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Stock prices in London opened lower on Tuesday as oil major BP saw its shares decline as it suspended its share buyback programme; meanwhile AstraZeneca was up a notch after cancer drug sales boosted its earnings. The FTSE 100 index opened down 50.46 points, 0.5%, at 10,336.23. The FTSE 250 was down 2.50 points, 0.1%, at 23,336.39, and the AIM all-share was down 2.04 points, 0.3%, at 815.00. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 1,032.48, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 20,635.33, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.1% at 18,657.12. Sterling was quoted at $1.3671 early Tuesday, edging up from $1.3668 at the London equities close on Monday. The euro traded at $1.1908 early Tuesday, higher than $1.1897 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥155.54, lower versus JP¥156.04. It was a busy morning of company updates, with the FTSE 100 falling as weakness in BP outweighed gains following results from Barclays. BP was down 5.3% after suspending its share buyback programme, saying excess cash will be directed towards strengthening the balance sheet, alongside reduced capital expenditure, cost cuts and a $20 billion disposal programme. For 2025, BP reported underlying replacement cost profit of $7.49 billion, down from $8.92 billion, while profit attributable to shareholders falls to $55 million from $381 million. The oil major posted a replacement cost profit of $1.07 billion for the year, compared with $750 million in 2024. BP declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 8.32 US cents, unchanged from the third quarter and up from 8.00 cents a year ago. Net debt stands at $22.18 billion at year-end, with BP maintaining its $1418 billion target for end-2027. For 2026, BP expects upstream production to be slightly lower than in 2025. It guides for broadly flat first-quarter upstream output relative to the 2,344 mboe/d delivered in the fourth quarter. Interim Chief Executive Officer Carol Howle says: ‘We are also taking decisive action to high-grade our portfolio and strengthen our company, including the execution of our $20 billion disposal programme and the decision to suspend the share buyback and fully allocate excess cash to our balance sheet. These decisions position us to progress long-term value growth through the distinctive opportunity set we are creating in our upstream business, including the Bumerangue discovery in Brazil, where our initial estimates indicate around 8 billion barrels of liquids in place.’ Babcock was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100, down 6.0%. At the other end of the index, Croda was the biggest gainer, up 4.4%, after broker action, with JPMorgan raising its price target to 4,000 pence from 3,600 pence and retaining an ’overweight’ rating, while Goldman Sachs raised its target to 2,800 pence from 2,300 pence but kept a ’sell’ stance. Barclays was up 0.4% after reporting 2025 pretax profit of £9.14 billion, up from £8.11 billion a year earlier, with basic earnings per share of 43.8 pence versus 36.0 pence and return on tangible equity of 11.3% compared with 10.5%. Barclays announced £3.7 billion of capital returns for 2025, comprising a 8.6 pence dividend and £2.5 billion of buybacks, alongside plans for an additional £1.0 billion buyback. CEO CS. Venkatakrishnan said: ‘Our progress in the past two years provides a strong foundation to deliver more for our customers, clients and shareholders. As we outline in our plan for the next three years, we will invest further to improve customers’ experience and deepen relationships, while harnessing new technology, including AI, to improve efficiency and build segment-leading businesses and drive further growth.’ AstraZeneca was up 0.8% as strong cancer drug sales boosted its earnings. The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company reported pretax profit of $2.63 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025, jumping 58% from $1.67 billion a year earlier. Driving this advance was a top-line gain of 4.1%, as total revenue rose to $15.50 billion from $14.89 billion. Looking ahead to 2026, AstraZeneca issued guidance at constant exchange rates. It sees total revenue increasing by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage, and core earnings per share rising by a low double-digit percentage. On the FTSE 250, the biggest decliner was Mony Group, down 14%, with the owner of Moneysupermarket hit by renewed fears of artificial intelligence disruption. On the political front, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attempt to move on from speculation about his future in No 10 after surviving renewed calls for his resignation from within his party. He is due to take part in a community visit in an effort to demonstrate focus on easing the cost-of-living burden after chairing a routine Cabinet meeting, a day after senior ministers rallied behind him. The public show of support followed comments from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who urged Starmer to quit amid fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal. Starmer responded defiantly at Monday night’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, telling MPs: ‘I’ve won every fight I’ve ever been in.’ He added that he was ‘not prepared to walk away’, receiving a warm reception from MPs reluctant to back Sarwar’s call, suggesting the immediate threat to his leadership may have eased. In European equities on Tuesday the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1% while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3%, supported by a sharp jump in Kering shares. Shares in the Gucci owner surged after sales fell less than feared amid fresh restructuring efforts under new Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo. Kering said: ‘The group’s 2025 performance does not reflect its true potential,’ adding that a restructuring plan will be presented in April. Also in France, unemployment rose more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2025 as youth joblessness increased. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.9% from 7.7% in the third quarter, above expectations for 7.8%. In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 2.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 0.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed marginally lower. In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average marginally higher, the S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.9%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.19%, narrowing from 4.21%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.84%, narrowing from 4.86%. Brent oil was quoted at $69.33 a barrel early in London on Tuesday, up from $68.85 late Monday. Gold was quoted at $5,045.90 an ounce, lower against $5,068.99. Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar, data due include the US NFIB business optimism index and US retail sales for December. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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