By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

InterContinental Hotels Group raises dividend

U.K. stocks ended lower Tuesday, as HSBC PLC shares lost the most in nearly 8 years after the banking heavyweight posted a wider quarterly loss, but BHP Billiton Ltd. shares fared better following financial results from the metals producers.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.3% at 7,274.83, the lowest settlement in a week, downshifting after a modest rise at the open. The index on Monday ended fractionally lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-in-holding-pattern-as-unilevers-drop-caps-gains-2017-02-20).

The blue-chips benchmark came under pressure early Tuesday as HSBC shares (HSBA.LN) (HSBA.LN) (HSBA.LN) were knocked down. The stock makes up roughly 7.7% of the FTSE 100's weighting, according to FactSet.

The shares sank 6.5%, the worst decline since March 2009, after the Asia-focused bank reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $4.23 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsbc-loss-widens-to-423b-plans-further-buyback-2017-02-21), larger than its loss of $1.33 billion in the year-ago period. HSBC did say it plans to buy back additional $1 billion of shares.

"In spite of the [stock] plunge it's still trading at its best in more than 3 years and is up more than 50% from its post-Brexit low," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, in a note. "But all the dollar-earning upside may have been baked into the stock price already and with the pound now pretty steady, the free ride for HSBC's shares looks over."

Financial results are due Wednesday from Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.LN) (LLOY.LN) and from Barclays PLC (BCS) (BCS) on Thursday. Reports due Friday will be from Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS.LN) (RBS.LN) and Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) .

Miners: Shares of BHP Billiton (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) tacked on 0.4%, but finished off session highs, after the world's largest miner by market value swung to a profit of $3.20 billion in its fiscal first half. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bhp-billiton-returns-to-profit-raises-dividend-2017-02-21-04855710)The result was aided by higher commodity prices and cost-cutting. BHP also said it's raising its dividend.

Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) also said Tuesday it swung to a yearly profit, making $1.6 billion as commodity prices have increased (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/anglo-american-swings-to-profit-on-rising-prices-2017-02-21). But the company's shares shifted lower, losing 0.7%. The shares have jumped by more than threefold over the last year.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), the company behind the Crowe Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, raised its dividend by 11% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ihg-underlying-2016-profit-rises-hikes-dividend-2017-02-21) and reported higher underlying earnings for 2016. Shares pared stronger gains and closed up fractionally higher.

In the currency market, the pound was buying $1.2470, compared with $1.2466 late Monday in New York.

Read:Economy is Britons' top worry after Brexit vote (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/economy-is-britons-top-worry-after-brexit-vote-2017-02-21)

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2017 12:57 ET (17:57 GMT)

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