Stocks in Europe were mostly a touch higher at Wednesday midday, as UK construction activity data disappointed, meanwhile CT Automotive shone as it remains on track to meet full-year market expectations.
The FTSE 100 index was up 20.59 points, 0.2%, at 9,163.32. The FTSE 250 was up 0.27 of a point at 21,901.96, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.37 of a point at 763.85.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 916.97, the Cboe UK 250 was marginally higher at 19,273.07, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.3% at 17,279.89.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt both advanced 0.2%.
‘After running out of steam and slipping into the red in the latter part of yesterday’s trading session, the FTSE 100 made another modest move higher on Wednesday,’ said AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson.
‘Concern around tariffs continues to swirl as Indian stocks slipped thanks to Trump administration threats to impose higher levies on India for buying and selling Russian oil.
‘However, a more positive tone on trade talks with China meant most other Asian markets closed higher overnight. An agreement between Washington and Beijing would remove the last remaining big uncertainty around tariffs as a 12 August deadline approaches.’
US President Donald Trump told CNBC he was ‘getting very close’ to a deal with China to extend a trade truce.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank commented: ‘During the interview, Trump also escalated his threats to impose higher tariffs against India for purchasing Russian oil, saying he would ’very substantially’ raise tariffs on India within ’the next 24 hours’. Later in day, he suggested the US may also place secondary tariffs on other importers of Russian energy, though he claimed he ’never said a percentage’ that such tariffs would be set at. So maintaining ambiguity after previously floating 100% tariffs.’
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.23%, widening from 4.20%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.81%, stretching from 4.77%.
Meanwhile, the pace of decline in the UK’s construction sector unexpectedly sped up in July, survey results from S&P Global showed on Wednesday.
The UK construction purchasing managers’ index fell to 44.3 points in July from 48.8 in June, undershooting FXStreet-cited expectations of an uptick to 49.2 in July. Falling further below the neutral 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, it indicates the pace of decline in the UK construction sector accelerated in July.
Total industry activity in the UK construction sector fell at the sharpest rate since May 2020, S&P Global Market Intelligence Principal Economist Joe Hayes noted.
He added: ‘Dissecting the latest contraction, we can see a fresh and sharp drop in residential building, as well as an accelerated fall in work carried out on civil engineering projects. Forward-looking indicators from the survey imply that UK constructors are preparing for challenging times ahead. They’re buying less materials and reducing the number of workers on the payroll. Expectations also continue to underwhelm, despite a modest pick-up in confidence from June’s two-and-a-half-year low.’
Hayes continued: ‘Anecdotally, companies reported a lack of tender opportunities and a hesitancy from customers to commit to projects. Broader themes of uncertainty, both domestically but also internationally, will do little to reignite investment appetites.’
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners shed 12% on Wednesday.
The soft drink bottler cut its annual revenue guidance despite a ‘solid’ first half. It now expects revenue growth between 3% and 4%, a downgrade from its prior expectation of 4% growth for 2025, but still expects operating profit growth of 7%.
Coca-Cola EP said pretax profit in the six months to June 27 rose 21% to €1.26 billion from €1.05 billion. Revenue improved 4.5% to €10.27 billion from €9.83 billion. It lifted its interim dividend by 6.8% to €0.79 per share from €0.74.
Coca-Cola HBC, meanwhile, faded 8.7%.
This was despite strong first half profit and sales growth, with the lack of a guidance upgrade a possible culprit. Pretax profit rose 24% to €644.6 million in the six months to June 30 from €521.0 million a year prior. Revenue increased by 8.6% to €5.62 billion from €5.18 billion with revenue per case up 5.9% to €3.84 from €3.63.
Coca-Cola HBC targets organic revenue growth of 6% to 8% in 2025 and organic [earnings before interest and tax] growth of 7% to 11%. ‘Given there was an expectation that this metric would be raised, this will likely be seen as disappointing today,’ Citi analyst Simon Hales said.
At the other end, CT Automotive rose 12%.
The Portsmouth, England-based designer, developer and supplier of interior components to the automotive industry said it remains on track to meet full-year market expectations, citing a company-compiled consensus for $122.0 million in revenue and adjusted pretax profit of $10.5 million. This would be up 1.9% and 21% respectively from $119.7 million and $8.7 million in 2024.
For the first half that ended June 30, the firm expects to post revenue of $54.2 million, down 10% from $60.5 million a year before. This reflects customer program launch timing adjustments and inventory run down, CT Automotive explained, adding that revenue is anticipated to ‘normalise’ during the second half.
The pound was quoted up at $1.3310 at midday on Wednesday in London, compared to $1.3301 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood higher at $1.1602, against $1.1579. Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JP¥147.67 compared to JP¥147.42.
Brent oil was quoted up at $68.61 a barrel at midday in London on Wednesday from $68.04 late Tuesday. Gold was quoted lower at $3,364.38 an ounce against $3,385.82.
Still to come on Wednesday’s economic calendar, US EIA crude oil stocks at 1530 BST.
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