A seeming dialling down in the aggressive rhetoric between the US and China and the latter’s move to stabilise its currency helped restore some calm to the markets with the FTSE 100 trading 0.3% higher at 7.192.96 in early trading.
Miner and commodities trader Glencore (GLEN) slips 1.9% to 226.95 after announcing that its half-yearly earnings fell by nearly a third, amid lower copper and cobalt prices and poor performance from its African mines.
Glencore also confirms it will put the Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on care and maintenance by the end of 2019 due to reduced cobalt prices.
Insurance giant Legal & General (LGEN) slips 1.4% to 241.98p, even as it posts a 12% rise in first-half pre-tax profit and raised its interim dividend by 7.2%.
Wealth manager Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) cheapens 5% to 267.6p on the back of a fall in adjusted first half profit owing to net outflows from its funds and lower fee revenue.
Defence, aerospace and energy contractor Ultra Electronics (ULE) rallies 3.3% to 1918p, as increased spending on defence by the US government bolstered its earnings.
Pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca (AZN) gains 0.5% to 7113p after it and Merck announced positive test results on their castration-resistant prostate cancer drug.
Metal basher Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) drops 5.6% to 8125p after it only manages to eke out a modest rise in first-half profit, on the back of higher sales of its thermal energy management and niche pumping products.
Recruitment firm Page (PAGE) adds 0.5% to 442.55p, as it books an 11% rise in first-half profit, owing to strong growth in some of its overseas businesses, including the US, offsetting a weaker performance at home in the UK.
Healthcare services group UDG Healthcare (UDG) firms 1.1% to 760p after revealing that its third-quarter pre-tax profit was 'well ahead' on-year on a constant currency basis, while reiterating its full-year guidance.
UK Oil & Gas (UKOG:AIM) sheds 2.9% to 0.85p on news that it had agreed to up its stake in the Horse Hill oil development south of London by acquiring Magellan Petroleum Investment Holdings for £12m.
