Britain's top share index rose on Tuesday as miners and oil stocks tracked rising commodity prices, although some disappointing updates including from Intertek and Hargreaves kept a lid on gains. The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.7 percent at 7,718.48, following a flat close in the previous day when worries over Britain's exit from the EU weighed. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index added 0.2 percent.
Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell both rose more than 1 percent as oil prices gained, with re-introduced US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran expected to tighten global supply. Miners Rio Tinto, BHP and Glencore jumped between 1 percent and nearly 4 percent. Metal prices also gained, with copper prices edging higher, aided by a weaker dollar.
"While reciprocal GBP (pound) strength is typically a FTSE burden, today the opposing USD (dollar) move is proving more powerful, improving FTSE risk appetite," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said. The biggest moves, however, were among companies that reported results, most of which disappointed investors.
Shares in Intertek fell 9.8 percent to the bottom of the FTSE after first-half earnings at the product testing company fell short of market expectations. Analysts at Jefferies affirmed their buy rating on the stock, saying margins were still good, although they expected consensus estimates to be trimmed to reflect the acquisition of training software firm Alchemy last week.
Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown fell more than 4 percent, as waning confidence among investors and rising costs took the shine off a record-breaking year for British fund supermarket. Hargreaves said total assets rose 16 percent to a record 91.6 billion pounds in the year to the end of June. Some analysts said the flows had lagged forecasts.
InterContinental Hotels Group was also among the top fallers, down 3 percent, following its results. Mid-cap Domino's Pizza reported an increase in overall half-year sales, but profits were weighed down by investments overseas, sending its shares down 9.7 percent.
"Whilst the stock has already been weak into results, we believe the slower LFL (like-for-like) growth, weaker profit growth and store opening run-rate will be a concern," said UBS analysts. The stock led mid-cap fallers and posted its biggest one-day fall since March 2017.
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