23rd Aug 2018 17:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed on Thursday, as a fall in heavyweight mining stocks impeded gains in the FTSE 100, as the US and China's tit-for-tat trade war intensified.The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.2%, or 11.02 points at 7,563.22. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.1%, or 22.97 points, at 20,665.47, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.1%, or 7.75 points, at 1,092.55.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 0.2% at 12,818.30, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.2% at 18,771.98, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed down 0.1% at 12,330.33."Despite briefly spiking above 7,600, the FTSE 100 was unable to retain its strength and moved into negative territory towards the end of the session. An escalation of trade tensions between the US and China hit metal prices pulling miners lower," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.China retaliated in the same measure against the US government's decision to impose 25% import duty on additional Chinese products worth USD16 billion, escalating a trade war between the two economic powerhouses.The US has applied new tariffs to a vast range of goods in 279 product categories, including children's cots and bedding, animal medicines, semiconductors, plastics, chemicals and railway equipment, shrimps and shrimp products, handbags and fridges.China responded immediately with tariffs on 333 US products worth USD16 billion. They include coal, copper scrap, fuel, buses, cars, medical equipment, Harley motorcycles, bourbon and orange juice.US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tried to downplay the counter-effects in an interview on CNBC."Naturally they'll retaliate a little bit. But at the end of the day, we have many more bullets than they do. They know it," Ross said.On the London Stock Exchange, miners were weighing on the large cap index with Anglo American, down 2.7%, Antofagasta, down 1.0% and Rio Tinto down 1.0%. Imperial Brands and Carnival closed down 1.8% and 1.1% respectively after the stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. In the FTSE 250, TalkTalk Telecom Group ended as the best performer, up 8.4% after Barclays upgraded the home phone and broadband provider to Overweight from Equal Weight saying its operating trends are set to improve following years of losing market share. Elsewhere, Ryanair Holdings closed up 5.5% after the Irish carrier reached an agreement with its Irish pilot union in a labour dispute, both sides have announced."Following a 22-hour negotiating session, which began on Wednesday morning and concluded Thursday morning, agreement has been reached between Forsa and Ryanair in the pilots' dispute," the pilots' trade union Forsa said.The pilots now have to vote to approve the deal, with the union recommending that they accept it. In the dispute over holiday time, transfers and promotions, 100 of Ryanair's 350 Irish-based pilots took part in five days of strike action.Elsewhere, the Saudi government remains committed to an initial public offering of the state oil giant Aramco, but at a "time of its own choosing," Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih said. His remarks come in response to speculation that Saudi authorities called off plans to list the company on the stock exchange, expected to be one of the biggest in history. The Aramco listing is thought to be part of an ambitious economic reform plan, known as Vision 2030, launched by Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the kingdom's oil-reliant economy. "The government remains committed to the IPO of Saudi Aramco at a time of its own choosing when conditions are optimal," Aramco chairman Al Falih said in a statement, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA. The pound was lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.2830 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2906 at close Wednesday. Sterling hit an intraday high of USD1.2917 in afternoon trade before giving back gains. In domestic political news, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab reiterated the UK government's conviction that it can and will agree a deal with the EU.Raab told reporters that plans were being made to recruit an extra 9,000 staff into the civil service to deal with Brexit, in addition to 7,000 currently working on preparations.A further 1,000 more Border Force staff are to be recruited, more than triple the additional 300 previously planned for. Raab dismissed "misinformation" about what may happen in the event no deal is reached by March, saying his stress levels were "fine".The government published 24 technical papers setting out preparations and scenarios that could play out if a Brexit deal cannot be agreed before Britain leaves the EU in March.The key points from the first set of papers cover several aspects of British life and trade including the removal of an EU ban on credit and debit card surcharges. UK citizens living in Europe facing the possibility of losing access to their pensions and consumers facing a potential cost increase for shopping online."The game of poker between the UK and EU goes on, but it is clear that the UK's journey after a 'no deal' will be much harder than the EU's. With this in mind, the pound was a little jittery, but the references to 'progress' in Raab's speech helped to calm the currency for a brief period before the US economic strength-related selling resumed," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.On the economic front, UK retailers reported an above-average sales growth in the year to August but the outlook was less positive with declines in employment, investment intention and business optimism, a closely watched survey showed Thursday.A net balance of 29% said their sales volumes increased in August, according to the latest quarterly Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry. However, the balance for the next month fell to 22%.Further, a net 8% of retailers expected their overall business situation to deteriorate slightly over the next three months.In Paris the CAC 40 ended flat while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.1%. The euro was a touch lower against the dollar at USD1.1569 at the European equities close, against USD1.1599 late Wednesday. In economic news from the continent, the euro area private sector continued to expand in August, albeit with the rate of expansion remaining one of the weakest seen over the past 18 months, flash data from IHS Markit showed.The composite output index rose marginally to 54.4 in August from 54.3 in July. But the score was slightly below the forecast of 54.5.The services Purchasing Managers' Index also came in at 54.4, up from 54.2 a month ago. The score came in line with expectations.Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI fell unexpectedly to a 21-month low of 54.6 from 55.1 in July. The reading was expected to rise slightly to 55.2.Within the eurozone, growth accelerated in France and Germany but slowed across the rest of the single-currency area.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 0.4%, the S&P 500 index down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump dodged a question in an interviewed broadcast Thursday about pardoning his one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was convicted this week on federal tax and bank fraud charges.Without saying whether he is weighing a pardon, Trump minimized the charges against Manafort, 69, who faces decades in prison."I have great respect for what he's done in terms of what he's gone through," Trump told Fox News, a cable channel that he frequently praises."I would say what he did, some of the charges they threw against him, every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does."Brent oil was firm quoted at USD74.56 a barrel at the London equities close from USD74.26 at the close Wednesday. Gold was lower quoted at USD1,189.30 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,195.95 late Wednesday.The UK corporate calendar on Friday has half year results from IT services provider Computacenter, construction and property development company Henry Boot and agriculture and engineering firm Camellia. The economic events calendar on Friday has inflation data from Japan at 0030 BST, Germany GDP readings at 0700 BST, UK mortgage approval figures at 0930 BST and US durable goods data at 1330 BST. In addition, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City-sponsored Jackson Hole Symposium continues on Friday on the topic of "Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy". US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to make his maiden address to the Wyoming gathering of central bankers at 1500 BST.Related Shares:
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