ACA.L Share News (ACA)

(Alliance News) - It was another largely subdued session for London stocks on Tuesday as investors continue to focus on the G20 summit at the end of the week, though tensions between the US and Iran were providing a major distraction in the meantime. The FTSE 100 index closed up 5.74 points, or 0.1%, at 7,422.43. The FTSE 250 ended down 13.17 points, or 0.1%, at 19,286.51, and the AIM All-Share closed down 4.54 points, or 0.5%, at 924.97.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.2% at 12,595.10, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.2% at 17,252.39, and the Cboe Small Companies declined 0.3% to 11,462.24.In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt closed down 0.4%."It was been a lacklustre session in Europe today as the US-Iran, and the US-China tensions continue to circulate," said David Madden at CMC Markets."The G20 summit is at the forefront of traders' minds and the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is likely to determine the next major move in equities," said Madden. "Some traders are sitting on their hands until the meeting between the two leaders is out of the way."Stocks in New York were in the red at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index 0.3% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite sliding 0.7%. Tensions in the Middle East moved up a notch after US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order imposing what he called "hard-hitting" new sanctions on Iran. Trump said the US will continue to increase pressure on Tehran, adding that Washington has shown a lot of restraint thus far, "but that doesn't mean we're going to show it in the future."Last week Iran downed downed an unmanned US military spy drone. Washington also blames Tehran for attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman, a key oil shipping route.Tehran on Tuesday, however, mocked the "outrageous" sanctions and said they were closing off a diplomatic solution to resolving the brewing tensions.In response to this, Trump tweeted that any attack by Iran on anything American "will be met with great and overwhelming force"."In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration," he wrote.Brent oil edged higher amid the tensions, quoted at USD65.41 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday from USD64.25 late Monday.The higher oil price knocked airlines on fuel cost worries, with International Consolidated Airlines ending down 2.6% and easyJet down 2.4%. Another commodity to gain amid the subdued risk environment was gold, continuing to trade around six-year highs.The precious metal was quoted at USD1,428.08 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday against USD1,415.84 at the close on Monday.Gold miners in London gained on the back of the safe haven asset's rise, with Fresnillo advancing 1.0%. Since the start of June, the stock has risen 17%.Mid-cap peers such as Acacia Mining and Centamin both rose 2.5%.Elsewhere in the FTSE 250, the precious metal miner Polymetal International rose 2.8% after Citigroup raised the stock to Buy from Neutral.Petrofac slipped 6.0% after revealing "challenges" in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.The company said its year-to-date new order intake is USD1.7 billion, down from USD1.8 billion the year before. New order intake is made up of new contracts and contract extensions, as well as the increment from contracts of more than five years and net variation orders.This decline is attributed to difficulties in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. In February, the UK Serious Fraud Office announced that Petrofac's former head of global sales, David Lufkin, had plead guilty to 11 counts of bribery relating to oil deals in the two countries.Net production is forecast at 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent for the first half of 2019, declining from 3.1 million barrels but meeting expectations. The drop is due to divestments which took place in the second half of 2018.Elsewhere on the Main Market, Lookers shares skid 24% after the car seller said a UK regulator will be carrying out an investigation into the company's sales processes in the period between the start of January 2016 and June 13, 2019. Lookers said it became aware of "certain matters" requiring review in some areas of its business. In late 2018, the company conducted an internal review - which it shared with the Financial Conduct Authority - and found "some control issues" in its sales process.Lookers said the issues would require an improvement plan to be implemented.Carpetright shares closed up 4.0% as it reported a stronger trading performance in its new financial year.For the financial year ended April 27, revenue fell to GBP386.4 million from GBP446.3 million in 2018, while its pretax loss narrowed to GBP24.8 million from GBP69.8 million.In the first half like-for-like sales fell by 13%, but the second half saw a significant improvement in like-for-like sales, with a 5.4% decline, the company said.Carpetright said it saw a significant improvement in trading in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, with a return to like-for-like sales growth in the new financial year. In the UK, like for like sales in the first 8 weeks of financial 2020 were up 8.5% and in Europe like-for-like sales in the same period were up 4.3%. On London's junior AIM market, online retailer ASOS closed down 5.5% after UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy.In the UK corporate calendar on Wednesday, BCA Marketplace - which has recently received a GBP1.9 billion takeover approach, releases annual results. There are also trading statements from outsourcer Bunzl, transport operator Stagecoach and oilfield services firm John Wood Group.In the economic calendar, BBA mortgage approvals in the UK are at 0930 BST and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney appears in front of the Treasury Select Committee at 1015 BST in a hearing on the May Inflation Report. In the US, durable goods orders are at 1330 BST.Released earlier on Tuesday, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry revealed UK retail sales in June fell at their fastest rate since the financial crisis in 2009.In June, only 16% of the UK retailers consulted by the trade organisation said their sales volumes were up on the year prior. By contrast, 58% said they were down.This was the biggest retail sales fall since March 2009. It was, the CBI added, "likely impacted by the relatively cooler weather compared with this point last year."The pound was quoted at USD1.2715 at the London equities close Tuesday, compared to USD1.2729 at the close on Monday."Pound traders are staying focused on the Conservative leadership race," said Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index.Leadership hopeful Boris Johnson made a "do or die" commitment to pull the UK out of the EU by October 31 as he sought to get his campaign to be the next prime minister back on track.Johnson will find out whether he has achieved his ambition of becoming Tory leader when the results of the contest are announced on July 23 under the timetable set out by the Conservative Party."Suggestions are circulating that 12 or so Conservative MP's will join a vote of no confidence in the scenario of a no deal Brexit," said Cincotta. "Given that the new Prime Minister will only have a working majority of three, a general election could be on the cards as soon as September."Meanwhile, the euro stood at USD1.1381 at the European equities close Tuesday, against USD1.1393 at the same time on Monday.London Close is available to subscribers as an email newsletter. Contact info@alliancenews.com