(Reuters) -London's main stock indexes rose on Thursday, boosted by positive corporate updates from heavyweights such as Rolls-Royce, while investors assessed a blitz of tariff announcements. The
UK Stocks Show Mixed Results; FTSE 100 Achieves Best Month in Six
Market Overview and Key Developments
(Reuters) -British equities closed mixed on Thursday, as investors assessed a spate of corporate earnings and looked for potential trade deals before the August 1 tariff deadline expires.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.05%. However the index posted its best month in six.
The domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index rose 0.9% and logged its fourth consecutive monthly gain.
Sector Performance
Over the past month, investors have digested a flurry of trade headlines from Washington and are still assessing the impact of U.S. tariffs on corporate earnings, although attention is now turning to hopes of a Bank of England rate cut next week.
In the market, aerospace and defence stocks gained the most among sectors, up 5.1%, after Rolls-Royce raised its full-year operating profit and free cash flow outlook. Shares of the British aero-engineer hit a record high with 8.5% rise.
Shell gained 1.2%. The oil major's second-quarter net profit tumbled by almost a third, but exceeded analysts' forecasts.
On trade, Trump released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India, as well as ending exemptions for small-value overseas shipments, ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.
Industrial miners slipped 2.6% tracking lower copper prices. [MET/L]
Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta fell between 2.2% to 5.9%.
Corporate Earnings Highlights
Among other corporate updates, St James's Place was the top gainer in the FTSE 100, up 11.9%, after the wealth manager's half-yearly net inflows doubled and it launched a new share buyback.
Rentokil soared 9.5% after the pest control company kept its full-year outlook unchanged and posted half-yearly revenue growth of 3.1%.
British American Tobacco rose 1.3% after the company exceeded its first-half profit estimates.
Conversely, Mondi fell the most in the FTSE 100, down 12.1%, after the packaging firm posted a near 17% fall in first-half pretax profit.
A slowdown in the London Stock Exchange Group's recurring revenue growth sent the company's shares down nearly 8%.
Just Group surged 67.5% to top the FTSE 250 midcap index, after Canada's Brookfield Wealth Solutions agreed to acquire the insurer for 2.4 billion pounds ($3.18 billion).
Future Economic Outlook
On the radar next week, the Bank of England is expected to cut borrowing costs for the fifth time since last August.
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Giles Elgood)
