UK Equities Gain; BP Shares Fall Amid Chair Removal
British equities traded in the green on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 closing 0.24% higher, as investors returned from Monday's Spring Bank Holiday to a handful of corporate and economic developments.BP (BP.L) was in focus after the oil major said Albert Manifold would step down as chair and director with immediate effect following board concerns over governance standards, oversight, and conduct. The company, which said the decision was unanimous, was one of the worst performers on the blue chip index, down 4.03% at close.On the flip side, Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN.L) surged 6.46% to become the FTSE 100's top stock after the European Commission cleared its proposed joint venture with Greek electric utility Public Power Corp.Kingfisher (KGF.L) climbed 1.71% after reporting steady total sales year over year for the fiscal first quarter ended April 30 on a constant currency basis. The British home improvement retailer maintained its adjusted pretax profit guidance of 565 million pounds sterling to 625 million pounds."Kingfisher has reported a Q1 trading update today which is a shade better than consensus overall," RBC Capital Markets said. "Adjusting for calendar effects Q1 [like-for-like] of -0.7% yoy vs consensus at -0.9% yoy, with sales including marketplace +0.8% yoy. We think this should be reassuring given a later start to spring this year."Meanwhile, the UK's shop price inflation edged up to 1.2% year over year in May from 1% in April, the British Retail Consortium said. The latest reading exceeded the consensus estimate of 1.1%, driven by rising shipping and raw material costs amid the Middle East conflict."While retailers work hard to keep prices down for customers, they continue to face significant cost pressures, including higher energy bills and disruption linked to the conflict in Iran," said BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson. "Businesses cannot absorb these costs indefinitely, which risks pushing prices higher in the months ahead. To help protect households, Government should take action to reduce business costs. Reducing the non-commodity charges, taxes and levies that make up more than two-thirds of energy bills, and cutting red tape would help keep inflation down."Looking ahead, the economic calendar is light this week, with April car production due Thursday and nationwide housing prices for May due Friday.