8th Jul 2019 11:54
(Alliance News) - Trade was cautious in London on Monday in the wake of last week's US jobs report, while Ocado, Schroders and British Airways-owner IAG dragged the FTSE 100 into the red.The large-cap index was 8.63 points lower, or 0.1%, at 7,544.51 Monday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 55.75 points, or 0.3%, at 19,599.52, while the AIM All-Share was 0.2% lower at 914.70.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 12,793.63. The Cboe UK 250 was 0.3% lower at 17.514.49, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.2% at 11,353.92.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both down 0.1% in afternoon trade.European stocks were subdued at the start of the week as traders continue to digest Friday's US jobs report, commented David Madden at CMC Markets.The monthly report showed the US economy added 224,000 jobs in June, beating analyst expectations for 160,000 jobs. This followed a disappointing reading the month before, which had added to speculation of a US interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in the coming months."It is possible that traders are waiting for the US session to get underway as today will be the first proper trading day in light of the US jobs report, as some US based dealers were on holidays on the Friday after Thursday's Independence Day celebrations," said Madden.Wall Street is headed for a lower open on Monday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both seen down 0.2% and the Nasdaq 100 pointed 0.3% lower.In London, Ocado was the worst performer in the FTSE 100, down 2.2% ahead of its interim results release on Tuesday.AJ Bell said analysts will be looking for commentary from Ocado on its Andover operations following a fire in February, as well as an update on the ramp-up at the Erith automated warehouse and its international licensing deals.Shares in investment manager Schroders slipped 1.9% after being downgraded by both Jefferies and Barclays, the former cutting the stock to Hold from Buy and the latter to Equal Weight from Overweight. International Consolidated Airlines was down 0.9% after expressing disappointment in a UK regulatory decision to slap a GBP183.4 million fine on British Airways following a data breach.In late 2018, IAG reported that 244,000 British Airways customers had been affected by the data breach which saw data including name, billing address, email address and card details stolen.On Monday, IAG said the UK Information Commissioner's Office informed the airline group - which also owns Aer Lingus in Ireland and Iberia and Vueling in Spain - that it intends to issue British Airways with a GBP183.4 million fine. This is equivalent to 1.5% of the 2017 turnover at BA. IAG is considering an appeal.These falls in the FTSE 100 were offsetting a strong session for Imperial Brands, up 2.2% after revising its dividend policy. The maker of Davidoff and Gauloises Blondes cigarettes said the new policy will recognise the importance of growing dividends while providing greater flexibility in capital allocation.Imperial Brands reaffirmed plans for 10% final dividend growth for the financial year ending September 30 and said dividends thereafter will be progressive, growing annually from the current level while considering underlying business performance.As part of this revised policy, the cigarette maker announced a share buyback programme to return up to GBP200 million to shareholders before the end of 2019.Peer British American Tobacco rose 2.0% in a positive read-across. FTSE 250-listed car seller Inchcape dipped 4.3% after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight. Over in Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank was 0.5% lower after the lender on Sunday revealed plans to cut around 18,000 jobs as part of radical restructuring plans.By 2022, there should be the equivalent of 74,000 full-time positions at the Frankfurt-based bank, the company said, in what will be a cutback of around 20% of the workforce for Germany's largest lender.The bank's loss-making corporate and investment banking division will also be overhauled under the plans, and the departure of its division head, Garth Ritchie, was already announced on Friday.The lender said on Sunday that it would stop the investment division's stock-trading business and pull out of its global equities sales and trading business in a bid to improve profitability."Barclays remains as the only remaining European investment bank in a sector dominated by US firms, and with today's news comes a huge push to see exactly who can gain the greatest market share as Deutsche Bank's clients looks elsewhere," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG.Barclays shares were unmoved by the news, trading just 0.1% higher at midday.Elsewhere in Germany, industrial production returned to modest growth in May compared to April.Provisional data from Destatis showed industrial production rose 0.3% in May on April. This was a striking improvement on the downwardly revised 2.0% month-on-month decline reported in April, following an initially reported 1.9% fall.This data came as the Federal Statistics Office also reported German exports increased in May. Goods worth EUR113.9 billion were exported during the month, the office said from its headquarters in the city of Wiesbaden. The figure was 4.5% higher than the same month a year earlier. Compared to the previous month, exports increased by 1.1%.London Midday is available to subscribers as an email newsletter. Contact [email protected]
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International AirlinesBarclaysSchrodersOcadoInchcapeBritish American TobaccoImperial Brands