Cobham Share News (COB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London closed higher on Friday with miners and defence stocks driving gains, but ended a volatile week of trading lower amid lingering trade concerns. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3%, or 21.30 points at 7,636.93, but ended the week down 0.6%. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.7%, or 146.81 points, at 20,830.93, but ended the week down 0.9% and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.9%, or 9.46 points, at 1,082.50 but ended the week down 0.9%. The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.6% at 12,984.85, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 1.0% at 19,081.54, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.2% at 12,668.07.Investors found a modicum of relief as the rhetoric from Washington has been less aggressive than in recent weeks, although the US and China are no closer to resolving the trade spat.In the latest developments, China eased restrictions on foreign investment in sectors including banking, automotive, heavy industry and agriculture amid scrutiny from its top trading partners.The US and the EU have been complaining that Beijing limits foreign firms' ability to enter the world's second-largest economy."There is still certainly the possibility of more tough talk to come. But bearish sentiment and price action seems to have exhausted itself for the time being, and the buying this afternoon looks solid across the sectors and geographies. Many stocks have been knocked back to attractive near-term levels, giving investors the chance to step in once more rather than chasing returns at," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.On the London Stock Exchange, heavyweight mining stocks were among the blue chip risers amid weakness in the dollar and a rebound in copper prices.Anglo American closed up 4.0%, Antofagasta up 1.4%, Glencore up 1.3%, BHP Billiton up 1.4% and Rio Tinto up 0.8%. BAE Systems closed up 2.6% after the defence giant was selected the Australian government as the preferred tenderer to deliver the SEA 5000 programme for the Royal Australian Navy. The company said it will design, build and support nine Type 26 anti-submarine warships. In addition, JPMorgan upgraded BAE to Neutral from Underweight estimating that the contract adds GBP400 to GBP500 million of revenue in 2020 and then GBP600 million per year for the next 19 years.Blue chip peer Rolls-Royce closed up 3.0% and was also upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Redburn. Midcap rivals Cobham, Meggitt, QinetiQ and Ultra Electronics closed up 0.9%, 1.0%, 2.8% and 2.4% respectively. The FTSE 350 Aerospace & Defense sector ended as the best performing sector up 2.6%.At the other end of the large cap index, Carnival ended as the worst blue chip performer down 1.2% having suffered a torrid week of trading. Shares in cruise liner fell sharply on Monday after it reported record revenue in the second quarter, but lowered its full-year guidance due to unfavourable fuel prices. Since Monday the stock has fallen by 8.1%.The pound was higher at USD1.3200 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3095 at the close Thursday, after data showed the UK economy expanded more than the previous estimate in the first quarter.Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that gross domestic product grew 0.2% sequentially in the first quarter, which was revised upward by 0.1 percentage points, reflecting improvement in construction output. On a yearly basis, GDP growth slowed to 1.2%, as initially estimated, from revised 1.3% in the previous quarter, data showed. On the production side, the dominant services sector, logged an unrevised growth of 0.3% on the month in April and was 1.6% higher annually. In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.9%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 1.1%. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is returning from Brussels hoping that a deal on tackling unchecked migration to the EU will be enough to satisfy Germany's hardline interior minister.Merkel's multilateral solution comes in the form of the EU deal, which includes a controversial proposal to establish "controlled centres" on EU soil to process migrants rescued at sea.In addition, Merkel struck a deal with Greece and Spain to speed up the return of asylum seekers that reached Germany from those countries.The euro was higher against the greenback at USD1.1670 at the European equities close, against USD1.1576 at the close Thursday, following positive economic data from the continent. Eurozone inflation reached 2% in June, narrowly exceeding the European Central Bank's target rate, according to an estimate released by the EU's statistics agency, Eurostat.The ECB's aims to keep annual inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.In May, the cost of living had increased by 1.9% year-on-year in the 19-member currency bloc. The rise is largely down to a jump in energy prices compared to June 2017, followed by a more modest increase in food, alcohol and tobacco prices. The cost of services and non-energy industrial goods also rose slightly.In addition, Germany's unemployment rate remained at record low in June, reports said citing the Federal Labor Agency.The jobless rate held steady at 5.2% in June, the lowest since German reunification in 1990. The rate also matched economists' expectations. The number of people out of work decreased 15,000 in June compared to the expected decline of 8,000.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with continued strength in the financial sector helping to drive markets, after most of the country's largest banks passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress test.Financial powerhouses such as Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase have subsequently announced billions of dollars in stock buybacks and raised their quarterly dividends.The DJIA was up 1.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.7%.In economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed personal income in the US increased in line with economist estimates in the month of May, although the report also showed weaker than expected growth in personal spending.The report said personal income climbed by 0.4% in May after edging up by a downwardly revised 0.2% in April. Economists had expected income to rise by 0.4% compared to the 0.3% increase originally reported for the previous month.Meanwhile, the Commerce Department also said personal spending rose by 0.2% in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5% in April. Personal spending had been expected to increase by 0.4% compared to the 0.6% growth originally reported for the previous month.The report said real spending, which is adjusted to remove price changes, came in unchanged in May after rising by 0.3% in April."Even though real consumption was unchanged in May, big gains in previous months mean that consumption growth is still on track to rebound in the second quarter overall, to around 3% annualized," said Michael Pearce, Senior US Economist at Capital Economics.Notably, a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve showed that the annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 2.0% in May from 1.8% in April.Brent oil was within touching distance of the USD80 a barrel mark, quoted at USD79.33 a barrel at the London equities close from USD78.17 at the close Thursday."Brent crude oil continue to push higher as traders prepare for Iranian oil exports to be hit. As a way of putting pressure on Iran, the US is planning on slapping sanctions against the country, and it will deter other countries from buying their oil. This is driving up demand for oil, and Brent crude hit a multi-week high," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.Gold was flat quoted at USD1,251.75 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,251.24 late Thursday.The economic events calendar on Monday has manufacturing PMI data from Japan, Italy, France, Germany, eurozone, UK and US at 0130 BST, 0845 BST, 0850 BST, 0855 BST, 0900 BST, 0930 BST and 1445 BST. There is also unemployment and producer price readings from the eurozone at 1000 BST. Stock markets in Hong Kong will be closed on Monday for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day holiday. There are no events scheduled in the UK corporate calendar on Monday.