Edinburgh - Financial stocks lifted Britain's FTSE early on Thursday but the index's gains were capped by less encouraging earnings from other sectors and shares going ex-dividend.
Financial stocks contributed a third of the 17.95-point rise in the FTSE 100 by 11:02 SA time, taking the index up 0.3 percent to 6 628.99.
British private equity company 3i Group rose 2.1 percent, the top FTSE riser, after it said its first-half portfolio performance was solid, while London Stock Exchange gained 1.2 percent after revenue rose 18 percent.
Aberdeen Asset Management also rose, by 1.4 percent, recouping some of the previous session's 4.3 percent slide after a downgrade from UBS.
Some analysts said that non-banking financials remained attractive while sentiment towards banks had been dampened by regulatory fines imposed on five major global banks on Wednesday for alleged foreign exchange malpractice.
“Investors are looking for stocks in the financial sector that aren't going to be dealing with a never-ending series of forex probes. Stocks like Aberdeen are less likely to be subject to these sorts of regulatory fines,” Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, said.
Elsewhere, brewing giant SABMiller reported first-half earnings that missed expectations, hindered by the impact of a strong US dollar.
Its shares fell as much as 2 percent in early trade.
“In an attempt to assuage investors the company announced a hike in its dividend,” Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said.
“But with the stock trading on a price-to-earnings valuation of more than 26 times it appears that investors, for now, want to see more progress on the financials before diving in at these levels.”
Outsourcer Capita fell 1.6 percent, the top blue-chip faller.
It has now dropped more than 8 percent since it reported results on Wednesday.
The news that its pipeline for new contracts is declining prompted a spate of broker downgrades from the likes of JP Morgan and Barclays.
Royal Dutch Shell, Marks and Spencer and B Sky B all traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payout, shaving 8 points off the FTSE. - Reuters