UK stock markets have climbed following a swathe of company earnings results, despite Primark’s owner dragging on the FTSE 100 after reporting a drop in profits.
The FTSE 100 rose 46.12 points, or 0.55%, to close at 8,463.46.
Gains for banking stocks helped boost the blue-chip index after HSBC revealed better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.
The banking giant posted a pre-tax profit of 9.5 billion US dollars (£7.1 billion), down by a quarter compared with the same period a year ago but above analysts’ forecasts, helping lift its share price by about 3%.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets for Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Trump trade shock has subsided and with tariffs on the back burner for now, optimism is pulsing through the markets, helped by a raft of corporate results surprising on the upside.
“The top gainers are a mixed bag, demonstrating how the new-found confidence is lifting multiple sectors.
“While some wariness about the future direction of US trade policy remains, for now investors are adopting a glass half full attitude, hopeful that the worst of the tariff fears won’t materialise.”
On the other hand, Primark’s owner Associated British Foods fell to the bottom of the FTSE 100 with its share price down nearly a 10th after telling shareholders that pre-tax profits slid by 21% for the 24 weeks to March.
The company, which also has a sugar business, said it was facing higher costs including for labour but that it was choosing to “absorb” it rather than passing onto customers.
Trading was mixed elsewhere in Europe, with Germany’s Dax gaining 0.69%, while France’s Cac 40 declined 0.24% on Tuesday.
In the US, the S&P 500 was hovering around zero, and Dow Jones climbing 0.4% by the time European markets closed.
The pound was down about 0.25% against the dollar, at 1.341, and 0.1% lower against the euro, at 1.176.
The price of Brent crude oil tumbled 1.8% to around 64.7 dollars per barrel.
In other company news, BP revealed profits for the past quarter dropped by almost half and debts swelled to 27 billion dollars (£20.1 billion).
Profitability was knocked by a slump in crude oil prices in recent months, with concerns over slower economic growth and energy demand globally growing in the aftermath of US tariff announcements.
BP’s share price declined 2.4% despite its chief executive hailing “significant progress” with its new strategy.
Elsewhere, Jet2 shares soared after the travel group announced a share buyback scheme of up to £250 million and said its annual profits would be in line with expectations.
Jet2 is expecting pre-tax profits to come in between £565 million and £570 million, which would be nearly a 10th higher than the previous year.
The group nevertheless said it was “mindful of the potential impact of the current geopolitical and macroeconomic environments” and that it was “too early” to provide an outlook for the year ahead.
Shares in Jet2 closed 15.7% higher.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Howden Joinery, up 34p to 773p, Entain, up 20.6p to 648.8p, BAE Systems, up 49p to 1,729.5p, Kingfisher, up 7.9p to 286.9p, and HSBC, up 21.9p to 855.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were AB Foods, down 205p to 2,034p, BP, down 8.8p to 353.2p, Ashtead, down 97p to 3,993p, IMI, down 28p to 1,747p, and Beazley, down 12.5p to 872.5p.
