5th Nov 2018 08:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened lower on Monday amid sharp falls in Asian markets as hopes of a trade resolution between the US and China faded and concerns over the health of the Chinese economy were reignited. The FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, or 8.91 points at 7,085.21. The FTSE 250 was down 0.4%, or 91.89 points at 19,233.84, while the AIM All-Share was up 0.3% at 998.53.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 12,013.45, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% lower at 17,412.77. The Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,675.82.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both flat."Further evidence that China's economy is starting to wilt under the trade war pressure - the country's latest private sector-assessing Caixin PMI dropped to a 28 month low following a services sector slump - led to a pretty muted open in Europe," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 2.1%.Asian stocks were lower on trade concerns after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow downplayed the potential for a quick trade deal between the US and China."We're not on the cusp of a deal," Kudlow told CNBC on Friday. "There's no massive movement to deal with China".In economic news, China's private sector expanded at the weakest pace in more than two years in October with both services and manufacturing noting weaker performances, survey results from IHS Markit showed Monday.The Caixin composite output index fell to a 28-month low of 50.5 in October from 52.1 in September.Service sector activity rose only marginally, with the Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a 13-month low of 50.8 from 53.1 in September.Elsewhere, Ireland's service sector expanded at the slowest pace since March amid a slowdown in new order growth and strong inflationary pressures, data from IHS Markit showed.The services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 57.2 in October from 58.7 in September. The pace of expansion was the weakest in seven months. The composite output index posted 56.1 in October, down from 58.4 in September. Nonetheless, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping repeated pledges to boost exports and improve market access for foreign firms as he opened an import-export fair in Shanghai on Monday. Xi, who has positioned himself as a defender of free trade in contrast with US President Donald Trump's more protectionist policies, called on other countries to "pursue an open policy, explicitly oppose protectionism and unilateralism and strive to enhance the level of opening up"."President Xi Jinping prompted free market policies and warned against the dangers of protectionism. Dealers overlooked this statement, and focused on the trade spat with the US," noted CMC Markets analyst David Madden. On the London Stock Exchange, Micro Focus International was the best blue chip performer, up 2.0% after the Newbury-based software firm said trading has been in line with the company's expectations, with an "improved revenue trajectory" in the second half of the year. Micro Focus said that, at constant currency, revenue will be around the upper end of the guidance of 6% to 9% decline for the financial year to the end of October, which was reiterated at the interim results in July. In addition, Micro Focus said it will return a further USD229 million to shareholders via an extension of its share buyback programme.From August 29 to October 24, Micro Focus bought back 9.9 million shares for USD171 million. The extended share buyback programme, when initiated, will cover an additional tranche of shares for up to USD400 million, inclusive of those already repurchased. Additionally, Micro Focus appointed Brian McArthur-Muscroft to replace outgoing Chief Financial Officer Chris Kennedy, who will be leaving in the first quarter of 2019 to join broadcaster ITV. ITV expects Kennedy to join at the beginning of February. He currently serves as a non-executive director of hospitality company Whitbread. Prior to that, he was CFO at computer chip designer ARM Holdings and budget airline easyJet. ITV Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall served as CEO of easyJet between 2010 and 2018. ITV shares were up 0.2%. Paddy Power Betfair was up 0.9% after Morgan Stanley raised the bookmaker to Equal Weight from Underweight and UBS raised the stock to Neutral from Sell.At the other end of the large cap index, Ashtead Group was the worst performer, down 3.5% at 1,895.00 pence after Barclays cut its price target on the equipment rental firm to 2,200p from 2,580p. In the FTSE 250, IWG was up 1.3% after Sky News reported on Saturday that Chief Executive Officer Mark Dixon is looking at plans to split the office property company in two.Under the proposals, IWG would split off its property estate and instead focus on growing a new "global franchising model", Sky said, adding it hasn't been confirmed whether the demerged property estate will become a separately listed company.Ahead this week, the US midterm elections on Tuesday, which would give the Democrats a chance to more effectively oppose Republican President Donald Trump's agenda."The headline risk this week is the US mid term elections, where the Democrats are widely expected to flip the House of Representatives. The resultant political deadlock could weigh on US indices and the dollar alike. This is a huge risk event for the market. We [are] expecting to see investors selling out of positions and taking risk off the table ahead of the midterm elections," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.In addition, the Fed is due to announce its interest rate decision on Thursday. The US central bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged, although the accompanying statement may provide clues about an anticipated rate hike next month. The pound was higher quoted at USD1.3006 early Monday against USD1.2964 at the London equities close Friday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly secured a deal that will allow Britain to remain in the customs union after Brexit and avoid a hard Irish border, resolving the biggest stumbling block in negotiations with the EU.A government spokesman in London, however, described as "speculation" the Sunday Times report which claimed May had made concessions to Brussels to resolve the so-called Irish question.The spokesman merely told dpa that "good progress" had been made in the negotiations.London and Brussels are currently at odds over how to prevent the return of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU with Britain at the end of March 2019.The Times reported that according to the deal, remaining in the EU customs union will only be temporary. May is planning to discuss the plan with cabinet on Tuesday, the newspaper added.The economic events calendar on Monday has services PMI readings from the UK at 0930 GMT and US at 1445 GMT.Related Shares:
IWGMCRO.LPaddy Power BetfairITVAshtead Group