22nd Aug 2018 11:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London recovered from a lower open on Wednesday to trade in the green by midday.US futures, however, continue to point to a lower session on Wednesday following legal troubles surrounding US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and one-time campaign chief.Focus in the day ahead lies on the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes from the monetary policy meeting held at the beginning of the month. This comes ahead of the start of the annual Jackson Hole symposium, at which Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak.The FTSE 100 was up 0.4%, or 26.40 points, at 7,592.10 Wednesday midday. The FTSE 250 index was up 0.1%, or 29.63 points, at 20,672.49, while the AIM All-Share was also 0.1% higher at 1,084.03.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 12,866.96 at midday, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 18,767.13, and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.4% at 12,291.17.In mainland Europe on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3% at midday and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 0.1% higher.Markets in the US are pointed for a lower open on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all called down 0.2%. In the corporate calendar there are earnings from retailer Target before the market open."Nature abhors a vacuum and the lack of economic data or developments is being filled by President Trump's travails ahead of FOMC Minutes and the Jackson Hole Symposium," said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump, on Tuesday admitted to committing campaign finance violations in a federal courtroom in New York.Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts, including making two payoffs with the intention of influencing an election.He said he committed the violations on behalf of a candidate without giving his name. The other charges include bank fraud and tax fraud.In addition, a jury found one-time Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort guilty of eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud."When the news broke not long after the close of Wall Street last night stock futures took a swift dip, but European markets have recovered this morning with the FTSE 100 trading pretty much flat on the day," commented David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.Later on Wednesday, US MBA mortgage applications are at 1200 BST while existing home sales are at 1500 BST and FOMC minutes released at 1900 BST.Commentary from the Fed comes just a day before Jackson Hole, an annual gathering of central bankers in the US state of Wyoming, kicks off on Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak at the symposium on Friday.On the London Stock Exchange at midday, FTSE 250-listed Grafton Group gained 5.1% to be the best mid-cap performer as it posted a strong rise in interim profit and boosted its payout.The builders merchant said pretax profit for the six months to June 30 climbed 18% to GBP87.6 million from GBP74.1 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the company's revenue rose 9% to GBP1.45 billion from GBP1.34 billion a year prior.Grafton lifted its interim dividend by 14% to 6.00p per share from 5.25p a year ago.Looking ahead, the company said conditions in the UK merchanting market are expected to remain "relatively flat" over the remainder of the year with competitive pricing pressure.The outlook for its Irish operations remains "positive" with "relatively strong growth forecast for the year", while prospects for the Netherlands market are "favourable" and the Belgian unit continues to focus on improving performance. John Wood Group was 4.6% higher, building on Tuesday's interim results-driven 7.7% gain as Morgan Stanley raised the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight.Subprime lender Provident Financial was 2.0% higher after Berenberg raised its rating on the stock to Hold from Sell.Elsewhere on the Main Market, Laura Ashley rose 16% despite interim profit plunging amid a challenging trading backdrop and a large impairment charge.The company said it was "disappointed" to report a fall in profit, with the "softer" trading environment leading to a 98% drop in pretax profit to GBP100,000 from GBP6.3 million a year ago.Part of the drop in profit was a one-off cost related to the sale of the company's property in Singapore, booking a GBP4.7 million impairment charge.For the year to June 30, revenue dipped to GBP257.2 million from GBP277.0 million the year prior.Sportech shed 3.8% as its interim loss widened. For the first half of the eyar, the betting technology business posted a pretax loss of GBP602,000 compared with a GBP320,000 pretax loss recorded a year prior. Revenue dipped to GBP31.6 million from GBP33.5 million a year ago.Looking ahead, Sportech said it expects further improvements in its Venues unit after adding food and beverages. Meanwhile, one-time sales revenue are expected to be "lower" as the Racing & Digital market in the US shifts from one-time sales contracts to long-term service-based contracts.Related Shares:
Wood Group (J)PFG.LSPO.LALY.L