23rd Aug 2018 12:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 continued to trade flat at midday on Thursday amid the introduction of fresh tariffs between the US and China and lingering concerns over recent legal drama surrounding US President Donald Trump.Preventing the FTSE 100 from posting firm gains were a host of ex-dividend stocks, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Imperial Brands.The FTSE 100 at midday was flat, 1.15 points higher at 7,575.39. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, had managed to eke out some gains to climb 0.2%, or 41.54 points, to 20,684.04. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.4% at 1,089.16.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 12,837.85, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 18,792.87, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 12,357.67.The CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.1% and down 0.1%, respectively, at midday.In the US, stocks were also poised for a cautious open on Thursday. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are all called flat."A somewhat indecisive start to trade in Europe has seen marginal gains in the FTSE 100 counteracted by weakness in the DAX. The ongoing fears over the snowballing political picture in the US could turn into a driver of risk aversion in the US," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony, referring to President Trump's former personal lawyer pleading guilty to campaign finance violations on Tuesday.Also likely to keep investors cautious is the ongoing trade spat between the US and China."Today sees the US-China trade talks come to a head, with low market expectations likely to drive the response to any final announcement. There seems to be little headway being made over the months," commented Mahony.As the lower-level trade talks continue on Thursday, the US enacted a new round of tariffs on Chinese products worth USD16 billion. The 25% duties affect Chinese goods ranging from drainage pipes to agricultural products and railway wagons.China, in response, imposed its own retaliatory tariffs of equal measure. The 25% Chinese tariffs went into effect at the same time as US duties on the same amount of Chinese products, the Xinhua news agency said.In European data, the eurozone's private sector continued to expand in August, albeit with the rate of expansion remaining one of the weakest seen over the past year-and-a-half and coming in below expectations.In a flash estimate from IHS Market, the bloc's composite output index rose marginally to 54.4 in August from 54.3 in July. However, this was slightly below the forecast of 54.5.Any score over 50 indicates expansion. The services PMI came in at 54.4, up from 54.2 a month ago, while the manufacturing reading fell unexpectedly to a 21-month low of 54.6 from 55.1 in July.ING eurozone senior economist Bert Colijn said these readings confirm a "solid pace" for the bloc's economy in the third quarter."Eurozone GDP is still set for decent growth in the second half of the year of around 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, as domestic demand should continue to drive the economy forward. Still, concerns about activity in the coming months remain," he said.To come in European releases on Thursday are accounts from the European Central Bank's latest meeting, out at 1230 BST. In the US are continuing and initial jobless claims at 1330 BST, while manufacturing and services PMIs are due at 1445 BST. Investors are also monitoring Jackson Hole, an annual gathering of world central bankers in the US state of Wyoming, which kicks off on Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at the event around 1500 BST on Friday.In London at midday, ex-dividend stocks were weighing on the FTSE 100 with those among them Royal Bank of Scotland, down 1.5%, Imperial Brands, down 1.4%, and Prudential, 1.2% lower. This means new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payouts from the companies.The best performer in the FTSE 250 at midday was John Laing Group, gaining 8.7%.The infrastructure investor said its net asset valuer per share improved over the first half of the year to 307 pence compared to 281p reported as at the end of 2017. The company lifted its interim dividend by 2.9% to 1.80p per share from 1.75p paid a year before. TalkTalk Telecom rose 6.5% after Barclays raised its rating on the telecommunications stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.Playtech was 5.8% higher as the gaming company said profit rose in the first half of 2018, despite troubles at its Asian operations. The company said pretax profit rose to EUR124.2 million in the six months to the end of June from EUR91.4 million reported for the same period a year earlier, helped by revenue, which improved by 4% to EUR436.5 million from EUR421.6 million."First half results from online gambling firm Playtech suggest the company may be starting to move past the problems in its Asian businesses which have dogged the share price in 2018," commented AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.OneSavings, meanwhile, shed 2.1% as it bumped up its dividend but posted a decline in net interest margin and its common equity tier one ratio.The challenger bank's pretax profit for the six months to June-end was GBP91.8 million, 17% higher year-on-year, and it is now to pay a 4.3 pence per share interim dividend from the 3.5p it paid for the same period a year earlier. OneSavings' net interest margin was 301 basis points, from 324 basis points a year prior, while its loan to deposit ratio was now 90% from 93%. The company said its common equity tier 1 ratio was"strong" at 13.3%, though down compared to 13.7% a year agoElsewhere on the Main Market, budget airline Ryanair climbed 6.2% as it reached an agreement with its Irish pilots union following a series of strikes.In a statement posted on the airline's Twitter account, Ryanair said it has come to an agreement with Irish trade union FORSA and its committee of Irish pilots.The proposals, it continued, will be taken to the Ryanair board once pilots vote on it. Mediator Kieran Mulvey has asked both sides not to comment on the matter until the pilot ballot has been carried out. Irish pilots went on strike for a fourth time earlier in August. Pilots have been unhappy about the company's plans to change seniority rules and its plans for annual leave, transfers, and promotions.Related Shares:
RYA.LPrudentialJLG.LRBS.LOneSavings BankTALK.LImperial BrandsPlaytech