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LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended the day in the red on Wednesday with energy firms falling, while a steep decline from Metro Bank held back the midcap FTSE 250 index. The FTSE 100 ended 60.04 points, or 0.9%, lower at 6,841.35. The FTSE 250 closed 97.72 points, or 0.5%, down at 18,583.87, while the AIM All-Share index finished down 3.80 points, or 0.4%, at 906.86.The Cboe UK 100 index closed down 0.8% at 11,622.99, while the Cboe UK 250 ended 0.4% lower at 16,634.12. The Cboe UK Small Companies finished 0.1% lower at 11,127.94.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt closed down marginally and down 0.3% respectively."Left out of the bounce today has been the FTSE 100, which has hit a new low for the week so far, as a resurgent pound works its magic," said IG's Chris Beauchamp."While a no-deal can never be ruled out, it looks like a cross-party approach to avoid this outcome and then perhaps take over the Brexit process entirely is finally emerging. But with the pound at a two-month high against the euro, a lot hinges on this rosy scenario coming to pass." The pound was quoted at USD1.3073, up from USD1.2955 at the close on Tuesday.The euro was at USD1.3888 at the European equities close Wednesday, against USD1.1358 at the same time on Tuesday.A no-deal Brexit can only be stopped if MPs come together around "a positive majority for another solution", the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said.Barnier's comments appeared to suggest that Brussels would resist extending the two-year negotiation process under Article 50 simply to allow the UK to continue debating its preferred outcome.The prospect of Britain seeking to remain in the EU beyond the planned date of March 29 was increased after shadow chancellor John McDonnell signalled Labour could back plans for an Article 50 extension to stop no-deal.But leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested that the government could prevent an extension by shutting down Parliament before MPs have a chance to vote on the plan, under a procedure known as prorogation.Rees-Mogg also played down suggestions that members of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, which he chairs, might be giving up their rebellion against May's Withdrawal Agreement a week after consigning it to a 230-vote defeat in the House of Commons.Focus on Thursday will be the European Central Bank's interest rate decision at 1245 GMT, as well as a press conference with ECB President Mario Draghi at 1330 GMT. "The ECB's next policy 'decision' will be made on Thursday, but the focus will undoubtedly be on Draghi's press conference," said Forex.com's Fawad Razaqzada."The ECB is widely expected to announce no new changes to its policy. But Draghi may deliver a cautionary outlook on the economy and therefore interest rates amid the recent weakness in German and Chinese data, and ongoing Brexit uncertainty. The euro's recent weakness certainly suggests market participants are indeed expecting to see a more dovish than hawkish Mario Draghi," Razaqzada continued."Therefore, with the expected dovishness at least partially priced in, the euro may not react too negatively if he does say what the market already expects." "In fact, one has to wonder whether the risks are actually skewed to the upside for the single currency, as almost everyone appears to be bearish on the Eurozone economy and inflation outlook. Thus, any surprisingly hawkish comments from Draghi could see the euro stage a quick rebound," he concludedThere will also be eurozone and German flash purchasing managers' indices at 1100 SAT and 1030 SAT respectively in the calendar for Thursday. In the US, there are weekly initial unemployment insurance claims at 1530 SAT, as well as flash manufacturing and services PMIs at 1645 SAT. On Wall Street, at the London close, the Dow Jones was up 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.2% lower. Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble reported a 28% increase in profit for the second quarter from last year, when results were impacted by a charge related to the US tax reform.Both revenue and core earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. Looking ahead, the company affirmed its outlook for fiscal 2019 earnings and raised its forecast for full-year sales growth.For the second quarter, net earnings attributable to P&G rose to USD3.19 billion, or USD1.22 per share, from USD2.50 billion, or USD0.93 per share, in the prior-year period.Core earnings per share for the quarter were USD1.25, compared to USD1.19 per share last year. On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn USD1.21 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.Net sales rose slightly to USD17.44 billion from USD17.40 billion in the prior year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of USD17.15 billion.Comcast, which bought UK broadcaster Sky, announced a profit for fourth quarter that dropped from the same period last year.The company's profit came in at USD2.51 billion, or USD0.55 per share. This compares with USD14.99 billion, or