30th Nov 2018 08:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened broadly lower, with miners weighing on the FTSE 100, as investor attention shifts to the G20 Summit getting underway in Buenos Aires.The FTSE 100 was down 34.14 points, or 0.5%, at 7,004.81. The FTSE 250 was down 49.89 points, or 0.3%, at 18,559.14. The AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 932.60.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 11,926.60 and the Cboe UK 250 down 0.1% at 16,697.49. The Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,415.96."The FTSE was one of the worst hit as Friday got underway. A significant chunk of that decline came from the mining sector, the likes of Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Antofagasta down following news that China's manufacturing sector had - unexpectedly, but, you know, not that unexpectedly given the country's trade war with the US - slowed down in November," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.Ahead on Friday, world leaders are set to open a two-day Group of 20 summit in Argentina, with global trade concerns expected to dominate, while the flare up in Russia-Ukraine tensions and the fallout from the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi are also likely to feature.While there have been some signs that Chinese and US delegations could reach a ceasefire on trade, there are growing concerns that President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping will not be able to make a breakthrough at their highly-anticipated meeting at the summit.On the London Stock Exchange, British Land was the best blue-chip performer, up 1.1%. The office property developer was staging a slight rebound following losses on Thursday after being hit by a broker downgrade. The stock closed down 5.8% on Thursday. At the other end of the large cap index, Sage Group was the worst performer, down 2.2% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the accounting software provider to Neutral from Buy.Miners were in the red following disappointing PMI data from China, with Antofagasta down 2.2%, Rio Tinto down 1.3% and Anglo American down 2.1%.China's manufacturing activity continued to slow in November amid a prolonged trade war with the US, official data showed.The manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 50.0, compared to 50.2 in October, its worst result in more than two years. A figure above 50 indicates growth and one below 50 indicates contraction.The services PMI also slowed to 53.4 this month, down from 53.9 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said. China's economy is feeling the effects of tariffs imposed earlier this year by the US, which accuses Beijing of unfair trade practices.In the FTSE 250, Intu Properties was the best performer, though from a low base. The stock was up 2.5% at 118.75 pence after closing down a whopping 41% on Thursday, reaching a record low of 114.44p.On Thursday, Intu was left at the altar for a second time after after a consortium comprising the Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group walked away from making a possible offer for the shopping mall operator.At the other end of the midcap index, Thomas Cook Group was the worst performer, down 4.3% after Berenberg downgraded the travel agent to Sell from Hold.On Tuesday, Thomas Cook suspend its dividend and warned on profit citing a summer heatwave and tough market conditions. It then provided its full annual results on Thursday. The stock is down 30% so far this week. Elsewhere, shares in Bioquell were up 37% at 575p after the decontamination solutions provider said it has agreed to be acquired by US water, hygiene and energy technologies provider Ecolab for 590 pence in cash. The deal values Bioquell at around GBP140.5 million and the offer represents a 40% premium to Bioquell's closing share price of 420 pence on Thursday. Bioquell said its board has unanimously recommended Ecolab's offer to shareholders. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both down 0.3%.The pound was flat quoted at USD1.2780 early Friday from USD1.2780 at the London equities close Thursday.UK Prime Minister May urged MPs to back her Brexit plan to avoid "division and uncertainty", warning: "A divided country is not a country that prospers." May was speaking from almost 7,000 miles away at the G20. Meanwhile, the number of Tory MPs who will not back her Withdrawal Agreement has reportedly reached 100, putting its success in serious jeopardy. It also comes as the Conservatives and Labour, divided over Brexit, also find themselves unable to come to an agreement over the hotly anticipated televised debate on Brexit. Downing Street are said to prefer a proposal put forward by the BBC for a December 9 tete-a-tete between the PM and Jeremy Corbyn, with Labour favouring a rival one-on-one offer from ITV. Meanwhile a multitude of other groups and parties are continuing to sound off they should also be allowed to take part, with campaigners for a second referendum even saying they were complaining to Ofcom.The economic events calendar has Italy inflation and unemployment figures at 0900 GMT and 1000 respectively, and eurozone unemployment and inflation readings at 1000 GMT.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.2% and Nasdaq Composite ending 0.3% lower.Minutes from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting held earlier this month are likely to reinforce expectations for another quarter-point increase in US interest rates next month.The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting said almost all participants agreed another increase in rates was "likely to be warranted fairly soon". The Fed noted a near-term rate hike would be dependent on incoming information on the labour market and inflation coming in line with or stronger than current expectations.In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.8%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 0.2%.