(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Tuesday following a positive session on Wall Street, helped along by well-received results from the likes of Smith & Nephew, Fresnillo and Diageo.
At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 9,150.54.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 is building on a strong start to the week with a positive open this morning. Yesterday was all about the banks after the Supreme Court gave a favourable ruling on motor finance. It's back to company results today with some big names on the docket like BP and Diageo.
"US markets put last week in the rearview mirror. Stocks surged across the board with encouraging breadth as investors dived back in. Friday's soft jobs report has reignited the argument that the Fed should be cutting, and markets are now almost certain of a cut in September, putting the odds at 94%. The potential for rate cuts, alongside a strong earnings season, is proving enough of a cocktail to keep the fire lit under US stocks."
In equity markets, Smith & Nephew rocketed to the top of the FTSE 100 as the medical technology company hailed a strong first half, backed its full-year guidance and announced a $500m share buyback.
Fresnillo shot higher as the precious metals miner said first-half EBITDA jumped 102% to $1.1bn, driven by favourable metals prices and a "consistent" operational performance.
Drinks company Diageo surged even as it reported a 27.8% drop in full-year operating profit to $4.34bn.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "There was some slightly better news in terms of net sales, where a fall of just 0,1% was reported to $20.25 billion, in line with expectations. Organic net sales growth of 1.7% comprised a gain of 0.9% for volumes and 0.8% by price, demonstrating that the group retains the ability to raise prices as a potential lever."
Oil giant BP gushed higher as it posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its dividend as it announced a review of its assets amid calls from investors to boost returns.
Underlying replacement cost profit - its preferred measure of net income - came in at $2.35bn for the three months to 30 June, down from $2.76bn last year but beating the consensus $1.81bn forecast by analysts.
Spectris gained as the takeover battle for the specialist instrument maker took another twist after it accepted an increased offer from KKR valuing it at 4.2bn, trumping rival private equity firm Advent. KKR is now offering 41.75 per Spectris Share, made up of 41.47 in cash and an interim dividend of 28p each.
Travis Perkins rose despite posting a decline in first-half adjusted operating profit as revenue dipped, dented by a weaker performance in the Merchanting segment.
On the downside, Domino's Pizza tumbled as it cut its guidance for full-year core profit, pointing to a tougher operating environment and weaker consumer confidence.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,150.54 0.24%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,925.25 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 5,292.32 0.83%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,285.50p 11.40%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,562.00p 8.93%
Diageo (DGE) 1,938.50p 6.80%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 22,900.00p 1.24%
BP (BP.) 411.00p 1.22%
Informa (INF) 880.00p 1.13%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,148.00p 1.12%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 211.40p 0.96%
Entain (ENT) 1,013.50p 0.95%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,939.50p 0.88%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rightmove (RMV) 814.20p -0.97%
BT Group (BT.A) 209.50p -0.95%
Centrica (CNA) 164.50p -0.90%
3i Group (III) 4,077.00p -0.88%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,343.00p -0.74%
Tesco (TSCO) 422.20p -0.73%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 341.50p -0.67%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,474.00p -0.48%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 829.60p -0.46%
Haleon (HLN) 354.30p -0.42%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Keller Group (KLR) 1,382.00p 4.86%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 206.20p 3.93%
Rank Group (RNK) 161.40p 3.07%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 714.00p 2.88%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 308.40p 2.59%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 480.00p 2.13%
NCC Group (NCC) 149.40p 2.05%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 58.30p 1.92%
Spectris (SXS) 4,152.00p 1.71%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 200.50p 1.57%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 209.80p -14.72%
Harworth Group (HWG) 182.00p -2.67%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 344.80p -1.23%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,565.00p -0.70%
Elementis (ELM) 175.40p -0.68%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 103.30p -0.67%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 227.50p -0.66%
Senior (SNR) 186.00p -0.64%
Greggs (GRG) 1,612.00p -0.62%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 739.00p -0.61%
40.48 (0.44%)
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