|
London’s blue chip index opened higher on Tuesday despite British American Tobacco falling; meanwhile Moonpig on the FTSE 250 climbed as it posted a higher dividend. The FTSE 100 index opened up 3.65 points at 9,648.74. The FTSE 250 was up 50.27 points, 0.2%, at 21,971.55, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.24 points at 748.28. The Cboe UK 100 was up marginally at 967.21, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 19,074.71, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,537.23. British American Tobacco led the FTSE 100 laggers, losing 5.3%, despite announcing a new £1.4 billion share buyback and hailing a ‘strong’ US performance. The cigarette and nicotine product maker also said it was on track to meet its 2025 guidance and reaffirmed 2026 estimates, expecting total group revenue to rise 2% at constant rates for 2025, with new category revenue likely to reach mid-single digit growth at constant rates. Moonpig was the highest FTSE 250 stock, rising 4.4% after releasing half-year results. Revenue rose 6.7% to £168.6 million annually, and pretax profit was £26.6 million, flipped from a loss of £33.3 million. Moonpig declared a 1.25p per share dividend, up 25%. The London-based online greeting cards and gifting platform said its trading in the second half has remained in line with our expectations, and its forecasts for the full year remain unchanged. Chemring was among the laggers, down 1.6% despite reporting growth in its annual results. Pretax profit rose 31% on-year to £67.7 million, and revenue increased to £497.5 million from £488.3 million. The Romsey, Hampshire-based manufacturing and technology firm involved in the security and aerospace sectors.increased its final dividend to 5.3p from 5.2p, and its total dividend to 8.0p from 7.8p. Chief Executive Michael Ord said the outlook for defence spending ‘remains strong’, commenting: ‘Growing geopolitical uncertainty is driving increased expenditure across our target markets, particularly within NATO, and Chemring is well positioned to capitalise on this demand, which we expect to persist well into the next decade.’ On AIM, Naked Wines rose 3.5%. The wine retailer’s first-half pretax loss narrowed to £3.0 million from £5.6 million, although revenue decreased to £89.5 million. It also said it has completed its first share buyback programme, worth £2 million. In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%. Germany’s trade surplus swelled in October as imports unexpectedly fell, data published by the Federal Statistical Office showed. The country’s trade surplus grew by 11% to €16.9 billion in October from €15.3 billion in September, easily beating FXStreet-cited market expectations of a narrowing of the surplus to €15.2 billion. Exports in October rose by 0.1% monthly to €131.3 billion, against expectations of a 0.2% decline. Imports declined by 1.2% to €114.5 billion in October, against expectation of a 0.2% uptick and after growing by 3.1% in September. The pound was quoted at $1.3331 early on Tuesday in London, higher compared to $1.3319 at the equities close on Monday. The euro stood higher at $1.1642, against $1.1624. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥156.32, compared to JP¥155.88. In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%. In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%. Swissquote’s Ipek Ozkardeskaya noted that ‘the FOMC begins its two-day meeting today also politically pressured to cut rates. ‘A 25-basis-point cut is broadly expected and priced in, but diverging opinions on the next steps and ongoing activity in sovereign bonds suggest that markets may not immediately react with lower yields so caution reigns.’ The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.18%, narrowing from 4.19%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.81%, narrowing from 4.83%. Brent oil was quoted at $62.32 a barrel early in London on Tuesday, down from $62.79 late Monday. Gold was quoted lower at $4,186.76 an ounce against $4,192.10. Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar, the US has its business optimism and Redbook indexes. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
