(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were sharply higher at midday on Tuesday shrugging off renewed concerns about the US-China trade war and violent clashes between police and protesters in Hong Kong.
The FTSE 100 was up 93.87 points, or 1.3%, at 7,401.57. The FTSE 250 was up 203.84 points, or 1.0%, at 20,644.34, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.92 point, or 0.1%, at 895.02.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 1.3% at 12,544.62. The Cboe UK 250 was up 1.1% at 18,577.07, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 11,294.71.
In Paris the CAC 40 was up 0.5%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 1.2%.
"European markets are rallying and US futures are already pointing to solid gains, as risk appetite comes storming back following a mixed session yesterday. It is almost as if this is still a bull market. Disturbances in Hong Kong have failed to dent the bullish view, and with trade wars still mercifully quiet the indices appear to have taken the bit between their teeth - European indices are surging in impressive fashion, and even the FTSE 100 is powering higher," said IG Group's Chris Beauchamp.
On the London Stock Exchange, Halma was the best large-cap performer, up 12%.
The hazard detection and life protection products supplier said "good organic and acquired growth" resulted in a strong year-on-year rise in first half earnings.
For the six months to September 30, Halma recorded pretax profit of GBP105.8 million, up 12% from GBP94.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenue increased by 12% year-on-year to GBP653.7 million from GBP585.5 million. The revenue growth was attributed to good organic constant currency revenue growth of 5%, a 4% contribution from acquisitions, and a positive currency translation effect of 3%.
Halma raised its interim dividend 7.0% to 6.54p per share from 6.11p a year ago.
Intertek was up 4.9% after Jefferies raised the testing and inspection company to Buy from Hold. Analysts at the investment bank said Intertek's high surplus capital can be deployed into further shareholder returns.
At the other end of the FTSE 100, gold miners Fresnillo and Polymetal International were down 1.7% and 0.5% respectively, tracking spot gold prices lower.
Gold was quoted at USD1,465.80 an ounce, down from USD1,469.08 at the London equities close Monday.
In the FTSE 250, HomeServe was up 7.5%.
The home emergency cover provider reported a solid interim performance, with revenue rising on organic growth and contributions from acquisitions.
For the six months to the end of September, Homeserve reported pretax profit of GBP19.7 million, up 2% from GBP19.3 million the year before, mainly on one-off gains from the sale of its 49% stake in Homeserve's Italian associate. Revenue grew by 13% to GBP457.7 million from GBP404.3 million, driven by organic growth from all regions, and contributions from acquisitions in the Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning business, including Gregg Mechanical and Fred's Home Services.
Homeserve declared an interim dividend of 5.8 pence per share, up 12% from 5.2p the year before.
Cobham was up 3.5% after the UK government said it was prepared to approve the GBP4 billion takeover of the aerospace and defence firm by a US private equity firm.
UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Andrea Leadsom said she was "minded to accept undertakings offered" by US private equity firm Advent International Corp that would "address the concerns identified" about the potential acquisition.
At the other end of the midcap index, Equiniti Group was by far the worst performer, down 12%. The financial services administration outsourcer said annual earnings will be at the lower end of expectations.
The company, which provides share registry, payroll and company secretarial services, said underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for 2019 will be at the lower end of market estimates of between GBP136 million and GBP142 million due to lower activity in higher margin UK corporate business.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2932 at midday, lower than USD1.2969 at the London equities close Monday.
On the political front, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will lock horns in the first television debate of the 2019 UK general election campaign, to be broadcast live on Tuesday evening.
With Labour trailing in the opinion polls, Corbyn goes into the event - in Salford, Greater Manchester - hoping for an opportunity to make up ground on the Conservatives.
By contrast, Johnson, who was criticised for his reluctance to debate directly with his rivals in the Tory leadership election, will be seeking to avoid any misstep which hands ammunition to his opponents.
"Today sees the first clash on TV between Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson, a discussion likely to generate more heat than light. Both leaders know their polling has picked up of late, and will want to continue that move, while the poor Liberal Democrats will have to wait for another way of boosting their flagging position. There is still plenty of time to go, but one imagines Conservative Central Office will be very pleased with the overall position so far," said IG's Beauchamp.
Stocks in New York were set to open higher having reached fresh record highs on Monday, as investors look past US-China trade pessimism.
The DJIA was called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.
OANDA analyst Craig Erlam commented: "China is insisting on tariffs being rolled back as part of any phase one trade agreement, something that US President Donald Trump has until now not been receptive to. There have been reports that the US trade team has been exploring rolling back some tariffs to get this over the line and the refusal to engage by Trump could simply be posturing, but time is running out if they want it signed this year.
"That's looking increasingly unlikely but as yet, investors are not losing faith with US equity markets holding at record highs and setting new records on an almost daily basis. Talks have collapsed before though and could again, the key difference this time though being that Trump will not want to go into an election without a deal."
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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