27 April 2021 | 08:33am
StockMarketWire.com - UK stocks eked out modest gains in early trading Tuesday as investors digested some mixed earnings releases, including positive updates from BP and Focusrite and disappointing ones from Whitbread and Aveva.
At 0822, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 6.77 points, or 0.1%, at 6,969.89.
BP rose 2.6% to 304.2p on announcing that it would start a $500 million share buyback in the second quarter after its first-quarter profit was boosted by higher oil prices and refining margins.
BP s underlying replacement cost profit for the three months through March jumped to $2.6 billion, up from $791 million year-on-year. It kept its dividend steady at 5.25c per share.
27 April 2021 | 16:37pm
StockMarketWire.com - The FTSE 100 saw its losses deepen through the course of the afternoon as trading on Wall Street got off to a lacklustre start.
By the close the index was down 0.5% at 6,931.09 while the US S&P 500 was down 3.3 points to 4,184.31 by 4.30pm UK time.
BP reversed earlier gains to trade 0.6% lower at 294.7p on announcing that it would start a $500 million share buyback in the second quarter after its first-quarter profit was boosted by higher oil prices and refining margins.
BP s underlying replacement cost profit for the three months through March jumped to $2.6 billion, up from $791 million year-on-year. It kept its dividend steady at 5.25c per share.