(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 snuck into the green on Tuesday, taking impetus from a positive start in New York.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 3.56 points, or 0.1%, at 6,179.75. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index lost 210.40 points, or 1.2%, closing at 17,174.69. The AIM All-Share index ended 14.59 points lower, or 1.7%, at 866.55.
The Cboe UK 100 index closed down 0.2% at 614.98. The Cboe 250 ended 1.1% lower at 14,531.59, and the Cboe Small Companies index finished down 0.4% at 9,153.57.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.0% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended 0.8% lower.
"The mood has been downbeat all day as continued health concerns and rising tensions in relation to China has weighed on stocks. Dealers are still worried about the rate at which the virus is spreading, and seeing as some restrictions are being reintroduced, that is adding to the bearish move too," CMC Markets analyst David Madden said.
In the US, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered all indoor restaurants, bars and movie theatres to close again as coronavirus cases soar across the state. Churches as well as businesses including gyms, shopping malls, hair salons and non-essential offices must also close indoor operations in 30 of the state's worst-hit counties including Los Angeles, he said.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong on Monday announced sweeping new measures as the city suffers a relapse. In Australia, Melbourne is already under a new lockdown, and there are signs of new outbreaks in Sydney.
The US on Monday confirmed 59,222 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally. The country has seen a resurgence of cases in the so-called Sun Belt, stretching across the south from Florida to California.
In addition, US-China tensions were back on the table after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called China's pursuit of resources in the South China Sea "unlawful", ramping up support for Southeast Asian nations and triggering an angry response from Beijing.
"Though Europe's losses weren't erased, the session's mood was certainly helped by a positive start from the Dow Jones," SpredEx analyst Connor Campbell said.
The DJIA was up 1.0%, the S&P 500 index up 0.4%, but the Nasdaq Composite lagged, down 0.1%.
Campbell continued: "Adding 240 points, the Dow sauntered back across 26,330, setting aside the Covid-19 concerns that SHOULD be the focus - the number of new daily cases in the US is regularly coming in above 60,000; California is back in lockdown - in favour of an earnings season side-plot. Posting substantial beats in almost every category thanks to a super-charged increase in trading revenue - ironically, in that regard the company has benefited from the pandemic - JP Morgan helped set the tone for the Dow Jones, and therefore the rest of the markets."
"This took some of the heat off of Europe," Campbell added.
US banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co increased its second quarter dividend, despite a plunge in net income, citing tough market conditions.
For the three months to the end of June, net income fell by 51% to USD4.68 billion from USD9.65 billion the year before, despite net revenue growing by 15% year-on-year to USD32.98 billion from USD28.75 billion.
The fall in net income was due to credit costs of USD10.47 billion, a sharp rise from USD1.15 billion as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Revenue growth in the quarter was attributed to 66% growth in the Corporate and Investment Bank unit of USD16.35 billion from USD9.83 billion, through higher Investment Banking fees, and a strong performance across its Rates, Currencies & Emerging Markets & Credit.
Brent oil was trading at USD43.10 a barrel at midday, up from USD42.92 at the London close Monday.
Oil was on the rise after global demand will drop slightly less than previously estimated this year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said.
The Vienna-based cartel now expects the average daily demand to fall by 8.9 million barrels, an improvement of 100,000 million barrels per day compared to the previous monthly forecast.
OPEC revised its outlook amid growing optimism about diesel consumption in Europe and in industrialized Asian countries, issuing the first optimistic prediction since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
In response, London-listed oil majors were on the rise. BP gained 2.7% and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares gained 2.4%, 'B' shares added 2.5%. Midcap Premier Oil added 11%.
Elsewhere in London, Halma lost 4.5%, one of the worst performers in the blue chip index, after warning of a fall in financial 2021 profit due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The hazard detection company's financial year that ended March 31, Halma's revenue was up 11% to GBP1.34 billion from GBP1.21 billion in financial 2019.
Pretax profit rose 8% to GBP224.1 million from GBP206.7 million the year prior.
The figure was just shy of the GBP227 million consensus forecast. Adjusted pretax profit rose by 9% to GBP267.0 million from GBP245.7 million, in line with consensus.
Halma raised its total annual dividend 5% to 16.50 pence from 15.71p, which it said was the 41st consecutive year of dividend per share growth.
Looking ahead, Halma expects financial 2021 adjusted pretax profit to be 5% to 10% below 2020.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust gave back 6.9%, with AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould attributing this to the tech-heavy investment trust getting caught up in the sell-off.
Ocado lost 2.2%, despite the online grocer saying it delivered a strong performance considering the challenging times created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the half-year ended May 31, Ocado's pretax loss narrowed to GBP40.6 million from GBP147.4 million a year before, as revenue increased to GBP1.09 billion from GBP882.3 million. Ocado said the coronavirus crisis has significantly accelerated the ongoing shift by consumers to online grocery.
Looking ahead, Ocado said there is a positive outlook for online grocery, but it has suspended its Retail revenue growth forecast given uncertainties over the scale and duration of social distancing restrictions in the UK.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2547 at the London equities close, down sharply from USD1.2615 at the London equities close Monday, as disappointing UK economic growth data put paid to hopes for a 'V-shaped' recovery for the domestic economy.
The Office for National Statistics said the UK economy grew by 1.8% in May as activity began to recover with the easing of coronavirus lockdown. May's GDP growth was far short of the 5% rise expected by most economists.
The euro was changing hands at USD1.1403 at the Londonn equities close, up from USD1.1359 at the European equities close Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY107.21, firm from JPY107.28 late Monday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,808.60 an ounce at midday, higher against USD1,806.50 late Monday.
In the local corporate events calendar Wednesday, electrical retailer Dixons Carphone is scheduled to release its full year results, with retirement community owner McCarthy & Stone and gold and silver miner Hochschild Mining issuing interim resutls. Water utility Severn Trent and luxury fashion designer Burberry are scheduled to issue first quarter results.
In the economics calendar, there is a Bank of Japan interest rate decision at 0400 BST, followed by a UK consumer and producer price index prints at 0700 BST. Later in the day, there is US import price index at 1330 BST and industrial production at 1415 BST.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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