Atlantic Coal Share News (ATC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London shares were trading broadly higher midday Thursday, while US futures were called for a positive open, following a rebound in Chinese stocks overnight and as investors look to a gathering in the Rocky Mountains for clues about US interest rates.

The FTSE 100 index was up 2.4% at 6,122.19 points with all stocks in the index posting gains. The FTSE 250 index was up 1.2% at 16,797.47, and the AIM All-Share traded up 0.4% at 719.15.

In Europe, the French CAC 40 index was up 3.1%, and the German DAX 30 was 3.0% better.

IG analyst David Madden said traders are wondering how much longer this "euphoria" will last. Madden said that the markets are very sheepish at the moment and everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move.

"The sense is that dealers are anticipating a big move in either direction, but for now the fear factor is too great," IG's Madden said. "It will take a lot more than one good trading session in Asia to convince dealers that everything is back to normal."

Asian stocks encountered another volatile, though positive, trading session, with the Nikkei in Tokyo closing up 1.1%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ending up 3.6% and the Shanghai Composite finishing up 5.3%.

US futures were pointing to a higher open, with the DJIA seen up 1.2%, the S&P 500 up 1.1% and the Nasdaq 100 up 1.4%. Wall Street managed to hold onto its strong opening gains Wednesday, with the DJIA closing up 4.0%, the S&P 500 ending up 3.9% and the Nasdaq Composite closing up 4.2%. It was the biggest one-day gain for the Dow since 2011 and snapped a run of six consecutive losses.

Wednesday's gains in the US stock market followed comments by New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, who said that a US Federal Reserve rate hike next month "seem less compelling to me [now] than it was a few weeks ago". Nevertheless, as US Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said before, Dudley said that he expects the US central bank to raise rates this year, and repeated that moves on monetary policy remain "data-dependent".

Investors will now be looking ahead to the Jackson Hole Symposium starting later Thursday, where other key Fed officials, as well as others, will be speaking. However, Yellen is not expected to attend.

Lloyds Bank said Yellen's absence means the symposium in Wyoming is an unlikely venue for the Fed to explicitly signal its policy intentions in advance of the September 16-17 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, but instead, comments from Fed Vice-Chairman Stanley Fischer, speaking on Saturday, will take investors' attention.

After an unexpected rise in durable goods orders data on Wednesday, which climbed by 2.0% in July while economists had expected a drop by 0.4%, on the US economic calendar for Thursday there are initial and continuing jobless claims and gross domestic product at 1330 BST. US pending home sales are due at 1500 BST, while Energy Information Administration natural gas storage is at 1530 BST

Societe Generale analyst Kit Juckes said the GDP data should show a revision up to a 3.3% growth rate in the second quarter, as the first quarter weather-induced weakness was reversed. But still, the analyst noted, the first-quarter average growth rate on that basis will remain just below 2% "and can still be best described as tepid or trundling".

"That provides for a backdrop for the debate at Jackson Hole on inflation and monetary policy, coming after a long period when Fed researchers have been assuring us that the dangers of raising rates too soon outweigh the risks associated with tightening too late," wrote Juckes.

On the London Stock Exchange, miners rebounded from Wednesday's losses, with Anglo American, up 5.2%, BHP Billiton, up 4.4%, and Antofagasta, up 3.2%, amongst the best blue-chip performers.

Outside mining stocks, CRH was up 4.7%. The Irish building materials company said its pretax profit for the first half rose slightly, held back by the cost of a bond repayment, but its earnings and revenue both surged, boosted by the weak euro, and it said it has struck a USD1.3 billion deal to acquire US group CR Laurence Co.

The company said its pretax profit for the first half to the end of June was EUR63.0 million, compared to EUR61.0 million a year earlier. The pretax figure was held back by a EUR38.0 million charge the company booked related to an early bond redemption during the half.

CRH also said it has agreed a USD1.3 billion deal to acquire CR Laurence from owners the Friese family. The company is a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of customer hardware and installation products for the professional glazing industry. CRH shares traded up 5.3% soon after the open.

In the FTSE 250, Aldermore Group was leading the mid-cap index, up 8.6% after it reported a jump in profit in the first half and said it is on track to deliver its goals for 2015.

The retail bank said pretax profit amounted to GBP39.5 million in the six months to the end of June, up from GBP18.6 million in the corresponding period the prior year. Excluding the costs of its initial public offering, the bank's pretax profit increased to GBP43.6 million from GBP20.8 million.

Grafton Group was up 6.4% after it reported a big rise in pretax profit for the first half to the end of June, as the group's revenue was pushed higher by improving conditions in its key markets. The builders' merchant and DIY company said its pretax profit for the first half was GBP57.9 million, up from GBP45.9 million a year earlier, as revenue increased to GBP1.08 billion from GBP1.02 billion a year earlier.

In the AIM All-Share, Atlantic Coal shares were up 138%. The coal miner swung to a pretax profit in the first half of 2015 after revenue rose due to higher sales and production alongside an improved margin. The coal miner swung to a USD3.7 million pretax profit in the six months ended June 30, from a USD271,921 loss a year earlier, as revenue experienced a modest lift to USD10.4 million from USD9.5 million.

On the London Main Market, Xaar was up 7.8%. The inkjet printing technology company said it expects continued stability for the remainder of 2015, with the intention to return to growth in 2016, as it reported a fall in pretax profit for its first half.

For the half year to end-June, Xaar reported a pretax profit of GBP3.7 million, down from GBP15.3 million a year before, as revenue fell to GBP47.8 million from GBP60.4 million and it recorded restructuring costs of GBP4.8 million.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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