USD3.17 per share, in last year's fourth quarter.Excluding items, Comcast reported adjusted earnings of USD2.93 billion, or USD0.64 per share, for the period.Analysts had expected the company to earn USD0.62 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.The company's revenue for the quarter rose 26.1% to USD27.85 billion from USD22.08 billion last year.Turning to the London Stock Exchange, shares in Burberry closed 2.9% higher as the fashion house reported marginal third-quarter like-for-like revenue growth.For the three months to the end of December, including the key Black Friday and Christmas periods, the upmarket fashion retailer suffered a 1.0% decline in total retail revenue to GBP711 million from GBP719 million a year ago.However, comparable sales stores were up 1% in the period with "consistent performance across regions", the retailer added.easyJet ended 3.7% higher, extending Tuesday's gains, after the low-cost airline reaffirmed its annual guidance despite booking GBP10 million in costs related to the drone disruption which racked London's Gatwick airport in December.Building materials firm CRH ended 1.9% lower, reversing earlier gains, despite Exane BNP raising its rating on the FTSE 100-listed stock to Outperform from Neutral.Meanwhile, Exane BNP cut its rating on Ferguson to Underperform from Neutral, with shares in the plumbing firm ending 3.0% lower. Energy firms were losing out. Shell 'A' shares closed down 2.4% and 'B' shares 2.3%, while BP ended 0.8% down. In the FTSE 250, Premier Oil ended 5.4% and Cairn Energy 2.4% lower. Brent oil was quoted at USD60.83 a barrel at the close Wednesday, broadly flat on USD60.87 late Tuesday.The biggest loser on the midcap index was Metro Bank, slumping 39% after missing annual profit expectations.The challenger bank said trading in the fourth quarter followed the trends it experienced in the first three quarters, with loans and deposits seeing a sharp rise.However, its underlying pretax profit for 2018 of GBP50 million, though more than double the GBP21 million achieved last year, came in below consensus forecasts of GBP59 million.Metro ended 2018 with loans of GBP14.2 billion compared to GBP9.6 billion at the end of 2017, a 48% increase. The bank's customer loans increased GBP1.1 billion in the fourth quarter.Sanne ended down 18% after the alternative asset and corporate services provider said Chief Executive Dean Godwin has decided to retire. Martin Schnaier, previously chief commercial officer, will succeed Godwin as CEO in May.Updating on trading, Sanne said it achieved "record new business with sales wins representing GBP13.0 million of additional annualised revenue".G4S closed 4.4% lower after the security services provider agreed to settle a class action against the firm in California.The action, covering around 13,500 employees' meal and rest breaks between 2001 and 2010, is the third such G4S has faced in recent years in California. It will pay between USD100 million and USD130 million, with a precise amount to be finalised during the settlement administration process.In the green in the midcaps was Computacenter, ending up 9.8%, as the IT firm "materially performed" its annual expectations, achieving "record revenue and profitability".For 2018, Computacenter expects revenue to rise 8% on the prior year, excluding acquisitions made during the year. At constant currency revenue is expected to rise 7%. Pretax profit for the recently ended financial year is seen "marginally ahead" of the company's expectations.RPC finished 4.4% higher at 768.00p after finally reaching a deal to be taken over by Apollo Management for GBP3.3 billion.Under the terms of the agreement, RPC shareholders will receive 782.00 pence per share in cash. They also will be entitled to the previously declared 8.1p dividend to be paid on Friday. The offer price, together with the dividend, represents a 16% premium to RPC's closing price on September 7, the date before the first approach was made.IG Group ended 6.0% higher, rebounding from losses Tuesday when the online trading platform finished down 9.5% after posting a fall in interim profit. Retailer WH Smith ended 3.5% higher as it reported sales growth during the Christmas season, helped by a strong performance by the firm's Travel arm.For the 20 weeks to January 19, the newspaper and stationery retailer reported total sales up 6% on the prior year, with like-for-like sales flat during the period.Excluding InMotion, a US digital accessories travel retailer bought by the company in December, total sales were up 3%."We saw good sales growth across all of our key channels and gross margin was in line with plan," WH Smith said. There is a busy day for corporate news on Thursday. Anglo American will release 2018 production figures, as will KAZ Minerals. Wealth manager St James's Place, constructor Kier Group, cyber security firm NCC Group, publisher Daily Mail & General Trust, Fevertree Drinks, events firm ITE Group, Restaurant Group, and financial derivatives dealer CMC Markets will all release trading statements. Gold was higher, quoted at USD1,285.30 an ounce at the close Wednesday against USD1,280.92 at Tuesday.