There was little to Tuesday’s open, the European indices barely flickering into life after the opening bell. Despite strong earnings from HSBC and BP – the bank and oil firm rose 0.8% and 1.4% respectively, following surges in their first quarter profits – the FTSE barely budged. The UK index was flat at 6,964 still having trouble get back above 7,000 following the rather significant wobble suffered this time last week.
“Admittedly, the FTSE wasn’t alone in shying away from any major action as the session got underway. The DAX trickled 0.2% lower, slipping under 15,300, while the CAC was just as unchanged as its UK peer, sitting at 6,220,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
“At present the session isn’t looking like it is going to pick up this afternoon. The Dow Jones futures have the US index rising 0.1% at best, just about hefting it back across the psychologically significant 34,000 mark.”
“Unlike Wednesday and Thursday, which see the month’s Fed meeting and first glimpse US Q1 GDP reading respectively, Tuesday afternoon is fairly light on data. The most relevant figure is the CB consumer confidence number, which is expected to rise from 109.7 to 113.1,” Campbell added.
As for earnings, Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft both report after the market closes this evening.
FTSE 100 Top Movers
HSBC (1.88%), Auto Trader (1.22%) and Pershing Square Holdings (1.2%) are the top risers on the FTSE 100 at mid-morning on Tuesday.
At the other end, Aveva Group (-5.76%), Rolls-Royce (-3.26%) and Bunzl (-2.10%), are the index’s top fallers.
BP
BP’s earnings climbed over the last quarter, as a result of significantly higher oil prices and bumper revenue from natural gas trading. Profits rose to $3.3bn on a replacement cost (RC) basis, up from a loss of $628m in Q1 of 2020 when the pandemic began, and a profit of $825m in the final quarter of 2020.
On an underlying RC basis, Q1 profits more than tripled year-on-year, to $2.6bn. The FTSE 100 oil giant also said it will begin its share buyback in Q2, after it hit its net reduction targets early following a ‘strong quarter’. This is in addition to its regular quarterly dividend payment of 5.25 cents per share.
HSBC
HSBC announced that it made profits that surpassed its expectations as it sees the outlook around the economy improving. The major bank confirmed an income of $5.8bn for Q1 to March 31, up from $3.2bn the year before.
More than 50% of the company’s profits came from Asia, where the bank conducts a significant portion of its business. The FTSE 100 company said it had let go of $3bn worth of cash set aside for bad loans as a result of seeing a brighter outlook.
