(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were trading higher on Tuesday at midday, though the charts for other markets were mixed, in a busy day for economic data.
The FTSE 100 index was up 6.67 points, or 0.1%, at 7,132.09 on Tuesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 51.80 points, or 0.2%, at 22,947.66. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.2% at 1,251.18.
The Cboe UK 100 index was flat at 710.17. The Cboe 250 was also unchanged at 20,609.83, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 15,367.93.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was 0.1% lower.
In Asia, the Heng Seng index in Hong Kong closed 1.6% higher and the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo added 0.5%, but the S&P/ASX 200 index in Sydney closed marginally lower.
Wall Street is on course for a mixed start Tuesday, with the Dow Jones called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 seen flat, but the Nasdaq Composite pointed up 0.3%
The US consumer price index for June is due at 1330 BST. While the inflation reading will dominate attention, Tuesday also will see the release of federal budget data at 1900 BST.
Bank earnings also will be a key focus for investors, with Goldmans Sachs and JP Morgan Chase both reporting second quarter results.
Weekly coronavirus deaths registered in England and Wales are at their highest level since mid-May, figures show.
There were 109 deaths registered in the week ending July 2 where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the Office for National Statistics said. This is up 10% from the 99 deaths involving coronavirus registered during the previous seven days.
England is due to enter Step 4 of the UK government's road map out of coronavirus restrictions next Monday. It will see the scrapping of most remaining restrictions, including the legal requirement to wear a face mask, social distancing and limits on how many people can gather.
The UK government has acknowledged that there will be more cases, hospital admissions and deaths as the country moves into the next step.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3857, down from USD1.3881 at the London equities close on Monday.
The euro traded at USD1.1844 on Tuesday midday, lower than USD1.1861 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY110.25, soft versus JPY110.33.
On the LSE, Royal Dutch Shell rose after Barclays lifted the oil major to Overweight from Equal Weight. The company's B shares were up 0.9% early on Tuesday, while its A shares were up 0.7%.
Brent oil was trading at USD75.52 a barrel, rising from USD75.00 late Monday. Gold was quoted at USD1,808.72 an ounce early Tuesday, up from USD1,803.57 on Monday.
Oil demand surged last month as rising vaccination rates helped underpin robust economic activity, but with OPEC+ nations pumping less than needed, prices are set to be volatile until it reaches a deal to raise output, the International Energy Agency warned.
A meeting of OPEC+ nations earlier this month was deadlocked over plans to gradually ease production cuts, imposed to reverse the plunge in oil prices at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as demand tumbled.
But demand is rebounding, with the IEA estimating it surged by an estimated 3.2 million barrels per day last month, which is more than a third of the overall drop in demand last year.
The IEA expects oil demand to rise by another 3.3 million barrels in the three months from July. That is more than twice as large as the seasonal increase registered during the same period in 2019, which the IEA said is a result of easing Covid restrictions and increasing vaccination.
Also in the FTSE 100, British Land was up 0.6% after posting what it called a "strong" operational performance for the quarter that ended June 24, with 183,000 square feet in office campus lettings.
Across the company's retail portfolio, footfall and sales reached 86% and 94% of pre-pandemic levels in the seven weeks since the reopening of indoor hospitality on May 17.
British Land also noted that 85% of June rent - totalling GBP87 million - was collected to date. This compares to 72% of the total amount collected at the same point following the December quarter-end and 76% following the March quarter-end.
"With lockdown restrictions lifting, we have seen a notable improvement in activity across our markets and our business is performing well," said Chief Executive Simon Carter.
Among London mid-caps, Howden Joinery was the best performer on Tuesday midday, gaining 3.0%, after posting a strong first half performance, ahead of its expectations, with revenue of almost GBP785 million versus GBP465.0 million a year ago.
Going forward, the supplier of kitchens said this pattern of trade has continued since the end of the first half of 2021, and it remains "cautiously optimistic" in its outlook for the second half.
Howden Joinery said it is currently expecting pretax profit of around GBP300 million for 2021 as a whole, up from GBP185.3 million posted for 2020.
Dr Martens gained 2.2% as Goldman Sachs raised the footwear manufacturer to Buy from Neutral.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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