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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended slightly higher on Friday, with the FTSE 100 hitting a six month high in the last full trading week of 2019.
The FTSE 100 index closed points up 8.66 points, or 0.1% at 7,582.48. ending the week up 3.1%. The large cap index touched an intraday high of 7,599.52 - its highest level in six months.
The FTSE 250 ended up 8.16 points at 21,674.30, ending the week up 0.8%, and the AIM All-Share closed up 2.66 points, or 0.3% at 940.93, ending the week up 2.5%.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 12,839.20, the Cboe UK 250 closed flat at 19,554.28, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 12,038.99.
In Paris the CAC 40 and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt both ended up 0.8%.
"The final full trading week of the year is ending with most markets in robustly bullish form, except for the FTSE 100, which has edged up by the slimmest of margins. It has been a spectacular year for equities, and the bulls can feel very satisfied with their work," said IG Group's Chris Beauchamp.
"So far, no recession in the US is on the horizon, and it may well be at least another year before one arrives. European markets look much stronger too, although here the recovery is on much shakier ground. 2019's big risks, trade wars and Brexit, will come with us into 2020, but both seem to have lost much of their power," Beauchamp added.
On the London Stock Exchange, Carnival ended the best blue chip performer, up 6.6% after the Anglo-US cruise line operator said it is entering its new financial year with record bookings as profit beat expectations.
Carnival's revenue for the 12 months to November rose by 10% to USD20.83 billion, with fourth-quarter revenue alone climbing by 7.2% to USD4.78 billion. Pretax profit decreased 4.7% to USD3.06 billion for the year, with the quarterly figure decreasing 14% to USD437 million.
Earnings per share for the year declined by 2.7% to USD4.32, with the adjusted figure rising by 3.3% to USD4.40. For the final quarter, earnings per share fell 14% to USD0.61, with the adjusted figure down 11% to USD0.62.
Carnival had in September guided for annual adjusted earnings per share between USD4.23 and USD4.27. This had been revised downwards from USD4.25 to USD4.35, though both were beaten anyway.
Revenue was at record levels for both the fourth quarter and the entire financial year, Carnival noted, while earnings have beaten guidance for the quarter.
Languishing at the bottom of the large cap index, NMC Health closed down 15% having shed 40% over the past week - the UAE-focused private healthcare firm's largest weekly fall on record.
NMC shares dropped on Tuesday after Carson Block's firm Muddy Waters Capital said it had shorted the stock, commenting: "We have serious doubts about the company's financial statements, including its asset values, cash balance, reported profit, and reported debt levels."
NMC on Thursday hit back saying the Muddy Waters report was "false" and "misleading".
Compounding NMC's woes, the Financial Times on Friday reported NMC held talks to raise EUR200 million of off-balance sheet debt to fund new hospitals.
Citing draft document deals dated during the spring and summer, the FT reported NMC planned to raise the loan through a Dubai entity, to fund the construction of hospitals as it seeks to continue its aggressive expansion in the Middle East. NMC has come under increased scrutiny over its apparent use of off-balance sheet financing techniques, which do not count toward its official debt levels.
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' shares closed down 1.6% and 1.7% respectively after the oil major guided for a potential impairment based on "the macro outlook".
Shell is to book a post-tax impairment of USD1.7 billion to USD2.3 billion for the fourth-quarter of 2019, based on macroeconomic conditions, without giving any further details. The oil giant, London's largest listed company by market capitalisation, guided for a number of other charges which are set to hit fourth-quarter earnings.
In addition shares in banks, which closely tied to the UK economy, ended firmly in the red amid no-deal Brexit fears. Lloyds Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays ended down 2.3%, 1.7% and 2.7% respectively.
"UK stocks showed more of a reaction to the increased probability of a no trade deal Brexit with domestic focused stocks such as house builders, UK banks and retailers all dominated the FTSE loser board. Its telling that the more domestically focused FTSE 250 was in negative territory," said GAIN Capital's Fiona Cincotta.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3051 at the London equities close, up from USD1.3015 late Thursday, after a large majority of Members of Parliament backed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.
However, sterling is down 2.1% since the euphoric highs reached last Friday in the wake of the Conservative Party's general election win.
The second reading of the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill was passed by 358 votes to 234 - majority 124.
The move came after Johnson insisted Leave and Remain labels were now defunct and the country should "move on" ahead of the scheduled EU exit on January 31.
The PM urged Parliament to come together and allow the "warmth and natural affection that we all share" for the UK's European neighbours to "find renewed expression in one great new national project".
The Conservative's substantial majority over Labour meant the deal was passed with relative ease, which was a stark contrast to Johnson's predecessor Theresa May, whose attempt to get her own Brexit deal through Parliament was stifled at every turn.
Analysts at Capital Economics commented: "What's different now is that the EU can't rely on the UK Parliament to kick the can down the road. But it may be the case that some kind of arrangement can be reached in which there is a nominal goods trade deal by 31 December 2020, but that other aspects can be decided later and in the meantime the status quo is maintained.
"Either way, the mere fear of something like a no deal on 31 December 2020 will probably mean that the rebound in business investment in 2020 will be fairly small. So in that sense, Brexit uncertainty will continue to restrain GDP growth. That said, the economy will still probably improve in 2020 due to the effects of a fiscal stimulus. But that probably won't be enough to warrant higher interest rates in 2020 or a pound higher than USD1.35."
Meanwhile, Andrew Bailey became the 121st man to take over at the Bank of England since it was founded in 1694, succeeding the outgoing Governor Mark Carney whose term is due to expire in March.
Bailey was appointed by the UK government, but the central bank was granted operational independence from Parliament in 1997. Chancellor Sajid Javid insisted this would remain under Bailey.
"The confirmation that Andrew Bailey will take over from Mark Carney as Governor of the Bank of England on 16 March 2020 doesn't change the outlook for monetary policy. But Bailey will face many challenges during his eight-year term, such as navigating the choppy waters of Brexit and dealing with the next downturn with not much ammunition in the policy arsenal," said analysts at Capital Economics.
The euro stood at USD1.1087 at the European equities close, down from USD1.1111 late Thursday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.37, firm from JPY109.28 late Thursday.
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, once again setting fresh record highs, on US-China trade optimism.
The DJIA was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.
US President Donald Trump said he has had a "very good talk" with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a partial resolution of the countries' trade war.
Trump tweeted that China "already started large scale" increases in purchases of US farm goods, in line with the deal. However, he did not give a date for when the so-called "phase one" deal will actually be signed. "Formal signing being arranged," he said.
Elsewhere, US economic growth was left unchanged at 2.1% in the final reading of third-quarter gross domestic product, as higher consumer spending was offset by rising inventories, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
US GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.1% in the third quarter of 2019 unchanged from the previous estimate. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.0%.
In addition, the US Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, held steady at a 0.2% increase compared to October, a notch slower than forecasts.
Excluding volatile food and fuel prices, the "core" index, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, rose only 0.1% for the fourth month in a row. Annually, the core index slowed to 1.6% as prices for durable goods like autos fell.
Compared to November of last year, the index was a tenth of a point higher at 1.5%, the highest level in seven months but still below the Fed's 2% target.
Brent oil was quoted at USD65.80 a barrel at the London equities close, down from USD66.50 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,478.61 an ounce at the London equities close, firm from USD1,476.20 late Thursday.
The economic events calendar on Monday has US durable goods orders at 1330 GMT.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has interim results from natural resource company Zoetic International.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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