Top UK shares ended Tuesday on a flat note, with the market pegged back by a mixed bag of corporate earnings and a $30-billion bid from drugmaker Shire to buy rival Baxalta. The UK market performed broadly in line with European peers, even after news that growth in the UK construction industry had slowed unexpectedly in July, which weakened sterling.
The pound's recent strength and the prospect of an interest rate rise, as well as a commodities sell-off, have weighed on UK shares. A poll showed the British public's expectations for inflation in the next 12 months were at their highest level since November 2014. The FTSE 100 lost 2.05 points on the day, closing at 6,686.57 points. The index's skew towards mining and energy stocks have exposed it to fears over China's growth prospects and commodity price falls.
While Tuesday saw something of a rebound for miners, with investors focusing on their ability to cut spending in the face of the commodity price drop, sluggish trade kept energy stocks such as BG Group and BP in negative territory. Technology stocks including ARM Holdings were also weak after rocky Asia trading that saw Apple suppliers fall. Shire's shares slumped 5.8 percent after its offer to buy Baxalta for about $30 billion, urging its target to engage in a "negotiated transaction". Shire's statement said the tie-up would offer significant potential savings and a "compelling" tax profile.
Home improvement company Travis Perkins was among the FTSE 100's worst performers after it published a trading update that it said was in line with forecasts, though some analysts said the figures were disappointing. Insurer Standard Life saw first-half profits dented by a drop in sales of fixed-rate annuities. The shares fell more than 3 percent. Bottling company Coca-Cola HBC fell after a broker downgrade from Goldman Sachs, which cited pressures on revenue growth and profitability and a lack of take-over potential.
Deal hopes buoyed Smiths Group, whose shares jumped more than 4 percent on reports that a US activist investor had taken a stake in the engineering company. Royal Bank of Scotland gained a little after news that Britain had sold a 2.1 billion pound stake to kick off the disposal of its holding seven years after bailing out the bank.
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