Greene King Share News (GNK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended sharply lower on Friday as trade tariff fears, concerns over a potential hike in US interest rates and a firm pound weighed on equities. In addition, a Wall Street Journal report saying that US President Donald Trump hinted a trade fight with Japan could be next also soured investor sentiment. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.6%, or 41.26 points at 7,277.70, ending the week down 2.1%. The large cap index fell to its lowest level since mid-April. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.4%, or 73.88 points, at 20,209.61, to end the week 2.3% lower and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.3%, or 3.49 points, at 1,100.32, ending the week down 0.5%.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 1.0% at 12,508.90, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.6% at 18,499.74, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed down 0.2% at 12,236.32."Stock markets finished firmly in the red as a number of factors are weighing on sentiment. Trade concerns have been hanging over stocks all week and so have the worries about weakening emerging market economies, and now the spike in the US dollar on the back of the US non-farm payrolls report is compounding the emerging market issue," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close as a public comment period on new US tariffs on USD200 billion worth of Chinese goods expired.Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg the Trump administration is reviewing the comments but declined to say when a decision on the tariffs will be announced.The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.In economic news, data from the Labor Department showed that the non-farm payroll employment surged up by 201,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in July.Economists had expected employment to increase by about 191,000 jobs compared to the addition of 157,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.Despite the stronger than expected job growth during the month, the unemployment rate held at 3.9% in August compared to expectations for a drop to 3.8%.The report also said the annual rate of average hourly employee earnings growth accelerated to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July.The data paints a positive picture of the economy but has also reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month."This report is strong throughout and with the economy likely to grow more than 3% again in the third quarter it will keep the Fed hiking interest rates with another move in September with a further increase in December," said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley."The one potential downside for Trump may be that the Federal Reserve may be looking at this and wondering what impact a sustained improvement could have on their tightening policy, something the US president has been openly critical of in recent months," said Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.On the London Stock Exchange, DCC closed up 1.5% after RBC Capital started coverage on the Irish distribution group with an Outperform rating. The Canadian bank said DCC's strong operational model, cashflow characteristics and growth opportunities in the US make the stock a key holding in the portfolio of investors.Conversely, miners ended among the worst blue-chip performers with Antofagasta down 3.9%, Glencore down 2.4%, Anglo American down 1.9% and BHP Billiton down 1.6%. "Miners traced metal prices lower as investors awaited news from the White House over more tariffs. Whilst the consultation period for the additional US tariffs ended yesterday, the tariffs have not yet been applied, even though the market is clearly expecting them," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.International Consolidated Airlines Group closed down 2.8% as its airline British Airways faces a multi-million pound fine as it deals with the fallout of a massive data breach.BA's data breach took place after the introduction of the new Data Protection Act, which includes the provisions of the new European General Data Protection Regulation.Under the new regulations, the maximum penalty for a company hit with a data breach is a fine of either GBP17 million or 4% of global turnover, whichever is greater.In the FTSE 250, Greene King ended as the best performer, up 7.4% as analysts reacted positively to the pub operator as it said it sold 3.7 million beer pints during England's seven World Cup matches with like-for-like sales during the team's semi-final match up 61%. "Greene King has finally managed to grab the market's attention after a long period in the doldrums. Its real test is to prove that positive trading momentum can be sustained, otherwise we'll be back to the old days of a limp share price and investors preferring to park their money in premium-end operators such as Fuller's and Young's," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. The pound was firm against the dollar quoted at USD1.2949 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2934 at the close Thursday, amid encouraging comments over Brexit from Brussels. The European Union's Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier said key elements of Prime Minister Theresa May's Chequers plan for Brexit are "not acceptable".Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, who was with Jacob Rees-Mogg in Brussels as a member of a cross-party parliamentary Brexit committee, had said Barnier indicated that the Chequers proposals were "dead".However, a transcript of Monday's meeting with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab held behind closed doors in Brussels, showed in response to repeated questioning over whether the proposals were dead, Barnier insisting he was not rejecting them outright."Ostensibly positive Brexit comments from the European side of things have, other the past week, provided leaps for GBP/USD before the bears return, and today's Barnier comments may end up falling into the same category," noted IG Group analyst Chris Beauchamp. In domestic economic news, UK house prices rose at a marginal pace in August, data from the Lloyds bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed.House prices gained 0.1% month-on-month in August, slower than July's 1.2% increase. In three months to August, house prices advanced 3.7% annually after climbing 3.3% in three months to July. On a quarterly basis, house prices climbed 1.9%.Elsewhere, UK high street sales fell by 2.7% year-on-year, the worst August decline for three years, BDO's high street sales tracker said. The report also said it was one of the worst Augusts seen since records started in 2006.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended flat. The euro was firm against the greenback quoted at USD1.1674 at the European equities close, against USD1.1621 late Thursday. The euro area economy expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter, data from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product climbed 0.4% sequentially, the same rate as seen in the first quarter and in line with preliminary estimate.On a yearly basis, GDP growth eased to 2.1% from 2.4% in the preceding period. The annual rate was revised down from 2.2%. The expenditure-side breakdown of GDP showed that the sequential growth was largely driven by the 1.2% rise in gross fixed capital formation.Elsewhere, Germany's industrial production declined unexpectedly in July, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial production fell 1.1% month-on-month in July, in contrast to a 0.2% rise economists had forecast.Production decreased 0.7% in June. Production in industry excluding energy and construction was down by 1.9% in July. On a yearly basis, industrial production grew 1.1%, but slower than the 2.7% increase seen in June. Economists had forecast a 2.6% rise for July.Brent oil was slightly higher at USD76.48 a barrel at the London equities close from USD76.40 at the close Thursday.Gold was lower quoted at USD1,196.90 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,199.15 late Thursday.The economic events calendar on Monday has Japan second quarter GDP readings at 0050 BST, China inflation data at 0230 BST and UK industrial and manufacturing data at 0930 BST.The UK corporate calendar on Monday has a trading statement from Primark clothing chain owner Associated British Foods, full-year results from life science research tools firm Abcam and half-year results from HgCapital Trust.