Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - THE FTSE 100 in London opened slightly higher on Thursday, with earnings from British American Tobacco and Unilever boosting the index.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 3.58 points at 7,632.33. The FTSE 250 was up 68.87 points, 0.4%, at 19,173.40, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.88 points, 0.3%, at 753.34.
The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 763.32, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 16,589.32, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 14633.42.
In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.3% in late dealings.
Chinese consumer prices fell in January at their quickest rate in more than 14 years, data showed Thursday, as the country's leaders struggle to revive buying sentiment in the world's second-biggest economy.
The 0.8% drop in the consumer price index, revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics, marked the fourth straight month of deflation and was much bigger than the 0.5% fall forecast in a survey by Bloomberg News.
The reading was the worst since the second half of 2009, during the global financial crisis.
"In plain English, it means that the Chinese efforts to boost growth and bring inflation back are not working according to the plan. Money poured into the Chinese system doesn't circulate in a way to stimulate economy – blame people who lost confidence – and the radical measures that the government has put in place to prop up equity valuations hardly help China's battered stock markets to get back on their feet," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2621 early on Thursday in London, slightly lower compared to USD1.2623 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.0771, higher against USD1.0765. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY148.83, up compared to JPY148.01.
In the FTSE 100, British American Tobacco rose 4.2% to the top of the index.
The maker of cigarettes and vapes reported that in 2023 revenue fell to GBP27.28 billion from GBP27.66 billion a year earlier. BAT swung to a pretax loss of GBP17.06 billion from a profit of GBP9.32 billion.
Yet, BAT upped its dividend by 2.0% to 235.52p. It said that was in line with its progressive dividend increase approach.
Unilever jumped 3.2%, it said it plans a further EUR1.5 billion share buyback during 2024.
The London-based maker of food & drink, cleaning, toiletry, and personal care products said pretax profit fell 9.7% to EUR9.34 billion in 2023 from EUR10.34 billion in 2022, as turnover slipped 0.8% to EUR59.60 billion from EUR60.07 billion.
Unilever declared a fourth-quarter dividend of EUR0.4268, unchanged from a year earlier.
The company also announced a new share buyback programme worth up to EUR1.5 billion, set to begin in the second quarter and be completed within 2024. Last year, Unilever completed the second half of a two-year EUR3.0 billion buyback it had announced at the start of 2022.
Looking ahead, Unilever expects underlying sales growth for 2024 to be within its multi-year range of 3% to 5%, with more balance between volume and price.
Neil Shah at Edison Group commented: "Looking ahead, attention will be on how Unilever executes this plan in the coming months as it looks to return to sustained margin growth and market-leading competitiveness. Overall, while there are areas to address, the company's new strategic initiatives that are now underway position it well for future success, provided effective execution in a dynamic market."
AstraZeneca lost 1.9%.
AstraZeneca reported that in 2023 total revenue increased to USD45.81 billion from USD44.35 billion a year earlier.
The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company's pretax profit more than doubled to USD6.90 billion from USD2.50 billion. Cost of sales fell to USD8.27 billion from USD12.39 billion.
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said: "We expect another year of strong growth in 2024, driven by continued adoption of our medicines across geographies. Our differentiated and growing portfolio of approved medicines, global reach and rich [research & development] pipeline give us confidence that we will continue to deliver industry-leading growth."
Amongst London's small caps, Digital 9 plummeted 19%.
Back in November, the investor had announced the sale of its stake in the Verne Group for up to USD575 million. The disposal of the data group to funds managed by Ardian France SA comprises USD440 million in cash, split between USD415 million payable on closure of the deal and deferred consideration of USD25 million.
On Thursday, Digital 9 said the Icelandic anti-trust authority, the body responsible for providing the Icelandic regulatory approval, has decided to open a phase 2 investigation into the Verne transaction.
"Under the relevant applicable law, the period for the phase 2 investigation is up to 90 working days which can be extended to 135 working days. The Icelandic anti-trust authority is not obliged to use the full period to conclude its review," Digital 9 noted.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.0%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD79.52 a barrel early in London on Thursday from USD78.98 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD2,029.44 an ounce against USD2,039.13.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, there is the weekly US initial jobless claims reading at 1330 GMT.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
