London close: Stocks end lower; tobacco shares tank

London stocks ended in the red on Friday as tobacco shares took a tumble and following a series of disappointing corporate releases.

The FTSE 100 closed down 1% to 7,368.37, while the pound was off 0.24% against the euro at 1.1164 and up 0.43% versus the dollar at 1.3121.

On the corporate front, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands tanked as US regulators said they planned to lower nicotine levels to non-addictive levels in an effort to reduce the number of tobacco-related deaths.

Barclays reversed earlier gains to end lower after a mixed set of interim results, with some profits better and some worse than expected due in part to putting aside an extra £700m for PPI mis-selling compensation.

Telecommunications group BT retreated after saying earnings fell in the first quarter, with adjusted EBITDA down 2% to £1.79bn, although reported revenue was 1% higher at £5.84bn.

British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group also moved into the red as it reported a 14% jump in first-half operating profit and said it expects profit for the year to rise by a double-digit percentage.

IMI fell despite reporting an 11% jump in first-half revenue and a 13% increase pre-tax profit, while UBM lost ground after posting an 18% rise in half-year revenue.

Essentra was lower as the components manufacturer said half-year profits dropped 49%, while Rotork slumped as it announced the resignation of chief executive Peter France with immediate effect.

Johnson Matthey fell after saying the first-quarter saw low single-digit sales growth at constant exchange rates but with the weak pound boosting sales to double-digit growth, which was all in line with expectations.

Property website Rightmove ended the day on the front foot after reporting an 11% increase in first-half operating profit and a 16% boost to the interim dividend.

Investors were also digesting the latest GfK survey, which showed economic confidence among British people has deteriorated to its lowest print since the Brexit referendum. GfK's consumer confidence index weakened to -12 in July from -10 the month before, with four of its five segments on the wane.

On the UK political front, Chancellor Philip Hammond said Britain's relationship with the EU was likely to look very similar to the current situation for up to three years after Brexit as a transitional agreement is put in place.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,368.37 -1.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,728.19 -0.76%
techMARK (TASX) 3,456.00 -0.63%

FTSE 100 - Risers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,481.50p 3.62%
Pearson (PSON) 667.00p 1.60%
Diageo (DGE) 2,442.00p 1.39%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,131.50p 0.97%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,115.50p 0.88%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,050.00p 0.57%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 186.90p 0.48%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,504.00p 0.23%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,285.00p 0.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 331.25p 0.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,960.00p -6.80%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,315.50p -3.79%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,797.00p -3.65%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,283.00p -2.60%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,342.00p -2.40%
ITV (ITV) 173.70p -2.09%
G4S (GFS) 325.70p -2.07%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,262.50p -2.03%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,003.00p -1.96%
Experian (EXPN) 1,507.00p -1.95%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 444.60p 3.71%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,121.00p 3.70%
Coats Group (COA) 79.00p 2.60%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 208.60p 2.15%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 188.30p 1.89%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 604.00p 1.85%
Rank Group (RNK) 232.80p 1.75%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 296.90p 1.71%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 29.97p 1.56%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 1,322.00p 1.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 241.90p -10.26%
Rotork (ROR) 233.10p -7.50%
IMI (IMI) 1,208.00p -6.14%
Just Eat (JE.) 636.50p -5.14%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 95.70p -4.30%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 455.10p -3.78%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,685.00p -3.38%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,399.00p -3.32%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 285.30p -3.29%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 540.50p -2.79%