5th Apr 2019 09:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened slightly higher on Friday after US President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China is getting close, he will not announce a summit with Chinese President Xi Jingping until an actual agreement has been reached.Accendo Markets analyst Mike Van Dulken attributed the quiet start to trading to "the US and China pushed back the timing of a possible trade deal until May. This dented hopes of a deal being close after recent talk of progress".Trump said on Thursday a summit would be scheduled only after a deal is struck, according to reporters present at the White House, where he welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Liu, the country's top trade negotiator.The two sides are getting closer to a deal after "tremendous discussions", Trump said, but he added: "That doesn't mean a deal is made, because it's not."Trump spoke in the Oval Office with Liu seated nearby. The Chinese vice premier arrived at the White House after a second day of talks at the US Trade Representative's office. The president previously has said that a deal with China is close and that if negotiations are successful, he and Xi could meet to sign an agreement.The FTSE 100 was up 6.86 points, or 0.1% at 7,408.54. The FTSE 250 was down 5.23 points at 19,50238 while the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 921.78.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,578.03. The Cboe UK 250 was flat at 17,465.63, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,242.82."A mixed update on the US-China trade talks - one summed up by Donald Trump's claim that it's 'an epic deal, historic - if it happens' - contributed to a fairly muted European open. Though hardly an exciting start, the FTSE 100 did manage to re-cross 7,400 as it added a handful of points after the bell, the index benefiting from a commodity rebound," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.2% and 0.1% respectively in early dealings.On the London Stock Exchange, ContourGlobal was the best performer in the FTSE 250, up 4.7%. The power station operator said it delivered a strong financial performance in 2018. For 2018, revenue rose to USD1.25 billion from USD1.02 billion in 2017, however, pretax profit fell to USD27.8 million from USD40.6 million. The company attributed to the decline in profit to increased corporate costs in relation to selling, general and administrative expenses. ContourGlobal declared a final dividend of 9.4 cents per share, leading to a total payout of 13.4 cents, or USD90 million in total. The total dividend is above the group's initial guidance of USD80 million.ContourGlobal expects 2019 adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation between USD720 million and USD770 million. Saga was up 3.8%, rebounding after heavy losses incurred on Thursday after the over-50s travel and insurance group issued a profit warning and slashed its dividend. The stock closed down 33% on Thursday.GVC Holdings was up 1.5% after the sports betting and gaming firm said its net gaming revenue rose in the first quarter of the year, with the strongest growth seen in Online business.Total group net gaming revenue increased 8% in the three months to March 31, 9% at constant currency.Online net gaming revenue increased 17% at actual currency. Within its Online revenue, net gaming revenue from Sports grew 16% and Gaming was up 20%. Online sports wagers increased 19%, while the sports margin was flat.Woodford Patient Capital Trust was up 1.8% after the trust reported an increase in its net asset value, as the largest companies in its portfolio achieved commercialisation phase.The FTSE 250 investment trust's net asset value per share rose 6.9% to 97.61 pence on December 31 from 91.33p a year prior. Woodford's total net assets were up the same 6.9% to GBP807.2 million from GBP755.3 million. At the other end of the midcaps, Funding Circle Holdings was the worst performer, down 7.0% after the peer-to-peer lending marketplace said it supports Funding Circle SME Income Fund's decision to wind down.Funding Circle SME Income Fund said it has decided to cease investment in new credit assets and start a process to return capital to shareholders. In addition the fund will ask shareholders to approve the wind down of the company following consultations with two thirds of them.Funding Circle SME Income Fund holds a portfolio of small business loans which are made via the Funding Circle Holdings platform.Funding Circle SME plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting in the future where shareholders will vote on whether to wind down the company, which would lead to its assets being realised and not reinvested.Shares in Funding Circle SME Income Fund were flat.Stagecoach was down 4.9% after Jefferies downgraded the transport operator to Underperform from Hold.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. Financial markets in Hong Kong and China are closed on Friday for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.The pound was quoted at USD1.3110 early Friday, up from USD1.3075 at the London equities close Thursday.Top-level talks aimed at finding a way out of the Brexit deadlock will continue between the Conservative Party-led UK government and the opposition Labour Party on Friday.The discussions are taking place as UK Prime Minister Theresa May faces a week of hectic diplomacy as she battles to keep her EU withdrawal agenda on track.The dialogue with Labour comes amid reports that EU officials are considering offering the PM a flexible extension - or "flextension"- to the Article 50 timetable.European Council President Donald Tusk is preparing to put the option to EU leaders at a crunch summit next Wednesday in a bid to prevent the UK crashing out of the bloc on April 12, according to the BBC. A EU official told dpa that Tusk will propose a 12-month delay to Brexit.At 1330 BST, the US Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched non-farm payrolls report.Employment is expected to jump by 180,000 jobs in March after inching up by just 20,000 jobs in February, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.8%.