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UK stocks opened modestly higher on Tuesday as hopes of an economic revival sparked by an easing Covid-29 lockdowns were tempered by ongoing rioting in the US. At 0822, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 10.27 points, or 0.2%, at 6,176.69.
Supermarket giant Tesco fell 0.7% to 230.39p on announcing that chief financial officer Alan Stewart had decided to retire and would leave the company at the end of April next year.
Stewart's decision comes after Walgreens Boots Alliance executive Ken Murphy was picked by Tesco to replace outgoing chief executive Dave Lewis.
Private hospital group Mediclinic International rose 1.9% to 279.67p despite it booking a deeper annual loss pinned on asset writedowns and pressure on sales from the Covid-19 crisis.
Industrial and electronic products distributor Electrocomponents rose 5.1% to 670.5p even as it deferred its final dividend amid uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic, having reported a 2.3% rise in annual pre-tax profit.
Electrocomponents said it would review paying an interim dividend for 2020 at the half year.
Retirement home developer McCarthy & Stone firmed 3.4% to 74.15p on announcing that it would commence a phased reopening of its sales offices and construction sites from next Monday.
Greeting card and gift retailer Card Factory eased back 0.1% to 40.95p as it pulled its final dividend amid a 'challenging time' owing to the pandemic.
The company also reported a fall in profit owing to increased costs, including a requirement to pay higher wages.
Optical components and systems maker Gooch & Housego fell 3.0% to 980.14p after it scrapped its interim dividend, citing Covid-19 uncertainty that had weighed on industrial laser sales.
Real estate investor UK Commercial Property REIT added 0.6% to 60.06p as it posted a fall in annual profit owing to losses on the value of its investments, though its underlying earnings improved.
UK Commercial Property REIT held its dividend steady at 3.68p per share.
Biotherapeutics company PureTech Health gained 3.4% to 258.5p, having announced said its Gelesis unit, which it founded, had received approval to market a novel weight loss treatment in Europe.
Ink-jet printing technology group Xaar shed 3.3% to 61.8p, despite announcing that said trading in the first four months of the new financial year had been in line with expectations.
Sales haad been weaker in Europe and North America, Xaar said, but stronger in Asia where economies have come out of lockdown sooner.
Technology company WANdisco jumped 11% to 765p on securing a reseller agreement with 'a large global systems integrator', which it didn't name.