8th Jun 2018 17:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Friday as traders remained nervous with the beginning of a tense G7 meeting in Quebec, Canada.The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.3%, or 23.33 points, at 7,681.07, ending the week down 0.3%. The FTSE 250 ended flat, or up 5.83 points, at 21,160.54, up 0.8% on the week. The AIM All-Share closed down 0.1%, or 0.49 points, at 1,096.58, ending the week up 1.1%.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.4% at 13,027.11, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.1% at 19,310.70, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.4% at 12,859.17.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.5%. "What could have been a nasty day for equities has moderated into a small drop for most markets, allaying fears that the rebound in risk appetite had run its course. It's always encouraging to see markets recover from their lows, and today fits (so far) nicely into that theme," said IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp. "Investors remain on high alert however for any sign that this weekend's G7 meeting will develop into an acrimonious slanging match; tweets from the French president, matching the rhetoric of the Canadian PM, seem to suggest that the 'tough love' approach will prevail amongst the non-US members. And Trump's suggestion that Russia should be welcomed back into the fold is also unlikely to boost brotherly feelings among the leaders," Beauchamp added.The meeting of G7 leaders in Charlevoix, Quebec, starts on Friday and continues into Saturday.US President Donald Trump will meet French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as leaders from Germany, Italy, Japan at the G7 summit.Trump, as he prepared to depart for the G7 summit on Friday, said Russia should be reinstated into the group of major industrialized countries. Trump told reporters Russia should be at the two-day meeting, arguing that it is important for Russia to be at negotiating table."I would recommend - and it's up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it," Trump said. "You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run."The G7 was previously known as the G8 until Russia was expelled in 2014 over its invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.Earlier on Friday, Trump launched another blistering attack on the trade policies of nations such as Germany and Canada in the build-up to Friday's launch of the G7 summit, where trade is high on the agenda.Writing on Twitter, the US president claimed the EU and Canada had imposed "massive tariffs" on US goods and had erected other "non-monetary barriers".Trump's pledge to roll back the surpluses of many of traditional US trading partners culminated in the White House last month slapping punitive tariffs on aluminium and steel imports and threatening similar action on the car sector.Merkel hit back at Trump's attacks on Germany's trade surplus noting that it had shrunk over the last 12 months, with first-quarter German exports falling by 1% - the biggest slump in more than five years.The pound was marginally lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.3394 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3449 at the same time on Thursday.Britons' one-year ahead inflation expectations remained unchanged in June, according to a quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey from the Bank of England and TNS.The rate of inflation for the coming year came in at 2.9%, the same as projected in the previous survey period.Respondents assessed the current rate at 3.1%, also unchanged from February.Survey participants said inflation will rise to 3.6% in the longer-term, say in five years' time, instead of 3.4% projected earlier.On the London Stock Exchange, telecommunications company BT Group closed up 1.3% as it announced the departure of its Chief Executive Gavin Patterson, bowing to investor pressure amid slim earnings growth and poor stock performance.Patterson, who has been at the helm of the telecommunications company for the five years, will step down later in 2018, the company said, adding that he will remain as CEO until a replacement is appointed. BT expects to have a successor in place during the second half of the year.Since Patterson took the the top job in September 2013, BT shares have declined around 38%.Associated British Foods also closed up 1.3% after Barclays increased the Primark clothing chain owner's price target to 3,400 pence from 3,300p, which keeping its Overweight rating.On the other side of the FTSE 100, Mexican miner Fresnillo was down 5.2% as the worst performer after JPMorgan cut its price target to 1,350 pence from 1,400p, while retaining its neutral rating.Standard Life Aberdeen was the second worst performer, down 3.6% after Lloyds Banking Group sold its remaining stake in the asset manager for about GBP344.0 million. Lloyds shares closed down 1.2%.The emerging markets lender said it sold its entire remaining 3.3% stake in Standard Life Aberdeen, equivalent to 98 million shares at a price of 352.5 pence each. Standard Life Aberdeen shares closed at 364.00p on Thursday, so the sale was at just a 3.2% discount.The relationship between the two financial blue-chips has deteriorated over a disputed fund management contract.In May, Standard Life Aberdeen rejected the termination of its asset management agreement with Lloyds, saying its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management had not put it "in material competition" with the bank in the UK.In the FTSE 250, satellite operator Inmarsat ended as the best performer after confirming a preliminary merger proposal from US peer Echostar Corp, which was rejected by the company's board.The company was responding to movement in its share price and a takeover speculation on the Financial Times' Alphaville blog. Shares in Inmarsat closed at 473.90 pence each, up 13%."After carefully considering the proposal with its advisers the board rejected the proposal on the basis that it very significantly undervalued Inmarsat and its standalone prospects. The board remains highly confident in the independent strategy and prospects of Inmarsat," the company said, adding that there was no certainty over a formal offer from Echostar. Echostar, which is based in the US state of Colorado and provides satellite communication solutions through its Hughes Network Systems and EchoStar Satellite Services business segments, has until July 6 to make a formal offer for Inmarsat, or walk away, under UK takeover rules. On the other side of the midcap index was wargaming miniatures manufacturing company Games Workshop, closing down 7.2% as it stated its intent to half its full-year dividend payment in spite of revenue and profit growth. Games Workshop expects sales to total about GBP219.0 million for the year ended June 3. The prior year, the company reported sales of GBP158.1 million. Pretax profit is predicted to almost double to GBP74.0 million from GBP38.4 million reported a year earlier, while royalties receivable from licensing estimated at GBP10.0 million, up from GBP7.5 million.Next week, there are interest rate decisions from major central banks. The US Federal Reserve decides on Wednesday, while European Central Bank on Thursday.The euro rose against the dollar quoted at USD1.1761 at the European equities close, against USD1.1825 at the close on Thursday.Germany's industrial production and shipments declined in April amid a rebound in imports, signaling another weak start for the second quarter after lackluster factory order data.Data from Destatis revealed that industrial output dropped 1% month-on-month in April, reversing a revised 1.7% rise in March and confounding expectations for an increase of 0.3%.Excluding energy and construction, industrial output declined 1.7%. Energy production slid 1.6% in April, while construction output grew 3.3%.Production of capital goods and consumer goods fell 1.3% and 2.1%, respectively. Similarly, intermediate goods output slid 2%.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index was down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%. Wholesale inventories edged higher in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday, while wholesale sales saw a notable increase.The report said wholesale inventories inched up by 0.1% in April after rising by a revised 0.2% in March. The uptick in inventories matches economist estimates and represents an upward revision from the preliminary reading showing inventories were unchanged.Inventories of durable goods rose by 0.2% in April after climbing by 0.7% in March, with jumps in inventories of metals and hardware partly offset by steep drops in inventories of furniture and miscellaneous durable goods.Brent oil was quoted slightly lower at USD76.47 a barrel at the London equities close from USD76.72 at the same time the prior day. Gold was lower quoted at USD1,297.90 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,298.21 late Thursday.In the economic events calendar on Monday there is China new loans figures at 0300 BST, Italy industrial output at 0900 BST and UK industrial and manufacturing data at 0930 BST.The UK corporate calendar has full year results from property investment company Palace Capital and from gift packaging, stationery and giftware supplier IG Design Group. There is also a strategy update from lender HSBC Holdings.Related Shares:
InmarsatLloydsSLA.LGames WorkshopFresnilloBTAB Foods