(Alliance News) - Equities in London were higher Tuesday midday as shares in market heavyweight Vodafone gained, but the mood across Europe remained cautious as investors worry about fresh Covid-19 infections in the pandemic epicentre of Wuhan, China.
The FTSE 100 index was up 55.12 points, or 0.9%, at 5,994.85 Tuesday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 16.38 points, or 0.1%, at 16,255.11, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.2% at 824.98.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 1.1% at 10,138.37, the Cboe UK 250 down 0.3% at 13,849.80, and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.2% at 9,008.78.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.2%.
"In a sign that sentiment is extremely fragile, the rebound that we saw at the end of last week, has given way to rising nervousness about a second wave of infections as a number of countries have started to report an increase in the number of cases as they try to return their economies to some semblance of normal," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Swathes of Europe as well as New York began the long process of reopening from coronavirus lockdowns on Monday, but a resurgence of infections in China and South Korea offered a sobering reminder of the dangers of a second wave of cases.
As France and Spain embraced new freedoms and Britain also announced plans for a partial reopening, the Chinese city of Wuhan where the pandemic was born reported a second day of new cases after a month without a sign of the virus.
And South Korea announced its highest number of infections for more than a month, driven by a cluster in a Seoul nightlife district.
For the second straight day, the US recorded fewer than 900 deaths over the past 24 hours, although the toll shot past 80,000, by far the highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. New York, the worst-hit US state, gave the green light to a gradual return this week to normal life – but not yet in packed New York City, which will wait at least until June.
Stocks in the US are pointed to a lower open on Tuesday. The Dow Jones is seen down 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq down 0.2%.
To come in the US economic calendar is consumer price inflation at 1330 BST. Consensus, according to FXStreet, expects an annual inflation rate of just 0.4% for April versus 1.5% in March.
The dollar was soft across the board ahead of the data.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2357 midday Tuesday, higher than USD1.2328 at the London equities close Monday.
The euro was quoted at USD1.0834, firm against USD1.0812. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY107.44, lower than JPY107.66 late Monday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD30.44 a barrel Tuesday, up from USD29.78 at the London equities close Monday. Gold was quoted at USD1,706.60 an ounce, up against USD1,698.03.
In the FTSE 100, Vodafone was leading the gainers, up 8.7%, as the telecommunications firm kept its payout.
For its financial year to the end of March, Vodafone swung to a pretax profit of EUR795 million from a loss of EUR2.61 billion in financial 2019. Revenue rose 3% to EUR44.97 billion from EUR43.67 billion last year.
Adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation grew by 2.6% to EUR14.9 billion, reflecting revenue progression and cost savings success. Free cash flow grew by 12% to EUR4.9 billion.
A final dividend of 4.5 euro cents was declared, up from 4.16 cents the year prior, thereby maintaining the total annual dividend at 9.0 cents.
William Ryder, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "Comparisons will naturally be drawn with BT, which cut its dividend last week to preserve cash for investment. We don't think the comparison is particularly apt given the differing structures of the two groups, but Vodafone shareholders will still be glad their management team feels secure enough to keep paying through the pandemic and transition to 5G."
In second place among London large-caps was Standard Life Aberdeen, shares rising 4.8% despite reporting a 10% decline in assets under management and administration and GBP24 billion in net outflows during the first four months of 2020.
The company's estimated AUMA at April 30 was GBP490 billion, down 10% from GBP544.6 billion at the end of 2019, with estimated net outflows of GBP24 billion. The remaining GBP30.6 billion of the decline would have been from market movements, though Standard Life Aberdeen didn't specify this in its statement Tuesday.
However, the company noted that excluding around GBP25 billion withdrawals related to a Lloyds Banking Group mandate, it saw net inflows of GBP1 billion.
In a video statement to Standard Life Aberdeen's annual general meeting, Chief Executive Keith Skeoch reiterated the company's commitment to pay the 14.3p final dividend in respect of 2019, saying this was supported by its capital strength and GBP237 million proceeds from the sale of shares in its Indian joint venture HDFC Life.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets rose 3.3% as the grocer reported sales growth in the first quarter despite "highly volatile" trading and a worse-than-expected Easter due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in the UK.
For the 14-week period from February 3 to May 10, the grocer said like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 5.7% - with retail sales up 5.1% and wholesale up 0.6%. Total sales were up 5.7% excluding fuel, and down 4.0% including fuel.
Morrisons said that retail like-for-like sales were up 5.0% for the first six weeks of the year. Sales were flat in the first four weeks of financial 2021, with weeks five to seven being marked by "considerable stocking up" by customers, lifting sales.
The FTSE 100-listed retailer is predicting costs relating directly to Covid-19 pandemic in financial 2021 to be broadly offset by the UK government's business rates cost-saving, but the actual net effect is dependent on the length of the crisis and how customers respond as lockdown eases.
At the bottom of the blue-chip index was Land Securities, down 15% as its saw the value of its assets slip and cut its dividend.
For the financial year to March 31, the commercial property developer's pretax loss widened to GBP837 million from GBP123 million in financial 2019, as revenue slipped 6.3% to GBP414 million from GBP442 million.
Landsec said the value of its assets fell 8.8% in the recent year to GBP1.18 billion. Annual EPRA net asset value per share - a measure of the fair value of the company's assets - was down 12% at 1,192p from 1,348p.
Landsec slashed its full-year dividend 49% to 23.2p per share from 45.55p last year.
British Land Co was down 9.4% in a negative read-across.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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