EVE.L Share News (EVE)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks posted a poor start to the week on Monday, with miners dragging on the FTSE 100 following weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and a stronger dollar weighing on commodity prices.The FTSE 100 index closed down 1.2%, or 89.08 points at 7,547.85. The FTSE 250 ended down 1.1%, or 225.11 points, at 20,605.86, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.6%, or 6.46 points, at 1,075.99.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 1.4% at 12,809.55, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.2% at 18,859.27, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.2% at 12,638.26."With trade war fears intensifying and commodities on the back foot, not even a significantly weaker pound was sufficient to lift the FTSE as risk off moves dominated," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.In UK data on Monday, IHS Markit showed manufacturing sector growth expanded slightly more than expected in June.The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply factory Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 54.4 in June, slightly above the revised 54.3 in May and the expected reading of 54.2. A score above 50 indicates expansion in the sector."However, clouds are forming on the horizon as the data showed that new orders slowed, and companies are increasingly raising their output to build inventories or fulfil older orders. This is not a sustainable position, demand will need to pick up substantially if we want to avoid a slowdown in output growth," commented City Index's Cincotta.The pound was quoted at USD1.3124 at the London equities close Monday, compared to USD1.3200 at the close on Friday.Meanwhile, the euro stood at USD1.1601 at the European equities close Monday, against USD1.1670 at the same time on Friday.This followed mixed data from Europe on Monday. The factory PMI fell to an 18-month low of 54.9 in June from 55.5 in May, slightly below the flash estimate of 55.0.The PMI has signaled a weakening in the pace of expansion in each month since the turn of the year, as manufacturers have experienced a synchronized easing in growth of both production and new order volumes.More positively, figures from Eurostat showed the euro area unemployment rate in May held steady at the lowest level since late 2008.The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.4% in May, the lowest since December 2008. The expected rate was 8.5%. The youth unemployment rate was 16.8% in May versus 17.1% in April.In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.8%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.4%.On the continent, the political crisis in Germany mounted after interior minister Horst Seehofer offered to resign amid confrontation with Angela Merkel over refugee policy.Rejecting the EU migration deal negotiated by Merkel, Seehofer offered to step down from his ministerial role and party leadership on Sunday, threatening the coalition government to the brink of collapse.Seehofer complained in Munich that he had engaged in a "conversation with no effect" with Merkel, when they held talks about the EU deal on migration.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA down 0.4%, the S&P 500 index down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%. In US data, the Institute for Supply Management showed growth in activity in the manufacturing sector unexpectedly accelerated in June.The ISM said its PMI climbed to 60.2 in June after rising to 58.7 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 58.4.In London, mining stocks provided a drag on the FTSE 100 as Antofagasta, Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton closed down 3.3%, 3.0%, 3.0%, and 2.9% respectively.Data early Monday showed China's manufacturing sector continued to expand in June but the pace of growth slowed from May.The factory Purchasing Managers' Index fell marginally to 51.0 in June from 51.1 in May, having been forecast to remain unchanged.In addition, commodity prices were weighed down by a stronger dollar.Copper was quoted at USD6,559.73 a tonne at the market close compared to USD6,619.00 late Friday. Gold was quoted at USD1,244.51 an ounce at the London close Monday against USD1,251.75 at the close on Friday.Meanwhile, Brent oil was quoted at USD77.78 a barrel at the London equities close Monday from USD79.33 late Friday.Crude prices fell Monday after US President Donald Trump blasted OPEC for artificially boosting oil prices.On Fox News, Trump said OPEC is manipulating the oil markets. He later Tweeted: "Just spoke to King Salman of Saudi Arabia and explained to him that, because of the turmoil and dysfunction in Iran and Venezuela, I am asking that Saudi Arabia increase oil production, maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels, to make up the difference. Prices too high! He has agreed!"Back on the London Stock Exchange, Micro Focus International ended 1.4% higher as it agreed to sell its Linux unit SUSE Business to Blitz 18-679, a subsidiary of Swedish private equity group EQT Partners, for USD2.54 billion.Proceeds from the sale will go towards paying any tax coming from the transaction, repaying part of the group's debt, general corporate purposes and shareholder returns.Bookending the FTSE 250 were miner Vedanta Resources, closing 27% higher at 819 pence, and gaming & financial technology provider Playtech, tumbling 26%.Vedanta's majority shareholder and Chairman Anil Agarwal has made an offer to acquire the remaining stake in the Indian miner for GBP778 million.Volcan Investments Ltd, Agarwal's family trust which currently owns 66.53% stake in Vedanta, reached a conditional agreement to acquire the remaining stake for 825p per Vedanta share in cash, valuing the company's total share capital at GBP2.33 billion.The offer price represents a 28% premium to Vedanta's 647p closing share price on Friday.Under the agreement, Vedanta shareholders will also receive previously announced dividend of USD0.41 per share. Including the dividend payment, the total offer is valued at 856p per Vedanta share.Meanwhile, Playtech said it expects revenue from its Asian operations to come in lower than forecast.In Asia, due to an "increasingly competitive backdrop" Playtech expects revenue to be EUR70 million lower than it originally expected. The company expects its full-year 2018 adjusted earnings to be higher than in 2017, despite suffering a "disappointing" performance in Asia."These problems have taken a bite out of earnings and triggered the company's second profit warning in a year. This is a serious issue because Asia is one of Playtech's most important regions from an earnings perspective," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.Meggitt finished up 6.4% after raising its full-year earnings guidance following "stronger than anticipated trading" in the second quarter.The company said it now expects total organic revenue for 2018 to increase between 4% and 6%. Previously the company's forecast saw revenue up by between 2% to 4%.On London's junior AIM market, shares in eve Sleep dived 57% as its Chief Executive Officer left amid sales falling short of expectations for the first half of its financial year."While trading in the period has continued to far outperform the broader market for big ticket consumer items, sales have fallen short of expectations," eve Sleep said on Monday.For the six months to the end of June, group sales were up by 61% to GBP18.6 million. This revenue shortfall is not expected to be recovered in the usually stronger second half due to a pull back from non-core markets.With "mutual consent", Chief Executive Officer Jas Bagniewski has stepped down from his role and the company. Chief Financial Officer Abid Ismail will take on his executive duties alongside his own.In the UK corporate calendar on Tuesday there are half year results from property regeneration company St Modwen Properties and from education IT and resources supplier RM. There is also a trading statement from engineering services company Costain Group.In the economic events calendar there is UK construction PMI data at 0930 BST, eurozone producer prices and retail sales at 1000 BST and US factory orders at 1500 BST. On Tuesday, stock markets in the US will close early for the Independence Day public holiday and will remain closed until Thursday.