London stocks score monthly gains; HSBC climbs on upbeat profit

Pranav Kashyap, Sruthi Shankar and Khushi Singh
Updated ·2 min read
Signage is seen outside the entrance of the London Stock Exchange in London

By Pranav Kashyap, Sruthi Shankar and Khushi Singh

(Reuters) -Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 ended subdued on Tuesday, as strength in financials following strong updates from HSBC and Hargreaves Lansdown was offset by a sell-off in metal mining stocks.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 had extended its record rally for the sixth straight session earlier in the day, hitting an all-time high of 8,199.95 points. However, the index ended the session flat.

The midcap FTSE 250 edged 0.6% lower to 19,965.39 points, after having breached the 20,000 mark in the previous session.

Both indexes marked their second consecutive monthly gain. Signs of inflation coming under control, a recovering economy, upbeat corporate results and reasonable prices is attracting more buyers to Britain.

"There's a fear of missing out as everything has been rising for so long, and even at the beginning of April, when we did see a pullback, FTSE held better than its European and U.S. counterparts," Daniela Hathorn, senior Market analyst at Capital.com, said.

The banks index added 2.3% as the top performing sector, led by a 4.1% jump in HSBC Holdings shares after the Asia-focused bank announced a better-than-expected pretax profit, $3 billion worth of share buybacks and its CEO Noel Quinn's retirement.

Hargreaves Lansdown jumped 3.6%, after the investment platform saw good momentum in April as clients invested at the start of the tax year to claim more benefits.

Whitbread rose 3.9% as the Premier Inn owner announced a 26% increase in its dividend, a share buy-back programme worth 150 million pounds ($187 million), and plans to close 238 underperforming restaurants, resulting in 1,500 job cuts in Britain.

Limiting gains in the blue-chip index, insurer Prudential fell 5.4% after its annual premium equivalent sales for CITIC Prudential Life, its Chinese Mainland joint venture, slumped 17% in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, precious metal miners led sectoral declines with a 3.4% fall, while industrial metal miners lost 1.4%, pressured by firmer dollar that makes metals expensive for overseas buyers. [GOL/] [MET/L]

Global investors now await the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.7993 pounds)

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap, Khushi Singh and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alison Williams)