(Alliance News) -Â European stocks ended Thursday's session little changed, with the FTSE 100 adding just a handful of points as stimulus hopes were overshadowed by US-China tensions, a lack of progress on the Brexit front and disappointing US jobs data.
Helping London's blue-chip index edge higher was Unilever, with shares surging on an interim rise in profit.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 4.34 points, or 0.1%, at 6,211.44. The FTSE 250 ended up 23.72 points, or 0.1%, at 17,489.45, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.53 points, or 0.2%, at 890.50.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 619.33, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.1% at 14,836.59, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 9,210.35.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended flat.
"Markets have once again shown indecision as a plethora of risks counterbalance the positivity around ongoing stimulus," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG.
After the EU's EUR750 billion rescue fund, eyes turn to Washington as unemployed American workers face a critical juncture on the first day of August, when extra jobless benefits keeping some from poverty are set to expire.
The USD600 per-week payments have lessened the hit for millions of American workers laid off as the Covid-19 outbreak shuttered businesses across the US. But Congress financed the payments only through July 31, meaning they are scheduled to run out even though hiring hasn't picked back up in many parts of the country.
Lawmakers are gathering in Washington to debate what to do next, with President Donald Trump favouring a payroll tax cut while Democrats want to see the benefits extended.
The stimulus talks come as data on Thursday showed US jobless claims rose by more than one million for the 18th straight week.
In the week ending July 18, seasonally adjusted initial claims were 1.4 million, an increase of 109,000 from last week's revised level. Market consensus expected initial claims to rise by 1.3 million. The previous week's level was revised up by 7,000 to 1.31 million from 1.3 million.
Continuing claims, or seasonally-adjusted insured employment, for the week to July 11, fell to 16.2 million from a revised figure of 17.3 million.
IG's Mahony commented: "Today could have brought a turning point in the US economic recovery, with the weekly jobless claims number rising for the first time since the late-March peak. However, it was not all bad news, with the decline of circa one-million continuing claims highlighting how new jobless are being counterbalanced by a drop in ongoing unemployment filings."
Also keeping sentiment subdued were rising tensions between the US and China.
US-Chinese relations, already tense over the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing's crackdown in Hong Kong, deteriorated once again Wednesday as Washington ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston within 72 hours.
China slammed the US move, which came one day after the unveiling of a US indictment targeting two Chinese nationals for allegedly hacking hundreds of companies worldwide and seeking to steal virus vaccine research.
US President Donald Trump threatened more consulate closures, telling reporters "it's always possible".
And over in Europe, UK-EU relations also remain frosty. The UK's chief EU negotiator on Thursday admitted the two sides have not yet reached any Brexit agreement following intensified talks in July.
David Frost's EU's counterpart, Michel Barnier, said a trade agreement "at this point" is "unlikely".
In a written statement, Frost said "considerable gaps remain in the most difficult areas" following the latest round of talks in London. Speaking at a press conference in London as Frost's statement was released, Barnier said the UK's position on fisheries is "simply unacceptable".
The pound was quoted at USD1.2752 at the London equities close Thursday, slightly higher compared to USD1.2731 at the close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.1597 at the European equities close Thursday, firm against USD1.1585 at the same time on Wednesday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY106.91, down compared to JPY107.17 late Wednesday.
Stocks in New York were mostly lower at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones down 0.3%, the S&P 500 index flat and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
At the top of London's FTSE 100 on Thursday was Unilever, ending up 7.9% after getting a boost from the Covid-19 pandemic in its hygiene unit.
The Anglo-Dutch maker of Dove soap and Domestos household cleaner said it increased its hand sanitiser capacity by 600 times across several brands and rolled out its Lifebuoy hygiene brand to more than 50 markets.
For the half-year ended June 30, revenue was EUR25.71 billion, down 1.6% from EUR26.13 billion the year before, but pretax profit rose 4.1% to EUR4.53 billion from EUR4.35 billion.
Underlying sales for the period declined 0.1% with volumes declining 0.3% but prices rising 0.2%. Developed markets grew 2.4%, whilst emerging markets declined 1.9%.
Sage rose 6.6% on solid growth in the first nine months of its financial year.
The accounting software firm said it expects recurring revenue in the financial year ending September 30 to grow by 7% to 8%, with an organic operating margin of 22%.
Sage Group's total organic revenue saw an increase of 4.1% to GBP1.40 billion in the first nine months ending June 30 from GBP1.34 billion, with a 1.1% increase in revenue for the third quarter to GBP460 million from GBP455 million a year before.
Recurring revenue for the nine months ending June 30 increased 9.0%. This was driven by a software subscription growth of 23% to GBP885 million, compared to prior year's nine-month result of GBP722 million.
WPP closed up 2.9%, benefitting from a positive read-across from French peer Publicis.
Paris-based marketing & communications company Publicis reported revenue growth of 8.4% in the six months to the end of June to EUR5.28 billion, resulting in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization growth of 4.3% to EUR923 million.
The stock surged 8.5% in Paris on Wednesday.
Towards the other end of the blue-chips was another Anglo-Dutch firm, RELX, ending down 3.7%.
The business publisher & events firm reported revenue of GBP3.50 billion for the first half of 2020, down 10% from GBP3.89 billion the year prior. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP858 million, plunging 25% from GBP1.14 billion.
London-based RELX said its Exhibitions unit - which accounted for 16% of revenue and 13% of adjusted operating profit in 2019 - was hurt significantly by Covid-19 as the pandemic forced countries to block public events and gatherings. In the Exhibitions arm, first-half revenue of GBP201 million was less than a third of GBP684 million last year, and the business swung to an adjusted operating loss of GBP117 million from a profit of GBP231 million.
Among the mid-caps, IG Group slumped 11% despite reporting a sharp rise in annual profit and revenue on the back of a "record" performance in the fourth quarter.
For the year ended May 31, IG recorded a pretax profit jump of 52% to GBP295.9 million from GBP194.3 million.
Net trading revenue grew 36% year-on-year to GBP649.2 million from GBP476.9 million. In the first three quarters of the financial year, net trading revenue improved 9%, but then doubled year-on-year in the final quarter.
"This reflected the unprecedented level of client trading activity from the sustained period of volatility across global financial markets triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and other macro events," IG explained.
Petropavlovsk jumped 18% on a rise in first half gold production and sales.
The FTSE 250-listed company, which is currently facing a board room tussle, saw gold production rise 42% year-on-year to 320,600 ounces in the six months to June 30 from 225,000 ounces a year ago. Second-quarter production increased to 134,300 ounces from 117,300 ounces.
Gold sales jumped 39% increase to 312,400 ounces from 225,000 ounces in the first half, including 170,900 produced from the processing of own and third-party refractory gold concentrates at the POX Hub.
The Russian gold miner also said that it remains on track to meet 2020 production target of 620,000 ounces, including third-party concentrate processing. Gold production from the company's own ore remains on track to meet the full-year target of 430,000 to 460,000 ounces.
Gold was quoted at USD1,894.10 an ounce at the London equities close Thursday, up against USD1,861.40 at the close on Wednesday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD44.02 a barrel at the London equities close Thursday, up from USD43.72 late Wednesday.
The corporate calendar on Friday has trading statements from telecommunications firm Vodafone and chocolate maker Hotel Chocolat. British Gas owner Centrica and educational publisher Pearson put out half-year results.
Friday's economic calendar has UK retail sales at 0700 BST and then services and manufacturing PMIs from Germany, the eurozone, the UK and the US at 0830 BST, 0900 BST, 0930 BST and 1445 BST respectively.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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