The FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) lost 0.2%, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) was flat. UK earnings season picked up pace with Lloyds Banking Group(LLOY.L), Britain's biggest mortgage lender, posting a pre-tax first-half profit below analysts' forecast compiled by the bank. The lender fell 2.7%, while the UK banks index (.FTNMX301010) slipped 0.9%. Rolls-Royce (RR.L) soared 19.3%, to hit its highest level in over three years after the aero-engineering company raised its full-year operating profit forecast. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen Soreng and Sohini GoswamiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Royce, Aston Martin, Alison Rose, Nigel Farage, Georgina Cooper, Aston, Shashwat Chauhan, Eileen Soreng, Sohini Organizations: HY, U.S, Fed, Lloyds, NatWest, NatWest Group, BBC, Lloyds Banking Group, BNY, Equity, Rio Tinto, Royce, Dunhill, Tobacco, Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings, U.S . Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: Rio Tinto, London, Rio, Bengaluru