LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended sharply lower on Wednesday with miners weighing on the FTSE 100, as continued volatility from the Turkish lira alongside dollar strength plagued financial markets. The FTSE 100 index closed down 1.5%, or 113.77 points, at 7,497.87. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.9%, or 189.41 points, at 20,320.35, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.7%, or 7.29 points, at 1,080.44.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 1.9% at 12,678.40, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.2% at 18,440.21, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed down 0.7% 12,159.24.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 2.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 1.8%. Worries over Turkey reemerged after the Turkish government announced an increase in tariffs on American cars, alcohol and cigarettes.The move is likely to intensify the dispute between the US and Turkey, which recently dragged the Turkish lira down to a record low.The clash between the US and Turkey also comes amid the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, which has raised concerns about the global economy.On the London Stock Exchange,
Admiral Group ended as the best blue chip performer, up 3.2% after the insurer reported an increase in interim profit thanks to a strong performance from its core UK motor division. Admiral posted a 9.1% increase in pretax profit to GBP211.0 million for the six months to June 30 from GBP193.4 million pretax profit recorded in the comparative year ago period.The company declared an interim dividend of 60.0p per share, a 7.1% increase year-on-year from 56.0p paid the previous year.Fellow motor and home insurer
Direct Line Insurance Group closed up 1.8%.
GlaxoSmithKline closed up 2.0% after the drugmaker said its majority-owned HIV specialist company ViiV Healthcare secured positive headline results from its phase III antiretroviral therapy as long-acting suppression study for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus. Glaxo said the study showed long-acting cabotegravir and rilpivirine, injected once a month, had similar efficacy to a standard of care, daily, oral three-drug regimen at Week 48. The injectable treatment regimen met the primary endpoint for non-inferiority, Glaxo said. Overall safety, virologic response and drug resistance results for the injectable regimen were consistent with results from the phase II LATTE and LATTE-2 studies. Conversely, gold miner
Fresnillo ended as the worst blue chip performer, down 8.0% and peer
Randgold Resources ended down 5.3%, tracking spot gold prices lower.Gold was down quoted at USD1,182.37 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,196.85 late Tuesday.The precious metal slumped to an intraday low of USD1,180.49 in afternoon trade its lowest since January 2017 amid a strengthening dollar.A slew of factors such as continued uncertainty around Turkey's economy, strong US economic outlook, and expectations of faster US rate hikes boosted demand for the greenback as a safe-haven asset.In addition, large cap mining stocks ended in the red with
BHP Billiton down 5.2%,
Glencore down 5.7%,
Antofagasta down 6.0%,
Anglo American down 5.8%,
Rio Tinto down 3.3% amid a decline in copper prices and a strengthening dollar. The rising greenback makes dollar-based commodities more expensive for buyers of other currencies- thereby hitting demand.Additionally, copper prices slid following subdued expansion in major metals consumer China's fixed asset investment growth on Tuesday. "We are being treated to a mid-summer 'sea of red' in equities, as the morning's drift lower turns into a full-blown rout. The stronger dollar has hobbled commodity prices, hitting mining stocks across Europe, with the FTSE 100's list of losers dominated by mining names like Glencore and BHP Billiton," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp. The FTSE 350 Mining sector index, which houses London's large cap miners, closed down 5.1%. In the FTSE 250,
Hikma Pharmaceuticals ended as the best performer, up 7.4% after the drugmaker raised its full-year guidance for its top two units after posting improved first-half results.Hikma said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June totalled USD141.0 million, up from USD100.0 million reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue climbed 11% to USD989.0 million from USD895.0 million.Looking ahead, Hikma expects revenue for its Injectables division for 2018 to come in between USD775 million and USD825 million. Previously, Hikma had targeted the unit to achieve revenue in a range of USD750 million to USD800 million.Hikma also now expects the Generics division to deliver revenue in the range of USD600 million to USD650 million, up from the USD550 million to USD600 million range forecast in mid-May.The pound was quoted at USD1.2692 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2736 at the close Tuesday, as data showed UK inflation accelerated for the first time in eight months in July.Consumer prices climbed 2.5% year-on-year in July, the Office for National Statistics reported. Inflation had remained at 2.4% over the last three months.Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, held steady at 1.9% in July."The fading impact of sterling's post-Brexit fall is likely to keep a lid on core inflation over the coming months, adding another reason for the Bank of England to remain on hold this year as Brexit risks mount," James Smith, an economist at ING, said.Earlier this month, the central bank had lifted the rate by a quarter point as inflation remained above the 2% target.Sterling hit an intraday low of USD1.2667 against the greenback in afternoon trade, its lowest level in 14 months."Pound bulls hoping to see a big beat on the July inflation numbers were left disappointed, as the data merely met expectations. Overall, investor appetite for the dollar remains insatiable thanks to growing expectations over another couple of rate hikes this year from the Federal Reserve. But as the pound gets cheaper relative to the dollar, the probability of a reversal for the cable rises each day," noted Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.The euro was marginally lower at USD1.1326 at the European equities close, against USD1.1349 late Tuesday.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 1.1%, the S&P 500 index down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.8%.On the economic front, data from the Commerce Department showed that US retail sales rose by 0.5% in July following a revised 0.2% uptick in June.Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.1% compared to the 0.5% increase originally reported for the previous month.Excluding a modest increase in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still climbed by 0.6% in July after edging up by 0.2% in June. Ex-auto sales had been expected to rise by 0.3%.Brent oil was sharply lower quoted at USD70.33 a barrel at the London equities close from USD72.58 at the same time the prior day. The North Sea benchmark fell after the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a surprise crude oil inventory build of 3.66 million barrels of US inventories for the week ending August 11, compared to analyst expectations for a draw of 2.49 million barrels.Brent continued its slide late on Wednesday after latest Energy Information Administration report showed a sharp rise in US oil stockpiles. US oil inventories came in at 6.8 million barrels, with traders expecting a drop of 2.5 million barrels. The economic events calendar on Thursday has import and export data from Japan at 0050 BST, UK retail sales numbers at 0930 BST, eurozone trade balance readings at 1000 BST and US housing starts data at 1330 BST. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has half year results from casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group and miner KAZ Minerals. There is also a trading statement from DIY retailer Kingfisher.
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