" pipeline scheduled for award in the next 18 months.
At the other end of the list of London midcaps, Pennon was the worst performer, down 6.5%. The water company noted that UK regulator Ofwat has included its South West Water business as part of an investigation into how water and wastewater companies manage their wastewater treatment works.
Pennon said it will continue to work "openly and constructively" with Ofwat to comply with the formal notice issued to South West Water as part of this ongoing investigation.
Elsewhere, Wise was down 4.7%. The international money transfer provider reported a 7.1% rise in pretax profit, to GBP43.9 million in the financial year that ended March 31 from GBP41.1 million the year before, as revenue jumped by 33% to GBP559.9 million from GBP421.0 million.
Profit was held back by an even larger rise in administrative expenses, up 48% to GBP321.4 million from GBP217.5 million. Wise said it expects revenue to grow by between 30% and 35% in the new financial year.
Wise on Monday had said the UK Financial Conduct Authority has opened an investigation into Co-Founder & Chief Executive Kristo Kaarmann after a tax breach.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.9%.
The dollar was up across the board. The pound was quoted at USD1.2285 early Tuesday, down from USD1.2303 at the London equities close Monday.
The euro was priced at USD1.0590, down from USD1.0608. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY135.48 in London, higher against JPY135.19.
Gold stood at USD1,828.15 an ounce, rising against USD1,822.51 late Monday.
Tuesday's economic calendar has Irish retail sales at 1100 BST and US consumer confidence at 1500 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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