Blue chip miners were weighing on the FTSE 100 on Thursday, as Anglo American put the sector on the back foot, while New York got off to a green start with Elon Musk dominating headlines.
The UK flagship index closed down 1.27 point at 7,627.95. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed up 75.68 points, or 0.4%, at 21,159.68. The AIM All-Share index gained 2.61 points, or 0.3%, at 1,058.84.
The Cboe UK 100 index ended up 0.1% at 759.52. The Cboe 250 closed up 0.9% at 18,698.84, and the Cboe Small Companies rose 0.7% at 15,461.43.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris ended up 1.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up up 1.0%.
In the FTSE 100, British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group closed up 6.2% in a positive read-across from fellow transatlantic carrier United Airlines on the outlook for global travel.
United Airlines late Wednesday said it is still dealing with the fallout from Covid restrictions - seeing another steep loss in the first quarter - but believes it is primed to return to profitability in the second quarter.
In the three months to March 31, the Chicago, Illinois-based airline recorded a net loss of $1.38 billion, broadly flat compared to the $1.36 billion loss seen in the same period the year prior. Two years ago, United booked a $292 million profit in the first quarter.
The airline expects to return to profitability in the second quarter on a ‘robust’ operating revenue outlook, including total revenue per available seat mile about 17% over 2019, and the ‘strongest second quarter revenue guidance in company history’.
The stock was up 12% in New York.
Other European long-haul operators such as Deutsche Lufthansa and Air France KLM ended up 4.6% and 2.3% respectively as part of a positive read-across.
At the other end of the large-caps, Anglo American ended the worst performer, down 8.8%. The miner reported a 10% decline in output in its ‘normally slower’ first quarter amid Covid-related absences, high rainfall in South Africa and Brazil, and operational challenges at metallurgical coal and iron ore operations.
Copper production was down 13% year-on-year, platinum group metals production was down 6%, metallurgical coal production dropped by 32%, and iron ore production decreased by 19%. The only category to see an increase was diamonds, with output up by a quarter.
Antofagasta closed down 7.1% after the Chilean copper miner posted a 24% year-on-year decline in copper output in the first quarter, amounting to 138,800 tonnes, though the company said this was in line with expectations.
‘Production reflected the impact of the ongoing drought at Los Pelambres and the expected lower grades at Centinela Concentrates,’ said Chief Executive Ivan Arriagada.
Glencore, which reports on its first quarter output next week, found itself mired in Thursday's negative sentiment towards the sector. The stock closed down 5.6%.
On Thursday, it said its ‘responsible stewardship’ of coal assets was the ‘correct’ way to meet its green ambitions, reaffirming its commitment to slash its carbon emissions footprint and become net-zero by 2050.
In the FTSE 250, Ibstock ended the best performer, up 8.8%, after the clay and concrete manufacturer announced a £30 million buyback.
The Leicester, England-based firm also said demand remained ‘firm’ in the first three months of 2022. For all of 2022, it expects its performance to be ‘modestly ahead of its previous expectations’.
At the other end of the mid-caps, Rank Group ended the worst performer, down 8.9%, after the gambling firm cut guidance for its financial year ending June 30.
Guidance for earnings before interest and tax was trimmed to between £47 million and £55 million, from £55 million to £65 million previously.
Elsewhere, THG closed up 16% after the online beauty products retailer said it has received indicative takeover proposals from ‘numerous parties’ in recent weeks. However, THG rejected them all on the grounds the offers failed to reflect the full value of the firm.
The online beauty products platform confirmed it is not currently in receipt of any approaches.
‘We continue to focus on delivering our exciting growth strategy across a number of large global sectors, and prepare to step up to the premium segment of the LSE at the appropriate time,’ said Chief Executive Matthew Moulding.
The update came alongside THG's annual results, which showed revenue in 2021 jumped 35% to £2.18 billion from £1.61 billion the year before. Its pretax loss slimmed to £186.3 million from £534.6 million.
The pound was quoted at $1.3040 at the London equities close, down slightly from $1.3045 at the close Wednesday.
The euro stood at $1.0852 at the European equities close, soft from $1.0860 late Wednesday.
On the economic front, the eurozone's annual inflation rate for March was revised down a touch, but remained at a sharply elevated level, data from Eurostat showed.
The consumer price index for the bloc rose 7.4% year-on-year in March, accelerating from 5.9% in February. The preliminary rate for March was 7.5%. Despite the revision, the confirmed figure remains a record high for eurozone inflation.
The largest contributor was energy, with prices up 44%. Excluding energy, the consumer price index rose 3.4% in March.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥128.45, up from JP¥127.70 late Wednesday.
New York was higher at the London equities close on a busy day of corporate earnings, headlined by strong earnings from Tesla.
The DJIA was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.
The electric carmaker was up 8.1% in New York after it reported a record $3.3 billion quarterly profit and projected another strong year of production growth in 2022 despite lingering supply chain woes.
Brent oil was quoted at $108.22 a barrel at the equities close, up from $107.55 at the close Wednesday.
Gold stood at $1,945.88 an ounce at the London equities close, lower against $1,952.11 late Wednesday.
The economic events calendar on Friday has PMI readings from the eurozone at 0900 BST, the UK at 0930 BST and the US at 1445 BST.
The UK corporate calendar on Friday has trading statements from miner Petropavlovsk and currency manager Record.
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