Barclays down 5%, fund manager Jupiter rises 14%
Pressure on banking stocks continued today, with Barclays 5% or 8.6p lower at 155.4p after its half-year figures underwhelmed the City.
Other results-day fallers included Shell, which dropped 41.5p to 2355p after reporting a bigger-than-expected drop in second quarter profits to just over $5 billion.
On the risers board, British Gas owner Centrica lifted 5.35p to 129.35p and Rentokil Initial added 2% or 13.8p to 652.6p after their respective results.
The FTSE 100 index improved 4.24 points to 7681.13 and the FTSE 250 index added 89.19 points to 19,275.73.
The strongest mid-cap stock was Jupiter Fund Management, which surged 14% or 15.6p to 123.7p after announcing a special dividend alongside robust half-year figures.
ITV hails streaming success, but digital costs keep growing
ITV has hailed the success of its ITVX streaming platform as digital revenue grew by a better-than-expected 24%, but profits plunged as it continued to pour money into the streaming arm.
Revenue was effectively flat for the first half of the year, despite a decline in traditional advertising revenue.
Its studios arm grew to now make up the majority of revenue, while streaming beat expectations.
But profits were down by 61%, as costs rocketed at its media and entertainment arm that includes both its channels and ITVX.
That came as it spent an extra £43 million on new programming to try to bring people to ITVX, plus further tech costs to support the platform. ITV has added programmes such as A Spy Among Friends as streaming exclusives at a time when many market-leading streamers like Netflix have been cutting back.
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott and Guy Pearce as Kim Philby
/ Sam Taylor/Sony Pictures TelevisionCarolyn McCall, ITV chief executive, said: “The continued momentum behind ITV’s strategic transformation delivered strong growth in Studios and Digital revenues in the first half of the year, largely offsetting the expected weakness in the UK advertising market – with total revenue declining just 1% in H1, even in a very tough advertising market.”
Sterling higher after Fed meeting, oil at three-month high
Sterling rose to $1.295 today as traders bet that the US Federal Reserve has reached the end of its monetary policy tightening cycle.
The dollar index, which covers a basket of currencies, weakened 0.5% yesterday despite the US central bank increasing interest rates to a 22-year high to a range of 5.25%-5.5%.
The pound has rallied in recent weeks, with the Bank of England expected to hike rates by at least another 0.25% next week as inflation continues to run hot in the UK.
Meanwhile, optimism over the world’s largest economy following the Federal Reserve’s upgrade to growth expectations helped oil prices today.
Brent Crude futures stood at a three-month high above $83 a barrel this morning, with the prospect of further stimulus measures in China also boosting the demand outlook.
Dow Jones extends run after Fed meeting, FTSE 100 seen higher
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on its best run since 1987 after Wall Street reacted calmly to the Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement.
The US central bank increased interest rates by another 0.25% and said the potential of further tightening in September was data dependent, with two sets of inflation and jobs reports before then.
Policymakers were also more positive about the US economy after upgrading growth forecasts from “modest” to “moderate” and no longer seeing a recession.
The Dow Jones finished 0.2% higher, which took its sequence of gains to a 13th session in the best performance for more than 35 years. The S&P 500 index and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite were marginally lower.
Attention now turns to the European Central Bank, which is widely expected to deliver a 0.25% hike that would take its deposit rate to 3.75%. Guidance on the potential for a further increase to 4% in September will be the main focus for traders.
Asia markets are trading higher on the back of the Federal Reserve meeting, while CMC Markets expects the FTSE 100 index to improve 18 points at 7695 this morning.