25 May 2021 | 08:37am
StockMarketWire.com - UK stocks tracked sideways in early trading on Tuesday after US Federal Reserve officials cooled inflation fears, though a strengthening of the pound against the dollar weighed on exporters.
At 0825, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down just 1.25 points at 7,050.34.
Industrial software group Aveva rallied 4.2% to £34.14 even as it reported a 63% slump in annual profit after the pandemic hits sales in the first half.
Aveva nevertheless upped its dividend by 1% to 23.5p per share, citing a second-half sales recovery that had limited a full-year fall in revenue to just 1.4%.
Engineering group Smiths fell 1.2% to £15.41 on announcing that chief executive Andy Reynolds Smith had stood down with immediate effect and been replaced by former 3M executive Paul Keel.