Hill & Smith Share News (HILS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks traded largely in the red on Friday, but a depressed pound kept the foreign-earner heavy FTSE 100 from experiencing the steeper losses seen on European exchanges.The large-cap index was 0.7% lower Friday midday, or 56.39 points, at 7,685.38. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was 0.4% lower, down 82.37 points at 20,723.84, while the AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 1,088.50.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.8% at 13,028.66, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.4% at 18,840.55, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.2% at 12,305.57.In mainland Europe on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 1.2% and 1.6% respectively at midday."The FTSE 100 has extended its losing streak from yesterday, eating further into the gains made earlier in the week, while the ECB's warning about bank exposure to Turkey has resulted in the steady flow of early losses on the continent turning into a full-blown rout," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.London's blue-chip index was outperforming European counterparts, as a weak pound is good for its dollar-earning constituents.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2779 at midday, down from USD1.2873 late Thursday.The pound failed to benefit as UK gross domestic product came in in line with forecasts for the second quarter, accelerating to a 0.4% quarter-on-quarter rise in the second quarter, following a disappointing 0.2% rise in the first three months of the year from the fourth quarter of 2017.The dominant services output expanded 0.5%, and construction logged a quarterly growth of 0.9%. However, production dropped 0.8%.On a yearly basis, UK GDP advanced 1.3% versus 1.2% growth seen a quarter ago. "The UK economy has gathered momentum in the second half as the World Cup, the Royal Wedding and warm weather got consumers spending their pennies on beers and barbecues," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown."A rather less than encouraging assessment of the UK's economic prospects can be found in the performance of the pound, which has slipped back below USD1.30 against the dollar in the last week, despite a rise in UK interest rates," Khalaf added. "Fears over the potentially negative impact of Brexit clearly play a part in this, however we shouldn't ignore the fact this particular coin is two sided, and dollar strength is a contributing factor." Stocks in the US are seen opening lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both called down 0.4%, and the Nasdaq down 0.5%. In the economic calendar is the US consumer price index at 1330 BST.On the London Stock Exchange, Evraz - which counts Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich as a shareholder - was down 8.1%, the worst performer in the FTSE 100."The spectre of a new round of US-led sanctions against Russia over the Salisbury poisoning and the overall noxious atmosphere of Russia-West relations is souring interest for the Russian steelmaker," commented Artjom Hatsaturjants, research analyst at Accendo Markets.The US intends to expand sanctions against Russia on the accusation that the Russian government was liable for the poisoning of a former Russian double agent with a chemical weapon in England earlier this year. Russia has rejected that accusation.Rolls-Royce Holdings also was among the worst performers in the large-cap index, down 3.1% as JP Morgan downgraded the jet engine maker to Underweight from Neutral In the FTSE 250, Hill & Smith Holdings was down 5.2% after Berenberg lowered its rating on the company to Hold from Buy.The infrastructure products maker on Wednesday reported a fall in interim profit and warned that it does not expect to recover the earnings shortfall in the second half. "Given our perceived risks heading into H2, we have difficulty justifying a premium rating to peers," said Berenberg.IP Group was up 1.2% after the intellectual property business said portfolio company, Artios Pharma, has raised GBP65 million. Meanwhile, Sports Direct International was down 0.3% at midday. The sporting goods retailer has acquired 169-year-old department store chain House of Fraser in a deal worth GBP90 million.Sports Direct will buy the business and assets of House of Fraser from administrator Ernst & Young. Under the deal, Sports Direct has acquired the House of Fraser brand, all of its UK stores and all of the stock in the business. This comes after House of Fraser was plunged into crisis following C.banner, the Chinese owner of Hamleys, pulling its investment into the troubled retailer. C.banner was planning to buy a 51% stake in House of Fraser and plough GBP70 million into the company, but scrapped the move last week."The travails of House of Fraser serve as a reminder of the problems facing UK retail, beset both by the rise of internet shopping and its own inherent issues. The sole winner this morning appears to be Debenhams, lifted by around 2% on hopes of a combination with House of Fraser," said IG's Beauchamp.Debenhams - in which Sports Direct holds around a 29.7% stake - was up 2.1% at midday.Elsewhere on the Main Market, shares in Ryanair fell 2.2% as the biggest industrial action by pilots in the budget airline's history got under way on Friday. Nearly 400 flights across Europe were cancelled due to the 24-hour stoppage. The cancellations constitute about a sixth of the Irish budget airline's 2,400 scheduled flights on Friday, affecting some 55,000 passengers at the peak of the European holiday season. In a statement late Thursday, Ryanair called the strike "regrettable and unjustified" and called on unions to continue negotiations.Oilex shot up 83% after the dual-listed oil and gas exploration firm requested trading in its Sydney-listed shares be halted whilst it continues to try to take control of the outstanding share of a joint venture from its partner. In late July, Oilex said it was seeking to exercise its option to force the withdrawal of its joint venture partner for its Cambay oil field in India. Oilex is looking to assume the interest of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp in Cambay, after it failed to pay its share of the expenses for the project. Oilex, listed in Australia and London, added it was "not aware of any reason" why the trading halt should not be granted to it.Contribution by Safiya Shariff; safiyashariff@alliancenews.com