AGK.L Share News (AGK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were trading sharply lower midday Wednesday over talks of further US tariffs on China and a host of host of ill-received corporate updates.Meanwhile, pound was largely unchanged as data showed UK manufacturing saw its slowest pace of growth in three months."Yesterday's optimism over progression on US-China talks has fallen short...This problem is clearly not going away, and in China the US clearly has its most difficult nut to crack as it attempts to renegotiate trading relationships across the globe," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.The FTSE 100 index was down 1.1%, or 84.99 points, at 7,663.77. The FTSE 250 index was down 0.4%, or 74.16 points, at 20,803.71. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.3% at 1,089.82.The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.3% at 12,995.24, the Cboe UK 250 down 0.5% at 18,909.89, and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.2% at 12,390.93.The UK manufacturing sector expanded at the slowest pace in three months in July, dropping to 54.0 from 54.3 in June. However, any reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector.Among components, both output and new orders grew at softer rates in July, as weaker growth of new work from domestic sources offset a stronger increase in new export orders."Today's slip in the PMI is unlikely to faze Bank of England policymakers ahead of tomorrow's decision. Representing around 10% of output, manufacturing is a relatively small part of the UK growth mix. Importantly, the recent data flow - particularly in the much larger service sector - has largely backed up the Bank's view that the economy has regained poise after the weak first quarter," said James Smith, developed markets economist at ING.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3118 Wednesday midday, firm compared to USD1.3105 at the London equities close on Tuesday.Eurozone manufacturing activity, meanwhile, moved further into expansion territory in July with a PMI score of 55.1 up from 54.9 in June, which was an 18-month low for the survey."A marginal uptick in the PMI provides little cause for cheer given it is the second weakest number for more than one-and-a-half years," Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit said.The clear implication is that manufacturers may have to adjust production down in coming months unless demand revives, Williamson added.In mainland Europe on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was flat while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.2% at midday.The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the only index looking at a positive start in the US on Wednesday, called up 0.2%. The Dow Jones was pointing 0.2% lower and the S&P 500 off 0.1%.Nasdaq constituent Apple was up 4% in pre-market trade after it reported a set of results which beat Wall Street expectations. The iPhone maker also saw its best ever June quarter.Apple reported third-quarter profit of USD11.52 billion, or USD2.34 per share, up from USD8.72 billion, or USD1.67 per share, last year. Analysts had expected the company to earn USD2.18 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.Revenue rose 17% to USD53.27 billion from last year's USD45.41 billion, again above expectations of USD52.34 billion.Apple sold 41.30 million iPhone units during quarter, generating USD29.91 billion in revenue, up from 41.03 million units and USD24.85 billion in revenue last year.To come in the US corporate calendar are earnings from electric car maker Telsa and telecommunications firm T-Mobile.Focus in the US on Wednesday, however, lies on the US Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision at 1900 BST, though no change to monetary policy is expected.In London, paper and packaging firm Smurfit Kappa was the best performer in the FTSE 100 at midday, gaining 2.0%.Lloyds Banking rose 1.8% after the lender posted a significant rise in interim profit despite booking further payment protection insurance charges. In the six months to June, Lloyds's pretax profit increased 23% to GBP3.12 billion from GBP2.54 billion a year before, as net interest income increased 7% to GBP6.34 billion from GBP5.93 billion.Lloyds took GBP550 million in the period in PPI provisions, GBP460 million of this booked in the second quarter alone as it now sees the claimant run-rate higher than previously thought ahead of next year's deadline. Outweighing a positive session for Smurfit and Lloyds were losses for Next, Rio Tinto and Direct Line Insurance.Next, down 7.2% as the worst performing blue-chip stock on Wednesday, as it noted that a stronger first half performance was supported by sunny weather pulling sales forward from August.Full price sales in the 26 weeks to July 28 grew 4.5%, with Online up 16% and physical stores seeing a 5.3% decline. Second quarter full price sales were up 2.8% on last year, ahead of annual guidance of 1% growth."We believe that this over-achievement in sales was due to the prolonged period of exceptionally warm weather, which greatly assisted the sales of summer weight product. It is almost certain that some of these sales have been pulled forward from August, so we are maintaining our sales and profit guidance for the year to January 2019," said Next.Rio Tinto shed 4.1% despite the miner upping its payout to shareholders as interim profit rose.However, RBC Capital Markets analyst Tyler Broda noted that underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD9.20 billion was a 4% miss versus consensus.For the six months ended June, pretax profit grew 36% to USD6.73 billion from USD4.96 billion a year prior as revenue rose 3.1% to USD19.91 billion from USD19.32 billion.Rio announced a USD1.0 billion extension of its existing share buyback programme. In addition, the FTSE 100-listed firm added it will distribute the net proceeds from the USD5.0 billion raised from recent asset disposals to shareholders "with the precise timing and form to be determined." This amounts to around USD4.0 billion after accounting for taxes.The Australian miner also proposed a USD1.27 per share interim dividend, up 15% from the USD1.10 the year prior.Insurer Direct Line, losing 3.8%, reported a drop in profit due to weather-related claims amid a cold snap at the beginning of the year. Gross written premiums fell 5.0% over the first half of the year, to GBP1.61 billion from GBP1.69 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit fell 14% to GBP293.8 million from GBP341.4 million.The fall in profit was "mainly due to a reduction in the underwriting profit partly offset by an increase in instalment and other operating income", the company said. Underwriting profit decreased to GBP108.6 million from GBP177.1 million last year, predominantly due to GBP75 million of weather claims mainly associated with the "major freeze" in the first quarter.Bookending the FTSE 250 was Aggreko, up 10%, and BBA Aviation, down 13%.Temporary power generator provider Aggreko backed its annual guidance as one-off costs related to its ongoing business improvement programme dented interim profit. The company recorded pretax profit of GBP59 million for the six months to June 30, down from GBP63 million a year ago, despite revenue growing to GBP857 million from GBP779 million, with rental solutions unit recording 32% revenue growth.Exceptional charges relating to the company's Business Priorities programme totalled GBP10 million.Aviation-support services group BBA Aviation, meanwhile, tumbled as it also reported a drop in profit for the first half despite revenue increasing.Revenue increased 14% to USD1.02 billion from USD898.6 million a year ago, but pretax profit dropped 11% to USD76.2 million from USD85.8 million, with the reduction arising from a higher level of exceptional costs incurred by the company.BBA was hit by USD7.7 million of restructuring costs as it conducted a review of its Engine Repair and Overhaul business before putting it up for sale and classifying it as a discontinued operation.