| London close: FTSE gains pared as pound climbs on Brexit comments London stocks clung onto marginal gains on Tuesday, helped along by some well received results from oil giants BP and ad behemoth WPP. The FTSE 100 added just 5.27 points or 0.07% to 7,493.08, paring initial gains as the pound rose 0.5% against dollar and euro late in the session at 1.3277 and 1.1393, continuing strong form from the start of the week ahead of an anticipated Bank of England rate hike on Thursday. The pound was fairly flat for most of the session but climbed late on. This happened to be while Brexit Secretary David Davis gave breezily confident evidence to a parliamentary committee, saying talks with his opposite number Michel Barnier will start again next week and should intensify. Davis also acknowledged that the withdrawal agreement under Article 50 may be no more than a "political agreement" rather than a full, legal treaty. "It should be agreed, because otherwise how will this House, how will the Commons, make a decision on whether the deal is acceptable," he said. A survey released earlier by GfK showed UK consumer confidence about the economy worsened in October, ahead of big decisions from the Bank of England later this week, the Budget next month and ongoing Brexit negotiations. GfK's consumer confidence index dropped one point to -10 in October as sub-categories for the general economic situation over the last 12 months fell one point and for the coming 12 months decreased by two points. On the upside, the measure for people's personal financial situation over the last 12 months and the major purchase index increased by one and two points respectively. The score for people's personal financial situation over the next 12 months stayed the same. In corporate news, oil behemoth BP gushed higher after it announced a plan to buy back shares as its third-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations. Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken said: "Whilst income seekers may be miffed at no increase to the 10c per quarter dividend, resumption of a supportive share buyback to offset scrip dividends (shares instead of cash) has been well received. It suggests management even more comfortable with current oil prices, considering cash generation more than capable of covering commitments to both growth and capital returns. It's also suggestive of even more water under the bridge from what has been a very expensive legal process and forced retrenchment." Speciality chemicals firm Croda International topped the leaderboard also on the front foot after it affirmed its full-year outlook and said that the improved sales trend seen in the first half of 2017 continued through the third quarter. Advertising giant WPP reversed earlier losses to trade up after it said sales remained negative in the third quarter as the advertising market continued to be hit by client cost saving. Budget airline Easyjet gained on the back of rival Ryanair's positive trading update, where the Irish carrier said it still expects to make record annual profits this year despite disruptions that led to thousands of flights being cancelled. William Hill and Ladbrokes Coral gained ground, with traders pointing to some relief that the department of digital, culture, media and sport has launched a 12-week consultation on a range of options to tackle problems with fixed-odd betting terminals, rather than announce an immediate cut to the maximum stakes. Packaging company DS Smith traded higher after confirming trading in the first half of its financial year was in line with expectations, with return on average capital employed at the upper end of the target range. Topping the mid-cap index, Indivior racked up healthy gains as an FDA Advisory Committee was set to make a decision later in the day on whether it will approve the company's month-long depot-based injection for the treatment of opioid disorder. Online food ordering specialist Just Eat advanced as it bumped up its full-year revenue guidance and reported a 47% jump in group revenue for the third quarter. On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo led the fallers as gold prices fell due to a shift in the market's mood. "The strength of risk-on sentiment can be seen by the fall in gold this afternoon, which has dropped below yesterday's low and seems set for more downside," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, as he eyed weaker than expected euro area inflation numbers. "Today's eurozone CPI confirms that inflation is still more of a problem for its absence than its strength, which means that this classic safe-haven asset will continue to find its lustre notably diminished." Shares in Burberry were lower as the luxury retailer announced that president and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey will leave at the end of next year after 17 years with the company. Weir Group tanked as it warned that operating profit for the year is expected to be lower than previously indicated due to its minerals operations, despite a strong showing in the oil and gas division. Glencore fell after the Anglo-Swiss commodity trading and mining group said that it plans to delist its shares from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the end of January. Royal Mail was hit by a downgrade to 'underperform' at Credit Suisse, while Renishaw was weaker after a Peel Hunt downgrade and Rotork was dented by a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral'.
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