DFX.L Share News (DFX)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London closed marginally higher Friday as investors offered a muted response to preliminary UK gross domestic product figures as they eye potential upwards revision despite reported slowdown.The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3%, or 20.18 points, at 7,736.92 Friday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index closed up 0.6%, or 119.09 points, at 21,108.58. The AIM All-Share index closed 0.1% higher at 1,087.87.The Cboe UK 100 closed down marginally at 13,120.38, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.4% at 19,325.52, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed down 0.3% at 12,714.17.Preliminary data from the Office of National Statistics showed growth in the UK economy expanded at a weaker pace in the first quarter, as expected by economists.Gross domestic product grew 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2018, slower than the 0.4% expansion registered in the fourth quarter of 2017. The rate came in line with the initial estimate published on April 27.On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 1.2% in the first quarter - in line with its preliminary estimate - compared to 1.4% growth seen a quarter ago."Amid solid gains in employment and mostly stable soft data, the very weak first quarter reading probably overstates the underlying weakness in growth momentum at the start of the year," Berenberg Senior Economist Kallum Pickering said. "The Bank of England expects future data revisions to show that the economy expanded by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter.""There was some better news in the expenditure breakdown," Capital Economics UK Economist Ruth Gregory said. "Indeed, GDP growth would have been much stronger had it not been for a big negative contribution from inventories. Excluding this volatile component, GDP would have risen by 0.3%.""We still think that the figures are under-estimating the true strength of the economy and will be revised up in time", Gregory added."We doubt that it will take too much to convince those MPC members - who are waiting for confirmation that the slow patch will prove transitory - to switch from the no-change to the rate-hike camp," Gregory continued. "There have already been promising signs that the consumer spending growth has regained some pace in April. If the firmer tone of the activity data continues, then we still think that a rate hike in August is more likely than not."Sterling was quoted at USD1.3311 Friday, compared to USD1.3381 at the London equities close on Thursday.Amongst those in the green, private healthcare firm Mediclinic International closed 2.9% higher as the top gainer on the FTSE 100. This was as it reversed 4.3% losses on Thursday on reporting it had sunk to a pretax loss of GBP479 million from a GBP307 million profit the year prior following impairments on its Switzerland business and 29.9% Spire Healthcare Group stake.DIY retailer Kingfisher closed the second best of the large caps - up 3.4% - amid changes at rival Homebase which also boosted FTSE 250-listed peer Travis Perkins, up 1.9%.Australian retailer Wesfarmers has agreed to sell Homebase for a "nominal" amount to Hilco Capital after it was unable to turnaround the loss-making business it acquired in 2016 for GBP340.0 million.Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott described it as a "disappointing" investment with "problems arising from poor execution post-acquisition being compounded by a deterioration in the macro environment and retail sector in the UK"."Traders foresee store closures, even though none have been confirmed yet," CMC Markets UK Market Analyst David Madden said. "Shares in Kingfisher and Travis Perkins are in demand this morning as investors predict both companies will benefit from the potential disruption at Homebase."SSE closed 0.4% higher. This was after the electricity and gas utility said profit dropped in its recently ended financial year despite strong revenue, but it still hiked its dividend and proposed a further rise in the current year.Pretax profit for the year ended March, fell 39% to GBP1.09 billion from GBP1.78 billion the year before whilst revenue rose 7.6% to GBP31.23 billion from GBP29.03 billion. Profit performance was hurt by impairments and other exceptional costs."It is encouraging that the company's financial results are ahead of expectations at the start of the financial year", Chairman Richard Gillingwater added.At the bottom of the large caps was Royal Mail, down 2.8%. This was after Berenberg cut its rating on the postal firm to Sell from Hold, it retained its 460p price target. This was after its deemed risks to profit and revenue growth were increasing at the firm amid regulatory changes and cost pressures.Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP were amongst the major losers on the FTSE 100 Friday. This was after they tracked the price of brent oil lower on the day. Royal Dutch Shell saw its "A" and "B" shares 1.5% and 1.4% lower with BP down 2.0%.Brent oil was lower quoted at USD77.07 a barrel midday Friday, from USD79.07 at the London equities close Thursday."Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid Al-Falih today said that consumers should be concerned about potential oil shortages and so the OPEC needs to make sure oil supply is adequate," Forex.com Market Analyst Fawad Razaqzada said. "He more or less confirmed that there will be some adjustments to the current OPEC+ agreement after the June 22 meeting in Vienna, but insisted that the release of supply will be a gradual process."In the FTSE 250, waste and water services provider Pennon Group sat near the top with a 7.6% rise. This was as its annual profit jumped on a slight increase in revenue as it continued to up its dividend due to its "strong performance".For the year ended March, pretax profit increased 25% to GBP262.9 million from GBP210.5 million the year prior. This was after revenue increased 3.7% to GBP1.40 billion from GBP1.35 billion the year before.Pennon said the increase was driven by its South West Water business posting higher revenue on net tariff increases and customer demand. Its waste management business, Viridor, increased its energy recovery facility earnings growth."Water utility Pennon has seen its share price struggle as the company, and its peers, have been dogged by political and regulatory issues", AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said."This backdrop helps explain the very positive reaction to today's full year results which saw the company reaffirm its commitment to a sector-leading dividend policy out to 2020," Mould added. "Headline pre-tax profit was up by a quarter, although this number was flattered thanks to material write-offs in the previous financial year. On an underlying basis pre-tax profit was up 3.5%."The results from Pennon helped send its large cap water utility peers higher in a positive read-across. Severn Trent closed 2.7% higher whilst United Utilities closed up 2.7%.Gambling firm GVC closed 4.4% higher after its total net gaming revenue for the year to date increased 7% despite the impact of UK regulation changes and bad weather as it looks forward to new opportunities in the US.In the US, the Supreme Court judgement struck down a federal law banning the practice of legalised sports gambling, "presents the potential for a significant expansion in the regulated sports betting market". GVC said it is evaluating a number of potential opportunities to expand its presence in the US as a result.Languishing at the bottom of the mid-caps was Centamin, down 18%. This was after the gold miner reported that total underground production from the Sukari Gold Mine in Egypt was 10% below forecasts. In response, Centamin cut production guidance to between 505,000 and 515,000 ounces from the 580,000 ounces stated earlier in May.Dunelm Group closed down 11%. This was after it expects full-year profits to fall "moderately" on 2017 after experiencing challenging trading conditions in the fourth quarter of its financial year.For the fourth quarter to date, the homewares retailer said like-for-like online sales grew 44%. Like-for-like store sales, however, fell 4.7%, leading to a total sale increase of 0.1%.Dunelm said it is currently expecting total sales for the full year to be around GBP1.05 billion, a 10% increase on 2017. However, Dunelm expects underlying profit for the full year to be "moderately" below 2017."We have seen an unexpectedly challenging start to the fourth quarter, with continuing softness in the homewares market and reduced footfall to our stores," Chief Executive Officer Nick Wilkinson said.On AIM, Defenx closed 10% lower. This was after recently-appointed Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Poerio said he would leave the firm from next Thursday. Poerio - only taking the role in November - will be replaced by Chairman Tony Reeves, who will become Executive Chairman until a permanent replacement for Poerio is found.The euro was quoted at USD1.1658 at the London equities close Friday, lower from USD1.1728 at the European equities close Thursday.Gold was quoted broadly unchanged at USD1,303.52 an ounce Friday, against USD1,305.21 at the London market close on Thursday.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.In mainland Europe, in Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.6%. In Germany, data from the Ifo Institute showed business confidence remained stable in May, slightly outperforming economist expectations.The business climate index came in at 102.2 in May, unchanged from April. Yet it was marginally ahead of the 102.0 reading anticipated by analysts.UK markets will be closed on Monday for the spring bank holiday. In the economic calendar on Monday, however, Japan will release its service producer price index data at 0150 SAT, Italy will follow with its PPI figures at 1000 SAT and Ireland its retail sales index data at 1200 SAT. US markets are closed for Memorial Day.In the calendar on Tuesday, France and Italy will release consumer confidence data at 0845 SAT and 1000 SAT with Italy also releasing business confidence figures at the same time. France will also provide housing starts figures at 0845 SAT. In the US, S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices will be released at 1500 SAT and consumer confidence index figures at 1600 SAT.In UK corporate events on Tuesday, software firm Kainos Group and gears-maker Renold will release full year results.