LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Pulls Back From 2-month High As Miners Lose Ground
08 August 2017 - 6:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Holiday Inn parent ICH slides on revenue concerns
U.K. stocks eased back from a two-month high Tuesday, as mining
shares fell after disappointing Chinese economic data.
At the same time, shares of Holiday Inn parent InterContinental
Hotels Group and Standard Life PLC struggled after earnings
reports.
The FTSE 100 index shed 0.1% to 7,524.57, led by the basic
materials and consumer goods groups. On Monday, the London
benchmark closed 0.3% higher
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-hovers-at-6-week-high-bolstered-by-mining-stocks-2017-08-07)
and logged its strongest finish since June 2.
Miners down: Mining stocks were under pressure Tuesday after the
release of Chinese trade data
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-export-growth-slows-but-up-for-5th-month-2017-08-08),
which showed July exports and imports grew at a slower pace than in
recent months. The readings were lower than expected.
"On the import side, the slowdown appears to have been driven by
fewer imports of industrial commodities. Softer import volumes,
rather than lower prices, are mostly to blame," said Julian
Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics who covers
China, in a note.
"This hints at a possible slowdown in domestic demand last
month," he said. China is a major buyer of both industrial and
precious metals.
Shares of iron ore producers BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU)
(BHP.AU) and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) fell 0.7% and 0.8%,
respectively. Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) lost 0.5%, while copper
miner Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) moved down 1.2%.
Mining stocks on Monday rose, keying off a rally in iron ore
prices.
Store sales: Retail shares were mixed after the British Retail
Consortium said U.K. retail sales in July slowed from a year ago.
Sales rose 0.9%, compared with 1.1% a year earlier.
Next PLC (NXT.LN) shares were off 0.3%, but Marks & Spencer
Group PLC (MKS.LN) clung to a 0.1% gain, and DIY retailer
Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN) picked up 0.2%
Stock movers: Meanwhile, shares of Standard Life PLC (SL.LN)
lost 1.4% after the financial services company posted a 14% decline
in first-half pretax profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-life-profit-drops-14-hikes-dividend-2017-08-08),
hurt by a fall in revenue and investment returns. Standard Life did
raise its interim dividend to 7 pence a share.
InterContinental Hotels shares (IHG) (IHG) slid 3.9% on concerns
about slower room-revenue growth. First-half pretax profit rose
9.4%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intercontinental-hotels-profit-raises-dividend-2017-08-08),
and the company, whose brands include Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza,
raised its interim dividend by 10%.
The pound on Tuesday bought $1.3045, little changed from $1.3036
late Monday in New York.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 08, 2017 04:09 ET (08:09 GMT)
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