FTSE 100 recovered from an early dip as traders digested a wave of heavyweight earnings with eyes also on the latest US Federal Reserve update this afternoon. London’s blue-chip index was up 4 at 7,000 in early dealings.
Results from the US tech giants Apple, Google and Microsoft received mixed reviews despite huge profits from all three overnight.
Apple reported blockbuster earnings in its third quarter as strong sales of its new iPhone 12 and growth in its services business pushed revenues up 36% year-on-year to US$81.4bn.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, also reported record quarterly sales and profits as online spending raced ahead However, Microsoft shares dropped even though it reported a 47% rise to a $16.5bn profit as growth in cloud arm Azure undershot a little.
In London, Barclays was a good performer early on as lower bad debt charges helped interim profits hit £5bn. Dividends also resumed.
Rio Tinto meanwhile unveiled a thumping US$9bn dividend as higher metals profits allowed the miner to make interim profits of more than US$12bn.
Among the small caps, ANGLE PLC has secured a pharma services contract with a new customer using its biopsy system. It will develop two assays to detect certain proteins in four hard-to-treat cancers.
United Oil & Gas PLC has agreed to sell its UK North Sea assets to Quattro Energy Limited for £3.2mln. The energy group will focus on its business in Egypt and the Greater Mediterranean area.
