4th Jan 2019 08:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were higher early Friday as market sentiment was soothed by positive Chinese economic data and a report of upcoming US-China trade talks.Broker ratings changes were moving individual stocks in the absence of much company news. Still ahead is the PMI reading for the UK's key services sector at 0930 GMT, followed by the US nonfarm payrolls report in the afternoon.The FTSE 100 was up 45.24 points, or 0.7%, at 6,737.90 early Friday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 137.06 points, or 0.8%, at 17,575.97. The AIM All-Share was up 0.3% at 864.81.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 11,434.02. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.8% at 15,730.55, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was 0.1% higher at 10.931.49.The US will send a delegation to China on Monday and Tuesday next week to conduct talks on ending the trade war between the two economies, the BBC reported. It will be the first meeting since the two countries agreed on a 90-day truce early in December. The BBC said that the China commerce ministry had confirmed the talks would take place in Beijing over the two days, with the objective of "implementing the important consensus" reached by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping."The tone was more positive, with news that a US delegation will return to Beijing on Monday for trade talks helping to improve the mood and the Chinese Caixin services PMI beating expectations," said analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets of opening trade.Whitbread was among the top performers in the FTSE 100, up 2.3% after Barclays upgraded the hospitality stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.On Thursday, Whitbread said it has secured proceeds of GBP3.9 billion from the completed sale of coffee-shop chain Costa to soft drinks firm Coca Cola and will start its share buyback programme to return some to shareholders.At the bottom of the blue chip index, J Sainsbury was down 1.9% and among the worst performers after HSBC downgraded the supermarket chain to a Reduce rating from Hold.Diageo opened down 1.4%, as Bernstein downgraded the spirits and beer maker to Underperform from Market Perform.Elsewhere on the London Main Market, respiratory disease-focused Circassia Pharmaceuticals fell 15%, as revenue for 2018 is expected to be in the range of GBP48 million to GBP52 million.Although this reflects a rise from GBP46.3 million, Circassia pointed to a weaker second half, with higher rebates for Tudorza, and delayed recognition of revenue from China following the opening of a new subsidiary.Revenue for the six months to the end of June was GBP28.4 million, up from GBP18.3 million a year before.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.8%, S&P 500 down 2.5% and Nasdaq Composite 3.0% lower.This followed a bigger-than-expected drop in the Institute for Supply Management index of the US manufacturing sector. ISM said its purchasing managers index tumbled to 54.1 in December after rising to 59.3 in November, slumping its lowest level since hitting 53.4 in November of 2016. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in manufacturing activity, economists had expected the index to show a more modest drop to a reading of 57.9.Later on Friday, the US will release its nonfarm payrolls data for December at 1330 GMT. Also out is US services PMI at 1445 GMT.In China, the Shanghai Composite closed 2.4% higher, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 2.1%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 2.3%, catching up to other global markets in its first session of 2019.Data from IHS Markit showed that China's manufacturing and services sector experienced a five-month high in December. The Caixin Composite PMI reading came in at 52.2 at the end of 2018, up from 51.9 in November. The improved score was a result of higher activity levels across both sectors, with China's services companies registering continued growth and manufacturing expanding somewhat following "two months of stagnation". Markit also noted the "solid upturn" in services and highlighted the Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index, which increased slightly to 53.9 in December from 53.8 in November, just reaching its six-month high.The pound was quoted at USD1.2662 early Friday, compared to USD1.2634 at the close on Thursday.In the UK, house price inflation slowed sharply in December to its weakest level since early 2013, as buyer confidence eroded amid the persistent uncertainties linked to Brexit, the Nationwide Building Society reported on Friday.The house price index rose 0.5% year-on-year following a 1.9% increase in November. Economists had forecast a 1.5% increase. In December 2017, house price inflation was 2.6%.Compared to the previous month, house prices fell 0.7% in December after a revised 0.4% increase. Economists were looking for a 0.1% gain. The monthly decline was the first in four months.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was 1.0% higher early Friday.The euro was stood at USD1.1411 Friday morning, higher from USD1.1399 late Thursday.Elsewhere in the economic calendar on Friday, Germany, the EU, and the UK, have services PMI readings at 0855 GMT, 0900 GMT and 0930 GMT, respectively.
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