London - Britain's top share index edged higher on Thursday following a spate of mixed earnings reports, supported by the banking sector as the market welcomed the announcement of a new CEO of Standard Chartered.
The Asian-focussed bank rose 2.8 percent, the top FTSE 100 gainer, after it said former JPMorgan investment bank boss Bill Winters will take over as chief executive in June to replace embattled boss Peter Sands.
“We are pleased with the announcement of Bill Winters, he is well respected and with management looking to bring back more focus on the core business we think will please investors,” Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
RBS also rose over 2 percent in early deals after announcing a change in management, confirming the appointment of ex-financial regulator Howard Davies as its new chairman.
“The confirmation of Howard Davies falls in line with the general game plan in UK banking, trying to place themselves as more reputable and reliable outlets,” Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said.
However, the bank pared gains to trade just 0.1 percent higher, with a $5.4 billion pound loss and plans to shrink investment receiving a mixed response from traders.
At 08h47 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 3.72 points, or 0.1 percent, at 6,939.10, 0.3 percent off a new record high hit on Tuesday.
British American Tobacco added 4 points to the index's rise, gaining 1.5 percent after it reported a smaller-than-expected full-year sales decline.
However, other earnings disappointed the market, with Reed Elsevier down 4 percent after reporting full-year earnings.
Traders said that while the results were in-line with expectations, the publisher had seen profit taking after a strong rally that had seen it gain nearly 30 percent since mid-October.
Insurer RSA fell 2.5 percent after profit slightly missed expectations, with traders also saying that the guidance for the coming year was poor.
Outside the blue-chips, Britain's biggest pizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza rose 7 percent after said it had made a strong start to its new financial year after posting a 15.1 percent rise in 2014 profit, helped by popular bundle promotions and rising online orders.
Reuters