UK stocks mixed; FTSE 100 marks best month in six

(Reuters) -British equities closed mixed on Thursday, as investors assessed a spate of corporate earnings and looked for potential trade deals before the August 1 tariff deadline expires.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.05%. However the index posted its best month in six.

The domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index rose 0.9% and logged its fourth consecutive monthly gain.

Over the past month, investors have digested a flurry of trade headlines from Washington and are still assessing the impact of U.S. tariffs on corporate earnings, although attention is now turning to hopes of a Bank of England rate cut next week.

In the market, aerospace and defence stocks gained the most among sectors, up 5.1%, after Rolls-Royce raised its full-year operating profit and free cash flow outlook. Shares of the British aero-engineer hit a record high with 8.5% rise.

Shell gained 1.2%. The oil major's second-quarter net profit tumbled by almost a third, but exceeded analysts' forecasts.

On trade, Trump released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India, as well as ending exemptions for small-value overseas shipments, ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.

Industrial miners slipped 2.6% tracking lower copper prices. [MET/L]

Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta fell between 2.2% to 5.9%.

Among other corporate updates, St James's Place was the top gainer in the FTSE 100, up 11.9%, after the wealth manager's half-yearly net inflows doubled and it launched a new share buyback.

Rentokil soared 9.5% after the pest control company kept its full-year outlook unchanged and posted half-yearly revenue growth of 3.1%.

British American Tobacco rose 1.3% after the company exceeded its first-half profit estimates.

Conversely, Mondi fell the most in the FTSE 100, down 12.1%, after the packaging firm posted a near 17% fall in first-half pretax profit.

A slowdown in the London Stock Exchange Group's recurring revenue growth sent the company's shares down nearly 8%.

Just Group surged 67.5% to top the FTSE 250 midcap index, after Canada's Brookfield Wealth Solutions agreed to acquire the insurer for 2.4 billion pounds ($3.18 billion).

On the radar next week, the Bank of England is expected to cut borrowing costs for the fifth time since last August.

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Giles Elgood)