London close: FTSE weighed down by AstraZeneca, pound weakens

London stocks ended the day lower on Thursday as investors plodded through a massive but mixed salvo of company results, while the pound fell against the dollar during UK trading.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.12% to 7,443.01, with sterling also down 0.43% against the greenback at 1.3064 after hitting a 10-month high of 1.3150.

Overnight, the Federal Reserve said it would start implementing balance sheet normalisation "very soon" and highlighted weakness in US inflation, which put pressure on the dollar earlier.

"While the Fed did suggest that the unwinding of its balance sheet will begin relatively soon, it also repeatedly referred to inflation running below target, a concern that has been highlighted by policy makers in recent months,” said Oanda’s Craig Erlam.

“With traders already not convinced that we’ll see another rate hike this year, these statements don’t do anything to change that."

A weaker pound tends to help push the index up, as around 70% of its constituents derive their earnings from overseas.

In corporate news, AstraZeneca tumbled after one of its key lung cancer studies failed to meet its primary endpoint.

The pharmaceutical giant also released its first-half results on Thursday.

Lloyds Banking Group was in the red despite reporting underlying first-half profits ahead of consensus forecasts, in the first set of results since returning to full private ownership.

Mining conglomerate Glencore declined as it said first half own-sourced copper production fell 9% to 642,900 tonnes, while SSE was weaker as its stock went ex-dividend.

Broadcaster Sky nudged lower after reporting a 10% increase in revenue on a comparable 52-week basis to £12.9bn.

On the upside, Diageo racked up impressive gains as it announced a £1.5bn share buyback and posted an increase in full-year profits and sales.

Wealth manager Schroders rallied after it said first half pre-tax profit rose to £342.8m from £282.3m in the same period a year ago, with assets under management at an all-time high of £418.2bn, up from £343.8bn.

Anglo American was also on the front foot after saying it was resuming its dividend payments early after it managed to take its debt well below its year-end target, as it reported a 68% jump in earnings.

Royal Dutch Shell gushed higher as its second-quarter profits beat expectations, while Rentokil gained ground as its first-half profit got a boost from disposals.

British American Tobacco advanced as a weaker pound helped to lifts its first-half profits, while St James's Place pushed up after posting a 27% jump in funds under management for the first half.

Drug maker Indivior surged after its second-quarter numbers beat estimates and the company lifted its full-year guidance.

Ladbrokes rose as it reported an increase in first-half revenue, while Mitchells & Butlers fizzed higher after its third-quarter trading update.

On the data front, the latest distributive trades survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed UK retailers are enjoying the summer.

Retail sales growth picked up in the year to July, the CBI found, with the average number of retailers reporting higher volumes than in the same month last year.

According to the survey, 48% of retailers said sales volumes were up in July on a year ago, whilst 26% said they were down, giving a balance of +22% - a solid rise from +12% in June.

Looking to August, 40% of respondents expected sales volumes to increase next month, with 20% expecting a decrease, giving a balance of +20%.

In terms of orders placed, 32% of retailers placed more orders with suppliers than they did a year ago, whilst 22% placed fewer orders, giving a balance of +10%.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,443.01 -0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,879.43 0.59%
techMARK (TASX) 3,477.87 -0.69%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Diageo (DGE) 2,408.50p 5.98%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 290.80p 5.82%
Next (NXT) 3,927.00p 3.89%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,344.00p 3.31%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,233.50p 3.22%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,630.00p 2.97%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,028.00p 2.70%
Schroders (SDR) 3,474.00p 2.69%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,065.00p 2.28%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 313.30p 2.12%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,325.00p -15.41%
SSE (SSE) 1,380.00p -5.48%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,090.00p -2.47%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.50p -2.29%
GKN (GKN) 323.00p -2.12%
ITV (ITV) 177.40p -1.55%
Barclays (BARC) 208.60p -1.23%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,456.00p -1.17%
Sage Group (SGE) 684.50p -1.08%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,531.00p -0.94%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 270.00p 20.81%
Indivior (INDV) 372.80p 17.57%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 178.50p 13.12%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 126.70p 6.47%
Mitie Group (MTO) 276.00p 6.15%
Renishaw (RSW) 4,168.00p 5.39%
Bodycote (BOY) 899.00p 4.84%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 782.00p 4.69%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,772.00p 4.52%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 107.70p 4.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vesuvius (VSVS) 556.00p -8.25%
Just Eat (JE.) 671.00p -5.56%
Intu Properties (INTU) 263.90p -5.14%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,020.00p -2.74%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 358.80p -2.71%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 473.00p -2.37%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,357.00p -2.09%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 291.90p -2.05%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,876.00p -2.04%
Investec (INVP) 583.00p -1.85%