FTSE 100 giants Rolls-Royce and Shell lead City market rally
A fleet of corporate news helped the FTSE 100 edge up in early trading on Thursday with a number of rallies from the index’s heavyweights.
Positive updates from Rolls-Royce and Rentokil helped London’s flagship stock market rise 0.5 per cent to 9.182.34 as markets opened.
Rentokil topped the risers with a 11 per cent surge to 385.10 after the pest controller reiterated its full-year targets and said it had seen improved momentum in North America. This came despite an 8.7 per cent hit to adjusted profit before tax, with it sitting at $418m (£316m).
Meanwhile, FTSE darling Rolls-Royce was up over ten per cent to 1,093 hiking its operating profit guidance to between £3.1bn-£3.2bn and free cash flow of between £3bn-£3.1bn. This comes after the Derby-headquartered group recorded a 50 per cent rise in profit to £1.73bn in the first six months of the year.
Oil giant Shell was also among risers after it managed to skim past analyst earnings expectations despite difficult trading in oil and gas services. The firm was up near three per cent to 73.50.
Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: “The FTSE rallied half a percent after a flat day yesterday with corporate earnings on side and weaker sterling, while European stock markets also responded to the positive move in the US futures and corporate earnings of their own.”
Positive news sends some stock tumbling
Meanwhile the positive news still led to a slump at Endeavour Mining. The firm was down 2.4 per cent to 2,276.00 despite hitting a record $150m in dividends in the first half of the year.
Mining peer Rio Tinto also tumbled nearly four per cent in early trading with the hangover of a sour update on Wednesday. The firm recorded a five-year low in profits after weak pricing for iron ore.
Shares in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) slipped as markets opened before trading broadly flat. This came despite profit at the firm rocketing 43 per cent to just shy of £1bn.
Elsewhere, the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.8 led by an explosive 67 per cent rise from Just Group.
The rise followed Canadian asset manager Brookfield striking a £2.4bn deal to buy the London-listed insurer group.