BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The UK stock market is up in positive territory Thursday afternoon, riding on some strong earnings and guidance updates from big name companies. Investors are also reacting to the latest developments on the tariff front.
Mining stocks are finding the going a bit tough as copper prices fell after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that refined copper will be exempted from new US tariffs.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 37.91 points or 0.41% at 9,174.85 a little while ago.
Rentokil Initial is soaring 10.5% despite the company reporting that its profit before income tax for six-month period ended 30 June 2025 declined to $216 million from $294 million last year. The company expects to deliver fiscal year 2025 results in line with market expectations.
Rolls-Royce Holdings is gaining nearly 10% after the company reported strong results and raised its earnings guidance. The company's first half profit before taxation surged to 4.84 billion pounds from last year's 1.42 billion pounds. Basic earnings per share were 52.38 pence, up from 13.71 pence a year ago.
Further, the company raised fiscal 2025 guidance, and now expects underlying operating profit of 3.1 billion pounds to 3.2 billion pounds. The engine maker previously expected underlying operating profit of 2.7 billion pounds to 2.9 billion pounds.
St. James's Place is surging 7.8%. Melrose Industries, Babcock International, Prudential, Endeavour Mining, Croda International, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Weir Group, RightMove and IAG are gaining 2 to 3.5%.
Shell is up 1.3% as second-quarter profit beat expectations and the company said it would buy back $3.5 billion of shares over the coming three months.
Mondi is down more than 8%. Antofagasta is down 6%, while Anglo American Plc., Glencore and Rio Tinto are down 5%, 4% and 3.5%, respectively.
Diageo, Whitbread, Vodafone Group, GSK, BT Group and Intercontinental Hotels Group are down 1.3 to 3.3%.
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