The FTSE 100 opened 93.96 points lower at 10,673.37 as investors digested quarterly results from HSBC, while monitoring diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose 0.25% to USD 116.1 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced 0.27% to USD 102 per barrel.
Sterling traded at USD 1.3327 early Tuesday, lower than USD 1.3353 at the London equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling rose marginally to EUR 1.1941 from EUR 1.1940 the previous day.
On the upside, Rio Tinto gained 2.24% to 6,383.00p, while Antofagasta advanced 1.92% to 3,235.00p. WPP climbed 1.25% to 398.60p, and Spirax Group increased 1.16% to 7,445.00p. Anglo American rose 1.01% to 3,785.00p, while Computacenter added 0.96% to 5,240.00p.
On the downside, HSBC Holdings plunged 6.62% to 1,275.00p, while Standard Chartered declined 2.76% to 1,954.50p. Severn Trent slipped 2.03% to 3,184.00p, and Informa fell 1.51% to 821.00p. NatWest Group decreased 1.40% to 635.00p, while Lloyds Banking Group lost 1.32% to 101.15p.
HSBC unveiled plans for a buyback after reporting third-quarter results in which net interest income and wealth-related performance fell short of expectations.
The bank said it would return USD 1 billion to shareholders through a buyback programme after it scored a USD 9.63 billion profit for the quarter. However, revenue fell short after HSBC reported USD 18.6 billion for the period, below the forecast of USD 18.9 billion.
The over USD 300 million miss followed a miss in net interest income, which printed around USD 247 million below expectations at USD 11.6 billion.
Reckitt reported third-quarter sales growth of 3.2%, supported by higher prices and strong demand for key household brands like Dettol, Durex, and Gaviscon. Developing markets led the charge with an 8% sales jump.
In North America, sales fell 1.3% after factory hold-ups left the company unable to make enough Lysol to keep up with customer orders.
Total group sales dropped nearly 7% on paper, largely because the business recently sold off its home care division. Reckitt boss Kris Licht slightly narrowed full-year sales targets to between 3.5% and 4.5%.
In US, S&P 500 Futures fell 0.06% to 7,710.26 points. Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.36% to 29,333.50 points, while Dow Jones Futures rose 0.17% to 52,638.0 points.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.73% to 63,268.37, while China’s Shanghai Composite edged down by 1.33%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.92%, and South Korea’s Kospi gained 3.09%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex advanced by 0.11% and 0.34%, respectively.
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