BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The UK market, which moved modestly higher earlier in the session, is down in negative territory in early afternoon trades on Wednesday with stocks turning in a mixed performance as investors react to a slew of earnings announcements, and await the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.
The benchmark FTSE 100, which climbed to 9,169.01 earlier in the session, was down 28.22 points or 0.31% at 9,108.10 a little while ago.
GSK is rising 1.3% on strong earnings. The drug major said its profit before tax climbed 26% to 1.89 billion pounds in the second quarter, up from last year's 1.50 billion pounds. Earnings per share were 35.5 pence, up 23% from 28.5 pence a year ago.
GSK now expects core earnings per share and core operating profit to increase towards the top end of previous range of 6% to 8%, and turnover to grow towards the top end of range of previous range of 3% to 5%, all at constant exchange rates.
Glencore is up 1.5%. Pershing Square Holdings, Entain, Informa, IHG, Intertek Group, RightMove and Croda International are gaining 1 to 1.3%.
BAE Systems is down 3% despite the company raising its sales and earnings guidance.
HSBC Holdings is down with a loss of 2.5% after reporting a drop in second quarter earnings. The lender said its preofit before tax dropped 29% year-over-year to $6.3 billion, primarily due to the recognition of dilution and impairment losses of $2.1 billion in BoCom.
Profit after tax was $4.9 billion, down 29% from last year. On a constant currency basis, profit before tax decreased 30%.
Taylor Wimpey is down nearly 5%. Convatec Group is declining 3.7%. JD Sports Fashion is down 2.1%, while Centrica, Kingfisher, Hiscox, The Sage Group, Beazley, Unite Group, Rio Tinto and Anglo American Plc are down 1 to 1.7%.
Rio Tinto is down 1.6% as first-half profits declined amid flat commodity prices and trade concerns.
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