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LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks opened on a downbeat note on Wednesday amid broadly lower trade in Asia and the US overnight, while the pound was edging higher ahead of yet another Brexit vote in UK parliament this evening.The FTSE 100 index was 7.29 points lower, or 0.1%, at 7,143.86 early Wednesday. The FTSE 250 was down 29.16 points, or 0.2%, at 19,114.80, though the AIM All-Share index was up 0.5% at 911.94.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.3% at 12,117.12. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 17,090.14, and the Cboe UK Small Companies flat at 11,101.00.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were flat and down 0.2% respectively early Wednesday.The negative open comes following a mixed lead in the US and Asia overnight, said Michael van Dulken at Accendo Markets. In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.4%, weighed down by Boeing. However, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.4% higher.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended 1.1% lower, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 0.4%.Meanwhile, sterling was quoted at USD1.3136 versus USD1.3083 at the London equities close on Tuesday.UK members of Parliament are set to vote on whether to block a no-deal Brexit after May suffered another humiliating defeat over her EU Withdrawal Agreement.MPs from May's Conservative Party will be given a free vote on Wednesday evening on whether they are willing for the UK to leave the EU without a deal at the end of the month.They will vote on a motion stating "this House declines to approve leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement and a framework on the future relationship on March 29"."Expectations that parliament will vote against a 'no deal' today has provided some support for sterling, but more volatility seems likely in the coming days," commented Lloyds Banking.If MPs reject no-deal - as most Westminster observers expect - a third vote will follow on Thursday on whether to authorise May to request an extension of the two-year Article 50 negotiation process.On Tuesday evening, MPs voted by 391 to 242 against the deal despite the prime minister's assurance new agreements reached with Jean-Claude Juncker in Strasbourg would ensure the UK cannot be trapped in the controversial backstop arrangement indefinitely.Although the 149 margin was reduced from the record 230-vote defeat of the first "meaningful vote" in January, May was left far adrift from a majority with just 17 days to go to the scheduled date of Brexit on March 29.In London, Standard Life Aberdeen was up 3.2% after delivering a "resilient performance" in 2018 despite a challenging backdrop as it set out plans to end its co-chief executive structure.Assets under management and administration totalled GBP551.5 billion at the end of 2018, down from GBP608.1 million at the end of 2017, with net outflows of GBP40.9 billion versus GBP32.9 billion the year before.Consensus had forecast assets under management and administration to be GBP555.8 billion with net outflows of GBP40.3 billion.Adjusted pretax profit from continuing operations slipped to GBP650 million in 2018 from GBP660 million. This was, however, slightly better than the consensus forecast of GBP617 million.Standard Life proposed a final dividend of 14.3p per share, bringing its total for the year to 21.6p, up 1.4% on 2017.In addition to its annual results, the investment firm announced a board shake-up, ending its co-chief executive structure, following the 2017 merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.Keith Skeoch, former head of Standard Life, will become the sole chief executive officer with his co-CEO Martin Gilbert, founder and former head of Aberdeen, to take up the role of vice chair.Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Bill Rattray is to step down from Standard Life at the end of May, to be replaced by Stephanie Bruce. Bruce has been a partner in accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2002, Standard Life said. Wm Morrison Supermarkets gained 1.5% as like-for-like sales grew ahead of analyst expectations.Like-for-like sales were up 4.8% in the year to February 3, accelerating from the 2.8% achieved in the previous financial year and above consensus of 4.5%, as total revenue grew 2.7% to GBP27.7 billion.However, pretax profit slipped 16% to GBP320 million. Stripping out exceptional items, profit rose 8.6% to GBP406 million.The supermarket chain proposed a final dividend of 4.75p, bringing the year's ordinary dividend to 6.60p. On top of this, Morrisons declared a further special dividend of 4.0p, taking its full-year special payout to 6.0p.In total, Morrisons will pay out 12.60p to shareholders for the recently-ended financial year, up 25% on 10.09p the year before.In the FTSE 250, Avast was down 1.6% as it had a "successful" year as it swung to a profit, though said its chief executive is to step down. It was the cybersecurity firm's first annual results since its May 2018 stock market float and subsequent promotion to the FTSE 250 index.Revenue for 2018 rose to USD808.3 million from USD652.9 million, as the firm swung to a USD192.5 million profit from a USD28.9 million loss in 2017."Looking ahead, we are confident of another good year. Underlying market dynamics remain supportive of Avast's strategy and growth outlook. For the full year 2019 our expectation is high single-digit growth for group adjusted revenue, excluding discontinued business and FX, and a stable Ebitda margin percentage," said Chief Executive Vincent Steckler.Meanwhile, the company also said Steckler is to step down on June 30 as CEO and be replaced by president of the Consumer business, Ondrej Vlcek. The Consumer segment is Avast's largest unit.Dixons Carphone was down 1.1% after the electronics retailer said the UK Financial Conduct Authority has fined the company GBP29.1 million following an investigation into Geek Squad mobile phone insurance selling processesThe processes, which took place at The Carphone Warehouse between December 2008 to June 2015, were determined by the FCA to have not met expected standards."We're obviously disappointed that Carphone Warehouse fell short in the past. But we're a very different business today; as the FCA acknowledges, we've made significant improvements since 2015," said Dixons Carphone Chief Executive Alex Baldock.In Wednesday's economic calendar, eurozone industrial production is at 1000 GMT followed by US producer prices at 1230 GMT, with durable goods orders due at the same time. US construction spending is at 1400 GMT.In the UK, Chancellor Phillip Hammond presents his Spring Statement to the House of Commons at 1230 GMT. The event will not hold any new spending or tax measures, but he will communicate the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest borrowing and growth forecasts.