BHP Billiton PLC Share News (BLT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Antofagasta, up 3.6%, Anglo American, up 3.3%, Glencore, up 2.6%, BHP Billiton, up 3.0%. The mining stocks were higher amid a rise in global equities after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed optimism about resolving their trade spat. "Optimism over a potential deal with China has unsurprisingly provided a huge boost to sentiment amid markets that are reliant upon global trade and development, with a sharp rise in commodity prices helping boost mining firms," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.----------Sage Group, up 3.5%. The accounting software provider said it promoted Chief Financial Officer Steve Hare to be its new chief executive officer. Hare - CFO since 2014 - will replace former CEO Stephen Kelly who stood down at the end of August. On the resignation of Kelly, Hare was also handed the additional role of interim chief operating officer. Sage added it had begun the process to search for a new finance boss. In the meantime, Hare will combine his CFO role with that of CEO " supported by senior finance colleagues below board level", Sage added.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Severn Trent, down 2.0%, United Utilities, down 1.7%, National Grid, down 1.3%, SSE, down 1.2%. The utility stocks were lower as risk appetite among investors returned as global trade tensions eased. "It is perhaps telling of the market mood that utilities, which are typically a safe haven purchase, are uniformly in decline," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Senior, down 3.2% at 269.80 pence. Barclays cut its price target on the engineer to 310 pence from 350 pence. The stock is down 16% over the past month which Barclays attributed to the wider industrial sell-off over concerns on the growth slowdown in China, negative sentiment in the automotive industry and Brexit uncertainty. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------System1 Group, up 11%. The marketing firm said its interim profit rose despite lower revenue as it cut costs. For the six months ended September, pretax profit widened 28% to GBP1.1 million from GBP846,000 the year prior. This was despite revenue slipping 4.3% to GBP13.2 million from GBP13.8 million the year before. Profit performance was helped by a sharp fall in administrative costs to GBP9.7 million from GBP10.6 million the year prior. This was partly as it cut its headcount by 19% to 140 employees from 172 the year before. During the period, System1 invested GBP1.6 million in its new Ad Ratings unit which will provide a subscription service to assess the effectiveness of adverts and those of competitors. This is due to launch later in the year.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Parity Group, down 32%. Shares in the consultancy and recruitment firm slumped after it warned profit for 2018 will miss expectations. In September, Parity had warned of a delay on a "large" contract. This is still delayed, it said Friday, and if it does go ahead "scope will be reduced". As a result, profit for 2018 will miss expectations, and despite revenue growth adjusted pretax profit in the six months to December will be "around break-even". Its pretax profit in 2017 was GBP1.7 million from GBP959,000 the year prior, and on an adjusted basis the figure rose to GBP1.7 million from GBP1.3 million. Parity has decided to restructure its Consultancy Services business, and is to look at cost reductions to help improve profitability in 2019. The company is to incur one-off costs of about GBP300,000 to GBP400,000 for this.----------Goldplat, down 17%. The Africa-focused gold miner reported a "very difficult" first quarter, with production slumping. Gold equivalent production for the three months to September was 6,138 ounces, compared to 10,227 ounces the same period a year prior - a 40% fall. Goldplat's gold equivalent ounces sold in the period declined 62%, to 5,407 ounces from 13,374 ounces. The fall was due to a planned slowing down of production at its Kilimapesa mine in south-western Kenya, as well as a fall in volumes and grades in the gold recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana. ----------