London close: FTSE 100 ends lower after raft of earnings

The FTSE 100 ended Thursday’s session in the red following a tidal wide of corporate earnings which included Royal Dutch Shell and Lloyds Baking Group.

Royal Dutch Shell shares slid as it reported a sharp fall in second quarter earnings, blaming weak oil prices.

Lloyds Banking Group was also under pressure even as it reported a better-than-expected underlying pre-tax profit for the first half, as the lender ramped up its job-cutting scheme with a further 3,000 jobs on the chopping block.

Smith & Nephew shares fell after the company said first half profits were hit by currency headwinds. Pre-tax profits for the period fell to $453m from $481m while trading profits were lower at $483m compared with $512m a year ago.

On the upside, Rolls-Royce rallied as is posted first half underlying revenues that beat analysts’ estimates.

RELX Group jumped as the global professional information and analytics company posted continued underlying growth in revenue, operating profit and earnings in the first half of of the year.

Anglo American gained as it narrowed its first half pre-tax loss. A jump in the gold price helped fellow miners including Fresnillo and Randgold.

On the macro-economic front, Nationwide said UK house price rose 0.5% month-on-month and 5.2% year-on-year in July but the effect of Brexit on the housing market may take months to become clear.

German unemployment fell 7,000 in July, more than the 4,000 drop expected by economists. The jobless rate remained at 6.1%, as forecast.

German annual inflation data showed harmonised consumer prices rose 0.4% in July after a 0.2% increase in June. Analysts had pencilled in a 0.3% rise.

The European Commission’s eurozone economic confidence index rose to 104.6 in July from 104.4 in June. It surprised analysts who had estimated a decline to 103.6 following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union on 24 June.

In the US, initial jobless claims rose 14,000 to 266,000 in the week to 23 July, the Labor Department revealed, compared to forecasts of 262,000.

Continuing jobless claims – which include people already receiving unemployment checks - increased by 7,000 to 2.14 million in the week ended 16 July, slightly below forecasts of 2.13m.

Meanwhile, the market continued to digest a hawkish statement from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday night.

The Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep rates unchanged at its policy meeting on Wednesday evening. However, the central bank noted that hiring conditions had improved and the economy had been growing at a moderate rate, which was seen as a sign that the Fed was not too worried about Brexit and may raise interest rates in coming months.

The attention now shifts to the Bank of Japan’s policy decision on Friday with economists expecting further stimulus.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,734.98 -0.23%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,266.74 0.00%
techMARK (TASX) 3,475.09 0.51%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 834.00p 13.93%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,027.00p 7.19%
Anglo American (AAL) 842.60p 5.43%
Relx plc (REL) 1,456.00p 3.56%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,911.00p 3.47%
BT Group (BT.A) 415.20p 3.26%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 962.50p 2.72%
Diageo (DGE) 2,192.50p 2.55%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,626.00p 2.54%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 8,850.00p 2.25%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 52.50p -5.83%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,230.00p -5.38%
SSE (SSE) 1,548.00p -4.80%
Capita (CPI) 935.00p -4.10%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 605.60p -3.89%
Schroders (SDR) 2,542.00p -3.71%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,983.50p -2.94%
Informa (INF) 729.50p -2.86%
GKN (GKN) 288.00p -2.67%
Prudential (PRU) 1,307.50p -2.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Just Eat (JE.) 529.00p 9.32%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 249.70p 9.23%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 280.70p 9.01%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 65.25p 8.75%
Countrywide (CWD) 263.20p 6.43%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,112.00p 6.21%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 161.00p 4.89%
Greencore Group (GNC) 332.40p 4.56%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 273.00p 4.48%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 148.10p 4.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

International Personal Finance (IPF) 253.70p -24.72%
Inchcape (INCH) 675.00p -6.18%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,452.00p -4.72%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 195.50p -4.54%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 452.20p -4.30%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 264.60p -4.06%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 251.20p -3.98%
Investec (INVP) 447.30p -3.41%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 425.40p -3.36%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 662.50p -3.00%