BT Share News (BT.A)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Equity markets across the globe were engulfed in a sea of red on Thursday due to renewed US-China trade concerns following tough talk from President Donald Trump ahead of two days of high stakes trade talks in Washington.Trump claimed during a rally in Florida on Wednesday that the US is planning to raise tariffs on Chinese goods because China "broke the deal.""So they're flying in, the vice premier tomorrow is flying in - good man - but they broke the deal," Trump told his supporters. "They can't do that, so they'll be paying."The comments from Trump come as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is set to take part in the latest round of trade talks as officials from the world's two largest economies attempt to reach an historic trade agreement.The FTSE 100 index closed down 63.59 points, or 0.9%, at 7,207.41. The FTSE 250 ended down 246.33 points, or 1.3%, at 19,285.58, and the AIM All-Share closed down 8.31 points, or 0.9%, at 954.02.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 1.1% at 12,197.06, the Cboe UK 250 down 1.3% at 17,322.17, the Cboe UK Small Companies ended down 0.2% at 11,712.18.City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta said: "The selloff in global stocks continued on Thursday amid growing fears of an escalation in the US-Sino trade dispute. As the clock ticked down to the deadline for US and China to raise reciprocal tariffs, indices across Europe plummeted. Fear and risk aversion are driving a sharp selloff in equities. "The big concern for investors is what impact will the increased tariffs and prolonged trade dispute have on the global economy. Just as we are starting to see tentative signs of global growth stabilising, Trump's actions could put that into reverse. Should the tariff increase take place, I think it's safe to say that the current selloff in equities will continue."In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 2.0%, Spain's IBEX35 closed down 1.4% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 1.8%. On the London Stock Exchange, RSA Insurance ended the best blue chip performer up 2.3% after the insurer said its first quarter was in line with its own expectations, but it is still seeing "competitive" market pricing. In the three months to March 31, RSA recorded net written premiums of GBP1.57 billion, 3% higher that the year before. Taking into account planned exits, foreign exchange movements and reinsurance charges, written premiums were flat. RSA's group operating profit in the first quarter was "in line on a reported basis", on an improved combined ratio offset by "slightly" lower investment income. RSA's large loss ratio improved to 8.5%, from 9.7% last year, which was driven by better results in the UK. "The relative benign start to the year, compared to the Beast from the East last year, was a welcome boost but also totally outside the group's control. General insurers are always hostages to fortune to some extent, but good cost control is a more replicable positive. After a challenging 2018, it looks like this year is getting off to a good start," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nick Hyett said. Barratt Developments closed up 1.9% after the housebuilder said its full-year outlook is currently "modestly above" the board's previous expectations as forward sales to date rose 2.4% on a year before. For the period between January 1 and May 5, the group's forward sales rose to GBP3.36 billion, equating to 14,181 units, compared to GBP3.28 billion a year ago. Barratt's net private reservation rate for the period since the start of the year was strong at 0.79 per active outlet per average week, marginally below 0.80 in the same period a year ago. The company launched 47 new developments since January. At the other end of the large cap index, Centrica, closed down 8.8%, Admiral Group, down 4.2%, Hiscox, down 1.1%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout. BT Group closed down 3.9% after the telecom giant held its dividend steady as its new boss hailed "solid" annual results, while announcing a new target for delivering ultra-fast broadband to UK homes. For the year ended March, reported pretax profit widened 1.9% to GBP2.67 billion from GBP2.62 billion the year prior. This was despite revenue slipping 1.2% to GBP23.43 billion from GBP23.72 billion the year prior. Profit performance was primarily helped by a fall in one-off charges during the year to GBP564 million from GBP828 million the year prior. For the full year, the dividend also remained unchanged at 15.40p. Chief Executive Officer Philip Jansen emphasised the firm also intends to hold the dividend at the same level for the new financial year. "Today we are announcing an increased target to pass four million premises with ultrafast fibre-to-the-premises technology by financial 2021, up from three million, and an ambition to pass 15 million premises by the mid-2020s, up from 10 million, if the conditions are right, especially the regulatory and policy enablers," Jansen said. Analysts at the Share Centre commented: "Structural changes have been in abundance in recent years and the new CEO Phillip Jansen's tone in the release suggests a lot of work is still needed. He repeated the need of continued investment into several aspects of the business to remain competitive in a challenging and regulated market. Furthermore they will have to contend with the high level of debt to try and plug the pension deficit."The pound was quoted at USD1.3017 at the London equities close, flat from USD1.3015 at close Wednesday. In political news, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has rebuffed demands to set out a timetable for her departure from No 10 amid growing pressure from Tory MPs to make way for a new leader. The chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee Graham Brady, who met the prime minister privately on Tuesday, made clear she had not offered any further clarity about her future. He said she would meet the committee's 18-strong executive next week amid grass roots fury over the party's worst local elections performance in 24 years. Brady suggested she could make a final effort to get her Brexit deal through Parliament before European elections on May 23, when the party is expected to suffer even heavier losses. He said he expected ministers to bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill - required to ratify her deal in law - in the "near future".The euro stood at USD1.1233 at the European equities close, marginally higher against USD1.1211 late Wednesday. "The EUR/USD has been consolidating in a tight range so far this week, despite sharper moves in other forex markets. The world's most heavily traded pair was clinging onto the positive territory this week after finishing higher the week before. The single currency has found some mild support from this week's mostly stronger-than-expected eurozone data (for a change), while the US dollar has traded mixed ahead of the much-anticipated trade talks in Washington later between US and Chinese officials," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada. Stocks in New York were sharply lower at the London equities close, falling to levels not seen in over a month following Trump's tough trade stance. The DJIA was down 1.5%, the S&P 500 index down 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.4%.In US company news, oil major Chevron Corp said that it will not increase its offer to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp and expects termination of the merger agreement."Winning in any environment doesn't mean winning at any cost. Cost and capital discipline always matter, and we will not dilute our returns or erode value for our shareholders for the sake of doing a deal," Michael Wirth Chevron's chairman and Chief Executive Officer said.According to the terms, if the deal is terminated, Anadarko has to pay Chevron a termination fee of USD1 billion.On Monday, Anadarko had said it received a revised acquisition proposal from Occidental, which was superior to Chevron proposal.Chevron was up 2.6% and Anadarko was down 3.0% in New York. On the US economic front, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the US trade deficit widened in the month of March.The report said the trade deficit widened to USD50.0 billion in March from a revised USD49.3 billion in February. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to USD50.2 billion.The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports surged up by 1.1% to USD262.0 billion compared to a 1.0% jump in the value of exports to USD212.0 billion.Still to come, ride-hailing company Uber Technologies will price its initial public offering after the market close on Thursday, ahead of its stock market debut on Friday. Uber is targeting a valuation of between USD80 billion and USD90 billion. But at the same time, it has never made a profit and has instead been burning through cash at a prodigious rate as it pursues an aggressive global expansion strategy. Brent oil was quoted at USD69.72 a barrel at the London equities close, down from USD70.52 at the same time the prior day. "The oil market has come under renewed pressure this morning, with the hope of a China/US trade agreement fading," said analysts at ING.Gold was quoted at USD1,284.20 an ounce at the London equities close, marginally higher than USD1,282.27 late Wednesday.The economic events calendar on Friday has UK industrial production and the first-quarter GDP reading at 0930 BST and US inflation data at 1330 BST. The UK corporate calendar on Friday has first-quarter results from British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group, hotel operator Millenium & Copthorne Hotels and aviation services company BBA Aviation.