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UK Shares Jump Amid Earnings Influx, US-Iran Talks; Unilever Updates Guidance

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London's FTSE 100 closed 0.90% higher on Tuesday as corporate earnings dominated the news, while geopolitical tensions eased.

Unilever (ULVR.L), up 8.58%, led the blue-chip index after the consumer goods giant raised its full-year outlook, saying it expects underlying sales growth within its 4% to 6% multi-year guidance range, compared with previous guidance of the low end of that range, while forecasting 3% underlying volume growth.

"This was a very good quarter for Unilever, with even the bit that didn't go well (food in Europe) playing into management's decision to offload that business," RBC Capital Markets said, noting in-line profit and earnings. "Marketing/sales fell by 10 [basis points], but that hardly seems a big problem in the circumstances. Asia in particular benefitted from solid growth 1H in India (+8% in 2H), China (mid single digit) and Indonesia (+7%)."

GSK (GSK.L) grew 4.08% after it reported 3% annual growth in turnover for the first half to 16.04 billion pounds sterling and affirmed its 2026 outlook. The drugmaker also intends to invest 400 million pounds in three years to upgrade its research and development facilities and open a new global research and development center in Cambridge, UK.

On the downside, lender Barclays (BARC.L) tumbled 5.52% to become the FTSE 100's worst performer as yearly growth in first-half earnings and better-than-expected second-quarter results were offset by a weaker investment banking performance than US peers.

"[Second-quarter pretax profit] was a 4% beat vs consensus driven by income and impairments, partially offset by higher-than-expected costs," RBC said in another note. "On a divisional basis, the beat was driven by the IB. On an underlying pre-provision profit basis, there was a 2% beat. ... We expect the focus of today's call will be on the return on investment of an acceleration in strategic cost actions and weaker performance than US peers in the IB."

In macro news, the UK's shop price inflation softened to 0.9% year over year in July, from 1.2% a month ago, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium. The latest reading was below the consensus estimate and three-month average of 1.1%, which BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson attributed to promotions on food and alcohol during the FIFA World Cup, discounts on clothing and footwear, and other summer deals.

On the geopolitical front, US President Donald Trump suspended attacks on Iran, with a plan to resume "very strong military action" if peace negotiations fall through, Deutsche Bank Research said, citing an interview with Axios. Talks are advancing and there is a good chance of reaching an agreement with Iran, Trump told reporters.

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