Ascential Share News (ASCL)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London started the day mixed on Friday, with gold miners gaining as the price of the safe haven asset rises further following an escalation in military tension between the US and Iran.The FTSE 100 index was down 17.47 points, or 0.2%, at 7,351.1 in early trade.The FTSE 250 was 9.63 points higher, or 0.1%, at 19,182 while the AIM All-Share was down 0.2% at 936.77.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.3% at 12,455.66. The Cboe UK 250 was marginally higher at 17,215.85, with the Cboe UK Small Companies down just 0.1% at 11,630.77.On mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt both were down, 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. In a quiet day for UK corporate news, gold miners rose, tracking the price of the precious metal higher. Gold was quoted at USD1,355.66, up from USD1,336.70 late on Thursday. The price is up 1.8% in the past five days and 4.2% in the past 30 days.Mexico's Fresnillo was up 1.9% in the FTSE 100, while midcap peers Hochschild Mining and Centamin were up 1.6% and 2.9% respectively.Heating and plumbing products firm Ferguson was down 0.5% in the FTSE 100, as Berenberg cut its rating on the stock to Hold from Buy. In the FTSE 250, insurer Lancashire Holdings was likewise lower, down 2.4%, after a ratings cut. Peel Hunt has reduced its rating for the stock to Hold from Add. However Royal Mail, which was recently demoted from the FTSE 100, was 1.7% higher as Societe Generale raised its rating to Hold from Sell.Business-to-business media firm Ascential was down 1.7% after it confirmed it is trading in line with expectations for 2019.The Product Design business is set for 9% organic revenue growth in the six months to June, with subscriptions growth boosted by "excellent" progress by the Mindset advisory product.Ascential has guided for the Marketing unit to deliver 12% organic interim revenue growth, while the Sales business is set for 3% organic revenue growth.Events in both segments are doing well, Ascential said, while Built Environment & Policy is also meeting expectations.Elsewhere, recruiter SThree rose 3.6% as it reported an "encouraging" first half performance, meeting the company's own expectations.Group net fees for the six months to June rose 9% to GBP163.0 million, and were consistent across both quarters. All regions outside of the UK & Ireland registered double-digit net fee growth, but the UK & Ireland's slumped 9%. SThree's core Contract unit net fee growth rose 12% year-on-year to GBP121.1 million, but Permanent net fees fell 1% to GBP41.9 million. The second quarter was particularly strong in Contract, the firm said.On AIM, software Scisys Group surged 22% as it agreed a GBP78.9 million takeover deal with Canadian IT services and business consultant CGI. CGI will pay 254.15 pence per Scisys share, with the stock at 249.38p early Friday. The offer price is a 25% premium to Scisys' closing price Thursday of 204p. US Central Command has released a video it says shows crew from an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the tankers attacked on Thursday.Hours after the initial explosions the boat "was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the MT Kokuka Courageous", spokesman Bill Urban said in a statement alongside the video.Iran earlier "categorically" rejected the "unfounded claim" by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that it was responsible for the attacks, as concerns rise that a wider conflict in the region could be sparked by the incidents.In a statement, Tehran's mission to the UN accused the US and its regional allies of "warmongering".Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also ruled out any future negotiations with the US on Thursday, during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe."Iran does not trust the US," Khamenei said in Tehran. "We have already had the bitter experience with the Americans over the nuclear deal and do not want to repeat this experience."Meanwhile, the Japanese operator of the Kokuka Courageous tanker has said crew members saw "flying objects" before the explosion. Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Kokuka Sangyo President Yutaka Katada denied the tanker had been hit by a torpedo.Brent oil was quoted at USD61.27 a barrel, down from USD61.80 late Thursday, though still up from late Wednesday, prior to the attacks, when it was quoted at USD60.85 a barrel.The pound was at USD1.2663, down from USD1.2683 Thursday, after frontrunner Boris Johnson eased to victory in the first round of voting for a new Conservative leader, and UK prime minister, on Thursday afternoon.Eurozone finance ministers have made progress on establishing a budget tool for the 19-member currency bloc during a marathon meeting in Luxembourg, dpa reported early Friday.However several important issues remained unresolved, including how the budget would be financed.French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the results of the meeting a "breakthrough."In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 0.4%, the S&P 500 also up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.6% higher.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.8% lower in late trade.Later Friday there are Italy's inflation readings at 1000 BST and US retail sales at 1330 BST.In addition, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at the Women in Banking & Finance 22nd Anniversary Awards for Achievement lunch at 1355 BST.