(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were mixed at midday on Friday, with the FTSE 100 lower as the pound hit its highest level against the dollar in seven weeks.
In London, the internationally exposed FTSE 100 was down 9.09 points, or 0.1%, at 7,335.58 around midday.
The FTSE 250 was up 29.74 points, or 0.2%, at 19,952.42, The midcap index hit an intraday high of 20,041.66 - its highest level since October 2018. The AIM All-Share was up 30.5 points, or 0.4% at 883.35.
The Cboe UK 100 index was flat at 12,451.46. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 17,921.91, and the Cboe UK Small Companies also was up 0.2%, at 10,918.95.
"The FTSE 100 is slightly lower as the strength of sterling is causing the British index to underperform against its Continental counterparts. Intentionally focused firms like Unilever, British American Tobacco, and AstraZeneca are lower today, and the firmer pound is impacting the stocks," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2450 at midday, up from USD1.2334 at the London equities close Thursday. Sterling hit an intraday high of USD1.2477 versus the greenback in mid-morning trade - its highest level since late July.
On the political front, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg on Monday, officials said, in a bid to broker a Brexit compromise ahead of the October 31 deadline.
In addition, Johnson was warned against breaking the law over Brexit by Speaker John Bercow, who vowed "creativity", Parliament would scupper a no-deal exit.
In the FTSE 100, SSE was up 1.3% after the energy provider agreed a sale of its Energy Services business to Ovo Group at an enterprise value of GBP500 million.
The deal is made up of GBP400 million in cash for SSE and GBP100 million worth of loan notes.
Ovo had been named by SSE as a potential buyer in August, as SSE struggled to find a suitor for the struggling retail unit.
Ovo's purchase will make it one of the largest energy suppliers in the UK, just a decade after its founding. SSE is the third largest supplier among its 'Big Six' counterparts, with around 3.5 million household customers.
SSE expects the deal to complete either towards the end of 2019 or early in 2020, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. It will use the proceeds to reduce debt.
"SSE has now guided that the dividend for the current financial year won't be affected by the OVO deal. This will be a relief to shareholders, so too news that it is still expecting to increase the dividend by the rate of RPI inflation for the subsequent three years," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
At the other end of the large cap index, distiller Diageo was the worst blue chip performer down 3.1%
Trade unions are demanding a 5% pay rise from the drinks maker for its workers in Scotland due to go on strike later in September, Reuters reported late Thursday.
The news agency - citing a source familiar with the matter - said the Unite and GMB unions have "never" agreed to settle for a 3.5% wage increase, with their previous 5% demand remaining in place.
Members of the Unite and GMB union working for Diageo in Scotland are set to go on a rolling strike between next Tuesday and September 27. The strike is estimated by unions to be set to cost the firm GBP1 million.
Unilever, British American Tobacco, and AstraZeneca were down 1.9%, 2.5% and 1.1% respectively amid a stronger pound.
In the FTSE 250, JD Wetherspoon was down 0.4% despite the pub chain posting a rise in annual earnings and guiding a reasonable outcome for financial 2020.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.5%.
The euro stood at USD1.1058 at midday, firm against USD1.1035 at the European equities close Thursday.
The eurozone trade surplus was wider than forecast in July after exports expanded considerably ahead of imports during the month, data from Eurostat showed.
The trade surplus within the single-currency bloc widened 20% to EUR24.8 billion from EUR20.6 billion recorded in June, also ahead of the EUR16.9 billion recorded a year prior. The July print exceeded the EUR17.4 billion trade surplus forecast by economists.
The trade balance was boosted by exports in July growing 8.7% to EUR206.5 billion from EUR189.9 billion in June. Meanwhile, imports grew 7.3% to EUR181.7 billion from EUR169.3 billion in June.
Stocks in New York were set for a higher open amid signs the US and China's frosty trade relationship was beginning to thaw.
The DJIA was called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.
In the latest developments, China said some US agricultural products including pork and soybeans will be exempt from added tariffs, ahead of trade talks between Beijing and Washington scheduled for October.
In addition, US trade negotiators want to make "meaningful progress" in upcoming talks with China, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, one day after conciliatory gestures by both sides boosted hopes of an eventual resolution.
Mnuchin said on CNBC he is "cautiously optimistic" about chances for a deal to resolve the conflict, while President Donald Trump hinted at a watering down of his position with the possibility of an interim deal. Washington and Beijing will first hold talks at the deputy level to ensure senior officials who meet later can advance towards an agreement.
Trump told reporters he preferred to seal a complete deal, but that he might be willing to consider an interim agreement.
"I'd rather get the whole deal done," he said, but noted analysts have been discussing the possibility of an interim deal "meaning we'll do pieces of it, the easy ones first". "There's no easy or hard, there's a deal or there's not a deal. It's something we would consider I guess," he said.
Financial markets in Japan are closed on Monday for the Respect for the Aged Day holiday.
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