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(Alliance News) -Â Stocks in Europe were mixed on Thursday at midday, with London's FTSE 100 underperforming versus peers amid a strong pound and a woeful session for Rolls-Royce Holdings.
The FTSE 100 index was down 40.52 points, or 0.7%, at 6,115.64 midday Thursday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up just 2.97 points at 17,188.21. The AIM All-Share index was up 1.4% at 886.30.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.7% at 609.22. The Cboe 250 was down 0.1% at 14,561.09, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.2% at 9,253.17.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was flat while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was 1.3% higher Thursday afternoon.
"It looks like it will be a day of drift and indecision for markets, thanks to a light economic and corporate calendar," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
The economic events calendar on Thursday has the latest US jobless claims figures at 1330 BST. Consensus has pencilled in 1.38 million claims for the week to July 4, down from 1.43 million the week before.
Stocks in the US are pointed to a largely higher start on Thursday, with the Dow Jones called up 0.8%, the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq up 1.4%.
"A rise in cases in Hong Kong has added to the growing list of places where the virus has seen a resurgence, although for the time being indices are content to hold their ground, avoiding much downside for the time being. But with breadth weakening across indices we may be poised for some near-term downside," Beauchamp said.
Hong Kong tightened social distancing measures on Thursday to combat a fresh coronavirus outbreak in a city that had largely managed to quash local transmissions in recent months.
Health officials have been rattled by a cluster of new infections that have suddenly spread through the tightly packed business hub of 7.5 million people. The city recorded 34 locally transmitted coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily tally in more than three months.
Meanwhile, Tokyo unveiled plans to offer nightclubs subsidies to close as new coronavirus infections in the capital hit a single-day record, with many linked to entertainment districts. Tokyo said the number of new coronavirus infections reached a single-day record of 224 on Thursday.
Tokyo's record one-day tally pales in comparison to the the US, which recorded 55,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours Wednesday. The country, the hardest-hit in the world, had earlier Wednesday passed the grim milestone of three million infections.
Coronavirus cases are surging in several southern hotspots including Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona, but the pandemic has almost entirely receded from its former epicenter in New York and the north-east.
The dollar was lower on Thursday ahead of the US jobless claims data.
The euro traded at USD1.1328 Thursday, firm from USD1.1322 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY107.35 versus JPY107.47.
Sterling was the outperformer, though, quoted at USD1.2645 midday from USD1.2575 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
UK Chancellor Sunak on Wednesday unveiled measures worth up to GBP30 billion in a bid to support the economy through Covid-19. Firms which have furloughed staff will be given a GBP1,000 bonus to keep workers in jobs, diners will get a discount to support pubs and restaurants, and stamp duty is to be cut under plans to protect the economy from the coronavirus recession.
Safe haven gold was quoted at USD1,813.20 an ounce on Thursday, firm on USD1,811.86 on Wednesday and still trading around its best levels since 2011. Brent oil was trading at USD43.30 a barrel, higher than USD42.86 late Wednesday.
In London, Persimmon was topping the FTSE 100, up 6.0% after the housebuilder said it saw "healthy levels" of customer enquiries through the UK's lockdown and good demand thereafter.
The housebuilder said it expects to report a 32% decrease in revenue in the first half after the UK's Covid-19 lockdown, but has entered the remainder of the year in a "strong position". Persimmon expects to report revenue for the six months to the end of June of GBP1.19 billion. Average selling price in the first half was GBP225,050, higher than GBP216,942 a year ago.
The FTSE 100-listed company also said it has seen good activity in the six week period since sales offices re-opened in mid-May, with average weekly net private sales reservations of 278 new homes, around 30% higher than the same period last year.
Slumped at the other end was Rolls-Royce, down 8.3% as it revealed a cash outflow of GBP3.0 billion for the first half.
Rolls Royce said the GBP3.0 billion cash outflow included GBP1.1 billion less in cash inflow due to lower receipts, with wide-body engine flying hours down 50% in the first half - and 75% lower in the second quarter - together with lower engine deliveries. A further GBP1.1 billion stemmed from a one-off adverse impact from the cessation of invoice factoring, and the firm also cited increased inventory and debtor balances.
"Our rate of cash outflow is expected to ease in the second half supported by increased benefits from cash mitigation actions, the timing of working capital movements and the anticipated ongoing recovery of commercial aviation from the trough reported in April," the company said.
National Grid fell 5.3% and SSE declined 2.8% in the wake of Ofegm's next price controls framework.
Ofgem's latest plans, known in the industry as RIIO-2, proposed GBP25 billion in funding, and the potential of an extra GBP10 billion, "to transform Great Britain's energy networks". It also said the measures will pocket each household an extra GBP20 in savings from network costs. National Grid said it was "extremely disappointed" by Ofgem's proposals.
The power transmission and distribution firm said: "This proposal leaves us concerned as to our ability to deliver resilient and reliable networks, and jeopardises the delivery of the energy transition and the green recovery." SSE unit Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks Transmission said it was "deeply concerned" by the RIIO-T2 measures.
On AIM, boohoo saw some respite from the week's fall, up 33% at midday but remaining 23% lower since the week began.
The online fashion retailer on Monday distanced itself from a purported supplier after an undercover reporter from the Sunday Times newspaper observed working practices at a Leicester factory which violated government-required social distancing measures and minimum wage requirements. On Wednesday, the firm launched an independent review of its UK supply chain.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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