The FTSE 100 opened 16.79 points higher at 10,798.54 despite an early tech-driven sell-off after reports of Chinese progress in domestic semiconductor manufacturing equipment shook global markets. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures fell 1.95% to $86.64 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 1.49% to $81.38 per barrel.
On the upside, Unilever climbed 5.74% to 4,892.50p. Admiral Group advanced 3.18% to 3,704p, while Reckitt Benckiser gained 2.63% to 5,158p. Babcock International rose 2.45% to 1,152p, Diageo added 2.33% to 1,628p, and The Sage Group increased 2.22% to 910.60p.
On the downside, Games Workshop declined 3.17% to 19,580p. Lion Finance Group fell 2.21% to 11,510p, while AstraZeneca slipped 1.63% to 12,678p. Spirax Group dropped 0.72% to 5,156.75p, Halma eased 1.10% to 13,560.93p, and Barclays edged 5.15% lower to 503.10p.
Unite Students has plunged to over £400 million loss after being hit by a £500 million revaluation of its properties and “extremely challenging” building costs.
The UK’s largest student landlord reported a £417 million pre-tax loss in the six months to June, reversing a £186 million profit the year before, as its earnings slipped by 2% to £142 million.
A revaluation of Unite’s property portfolio dealt a £530 million hit to its profit, the firm said. The group took £130 million from property disposals in the six months to June and aims to shift as many as 20,000 more beds as it slims down its footprint. Shares in the firm slipped by 3.4% to £538 in early trading.
Barclays shares tumbled this morning despite the bank topping profit and income expectations in the second quarter of the year.
Shares in the lender fell as much as 7% in early trading, their biggest fall since April last year. That was despite the bank topping estimates and reporting a surge in earnings at its investment bank, fuelled by the performance of its equity trading division.
Several analysts said the performance of Barclays' investment bank had largely been priced in, while earnings outside that division were more muted than expected.
Unilever has nudged its full-year outlook upwards after posting its strongest quarterly volume growth in more than a decade.
The consumer goods group reported underlying sales rose 5.8% in the second quarter, ahead of the 4.14% City analyst consensus and up from 3.8% in the first quarter. Sales volumes increased 5.5% against expectations of 2.29% and revenue rose 3.8% to €13.05 billion, topping the €12.87 billion forecast.
Chief executive Fernando Fernandez called it "the best volume quarter at Unilever in over a decade", with Power Brands and emerging markets leading the improvement.
In the US, Wall Street offered mixed signals, with the Dow Jones gaining 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was broadly flat and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%.
In Asia on Tuesday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 3.95% to 62,364.92, while China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 1.16%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.36%, and South Korea’s Kospi edged lower by 10.84%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex rose by 0.08% and 0.051%, respectively.
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