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London open: Stocks steady amid earnings avalanche; US-EU pact digested
London stocks were steady in early trade on Thursday as investors waded through a veritable barrage of earnings reports and mulled over the progress made at the meeting between US President Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker a day earlier.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,655.01, while the pound was unchanged against the euro at 1.1249 and 0.1% firmer versus the dollar at 1.3202.
Sentiment was underpinned by news that the US-EU meeting in Washington had yielded some progress as the US agreed on Wednesday to work towards lowering trade barriers with the EU. The two sides said they would work towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto goods. In addition, they agreed to up trade in services and agriculture, which includes greater US soy bean exports to the EU.
Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken said: “Agreeing to no new tariffs (existing ones remain) on industrial goods while they work to reduce US-EU trade barriers, a trade war may have been averted. That said, cars (especially valuable for Germany) remain in the firing line as a potential focus for Trump protectionism.”
Corporate news came thick and fast. Royal Dutch Shell shares were in the red as oil giant launched a $25bn (£19bn) share buyback but its 30% increase in second-quarter profit fell short of expectations.
Elsewhere, Sky ticked a touch lower as it posted 9% jump in full-year core earnings, while Anglo American fell after it reported a drop in first-half profit.
Compass was on the back foot even as it posted a rise in third-quarter revenue and backed its full-year expectations, while asset manager Schroders slipped after reporting an increase in first-half pre-tax profit and assets under administration and net inflows and lifting interim dividend by 3%.
Security software company Sophos was weaker as it said earnings in the first quarter were hit by slow billings growth and higher costs.
Drinks maker Diageo was lower as it unveiled a fresh £2bn share buyback and said annual operating profit rose 3.7%.
GSK slipped as its drug to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was rejected by the advisory board of the US medical regulator.
Johnson Matthey lost ground after saying first-quarter sales were in line with its expectations and reaffirming its full-year guidance, while Cobham was under the cosh after saying it will book at £40m charge in the first half over the KC-46 programme.
Intu Properties was trading lower as it announced the departure of chief executive officer David Fischel and said it had experience a “resilient” first-half performance in a challenging market.
On the upside, British American Tobacco was in the green after saying first-half revenue rose 57%, while medical pair Smith & Nephew and AstraZeneca rallied on the back of their half-year numbers.
Business information provider Relx advanced after it said net profit and revenue in the first half fell but reiterated its outlook, while engineer Vesuvius bubbled higher as it posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue.
Halfords, Royal Mail and SSE were among the companies who stock went ex-dividend.
In broker note action, Beazley was upgraded to ‘buy’ at Berenberg, Drax was lifted to ‘add’ at AlphaValue and Ferrexpo was boosted to ‘hold’ by Liberum.
Hammerson was cut to ‘equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley, Informa was downgraded to ‘hold’ at Kepler Cheuvreux and ASOS was reduced to ‘sell’ at Investec.
