Despite Standard Chartered announcing a large share buyback program, Glencore PLC and its fellow miners led London markets into negative territory.
How did markets perform?
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.08% UKX, -0.08% retreated 0.3% to 7,422.2 after posting a 0.2% gain Monday.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.5876% was up 0.3% to $1.2974. It had ticked down 0.1% Monday.
What’s moving the markets?
Just when China bulls were starting to feel encouraged, manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) survey data produced a significant miss, coming in at 50.2 versus 50.7 expected. The note from Caixin indicated that “relatively subdued demand” left companies reluctant to add to inventories.
In other economic data, French preliminary GDP growth figures were in line with expectations at 0.3%. German ILO unemployment figures were slightly better than expected at 3.2%.
Which stocks are active?
Earnings dominated the news for individual companies. Miners bore the brunt of the declines as Glencore PLC gave its first quarter production report and reduced its full-year production guidance for a number of key commodities. Its shares GLEN, -3.68% were down 3%. Fellow miner Rio Tinto PLC RIO, -0.02% was down 1.6%, while BHP Group PLC BHP, +0.11% and Anglo American PLC AAL, -1.72% both fell 1.3%.
Banco Santander S.A. shares SAN, -1.44% were down 0.6% following the Spanish giant’s first quarter earnings which showed that profits were down in its home market as well as in the U.K.
The U.K.’s Standard Chartered PLC STAN, +5.02% turned in pretax underlying profits of $1.38 billion for the first quarter, up 10% year over year. The bank announced a $1 billion share buyback, sending the stock up 5.1%, and CEO Bill Winters said he expected to produce “full year returns of at least 10%” by 2021.
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