Reckitt Benckiser was rising early Thursday, providing some support to an otherwise falling FTSE 100 index, which was suffering from concern over rapid interest rate hikes and a continued military standoff on the Ukraine border.
Minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve policy meeting suggested that rates could be raised faster than initially thought.
Meanwhile, the situation on Ukraine border remained tense, as the US cast doubt on Russia's claims of a troop withdrawal. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the threat of an invasion 'real' and reiterated Washington's call for Russia to de-escalate the situation.
The FTSE 100 index was down 24.51 points, or 0.3%, at 7,579.27. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 31.69 points, or 0.2%, at 21,797.25. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.89 of a point, or 0.1%, at 1,080.06.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.3% at 752.26. The Cboe 250 was down 0.2% at 19,479.41, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 15,562.12.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 40 in Frankfurt climbed 0.2%. The dollar was weaker early Thursday.
The pound was quoted at $1.3583, up from $1.3577 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.1367, down from $1.1367. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.11, down from JPY115.48.
Fed policymakers envisage a faster pace of US interest rate increases during the course of 2022, according to minutes from January's meeting released Wednesday.
At the January 25 to 26 meeting, minutes showed members of the Federal Open Market Committee thought 'a faster pace of increases...would likely be warranted' compared to the prior tightening cycle.
Swiss quote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: 'Even though the FOMC minutes were as hawkish as expected, there was no surprise for investors who already knew that inflation is a serious problem in the US, and requires a steeper rate normalization policy and a potentially aggressive unwind of the Fed's portfolio holdings.'
Added analysts at Rabobank: 'The Fed still thinks inflation will come down, but it will need some help from monetary policy. In fact, the hiking cycle is expected to be more aggressive than last time, because of a much stronger outlook for growth in economic activity, substantially higher inflation, and a notably tighter labour market.'
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.8%, though the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney rose 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.1% higher, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended 0.3% higher.
In London, Evraz shares fell 4.9%, as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine persist. The steel maker largely operates in Russia and oligarch Roman Abramovich has roughly a 29% stake in the company.
Standard Chartered fell 3.6%. It reported pretax profit for 2021 of $3.35 billion, more than doubled from $1.61 billion a year prior, but missing analyst expectations of $3.84 billion by 13%.
The emerging markets-focused lender said net interest income slipped 0.7% to $6.80 billion from $6.85 billion as low interest rates scuppered growth. The figure beat the $6.78 billion analyst consensus.
StanChart missed analyst forecasts for dividends, having proposed a final dividend of 9 US cents per share. This matched 2020's final dividend, when 9 cents was the maximum allowed under regulatory guidance at the time. It brought StanChart's total annual payout to 12 cents, up 33% on the prior year's 9 cents.
At the other end of London's blue-chip index, Reckitt Benckiser climbed 3.9%.
The company said its annual results topped expectations and added that it has made a promising start to the flu season, which customarily sees high demand for some its products such as throat lozenges maker Strepsils.
The previous flu season was more muted for Reckitt, as lockdown curbs meant 'very low incidences of cold & flu in 2020'.
Hygiene and household goods firm Reckitt said revenue in 2021, lapping tough comparatives, fell 5.4% to £13.23 billion from £13.99 billion. At constant currency, the decline was 0.3%. Revenue topped company-compiled consensus of £13.18 billion, however.
Excluding the contribution of its former Infant Formula & Child Nutrition business in China, Reckitt's annual revenue fell 2.1% to £12.85 billion from £13.13 billion.
In the fourth quarter alone, like-for-like net revenue increased 3.3%.
Reckitt explained: 'Our Health business saw strong growth of 18% led by growth of over 40% in our [over-the-counter] portfolio, with a strong start to the 'flu season, a continued strong performance from our Intimate Wellness portfolio and stabilisation in Dettol.'
Looking to 2022, Reckitt targets like-for-like net revenue growth between 1% and 4%.
'We are targeting growth in adjusted operating margins in 2022, from our base of 22.9%, underpinned by multiple levers, despite significant commodity inflationary pressures,' it added.
There was also a warning of inflation-induced price hikes. The firm said it will 'apply appropriate pricing' in order to offset inflation pressures.
On AIM, Unbound Group rose 13%. The company formerly known as Electra Private Equity updated on annual fortunes at its Hotter Shoes subsidiary.
Hotter's revenue advanced 10% annually in the fourth quarter that ended January 30. Annual revenue increased 16% to £51.9 million from £44.5 million, shaking off 'significant challenges' hitting the UK retail sector.
In addition, Unbound said Hotter has teamed with retailer Marks & Spencer, selling its products through the UK retailer's 'Brands at M&S' platform.
'This follows agreements with other retailers including John Lewis, Next and The Very Group to sell Hotter products online,' Unbound added.
Brent oil was quoted at $94.10 a barrel, down from $96.00 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
Gold rose to $1,882.84 an ounce from $1,862.20. Gold drew close to the $1,900 an ounce mark, a threshold it has not surpassed since June.
