*

FTSE 100 down 0.05%, FTSE 250 up 0.9%

*

Rolls-Royce soars to record high after raising profit

forecast

*

Shell jumps after Q2 profit beats expectations

*

Canada's Brookfield to buy UK's Just Group for $3.2

billion

*

Mondi ( MNODF ) falls on lower first-half profit

(Updates after market close)

July 31 (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.

Glencore ( GLCNF ), Anglo American and Antofagasta ( ANFGF )

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 ( BTI ) rose 1.3% after the

company exceeded its first-half profit estimates.

Conversely, Mondi ( MNODF ) 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 ( LDNXF )

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 ( BNT ) 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.