HSTG.L Share News (HSTG)

(Alliance News) - London share prices continued to post mild gains on Thursday with the risk-on mood making a gradual return. However, London's leading equities index lagged behind its European counterparts as a lukewarm investor reception to Coca-Cola HBC's interim results and BT going ex-dividend limited a more decisive move higher.The large-cap FTSE 100 index was 15.41 points higher, or up 0.2%, at 7,214.11 Thursday midday. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.4% on Wednesday, though remains around 2.5% lower since the week began.The FTSE 250 index was up 115.33 points, or 0.6%, at 19,056.33, while the AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 877.81.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 12,229.10. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 16,971.19, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 10,939.69.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.4% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 0.9% higher.Sentiment was improved on Thursday as news on the US-China trade war went quiet, meaning no further escalation since the yuan weakened below a significant level against the dollar at the start of the week.In addition, investors took comfort from better-than-expected Chinese trade data.China's imports fell 5.6% in July compared with the same period last year, while exports rose 3.3%, official data showed Thursday. China's foreign trade fared slightly better than analysts expected, as the world's second-largest economy is bracing for a new round of tariffs imposed by the US.China's imports from the US plunged 19% last month compared with the same period in 2018, while exports dropped 6.5%.While risk-on trade made a return on Thursday, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said a more solid improvement in US-China relations is needed to meaningfully boost equities. "For this rebound to gain further momentum we would need to see evidence of a softening of the rhetoric around trade, and a willingness on the part of both parties to dial back their current positions," he said.Though Europe was rising on Thursday, the FTSE 100 trailed counterparts in mainland Europe as BT and Coca-Cola HBC capped the index's gains. BT dipped 5.4%, the worst large-cap performer, as the telecommunications firm went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout. Coca-Cola HBC was down 2.1% despite reporting "solid" interim revenue growth of 3.7%.The soft drinks bottler posted a drop in profit in the first half of its financial year due to increased debt, as well as restructuring and acquisitions, which pushed up costs. The company also blamed "unseasonable cold and wet weather in the second quarter" as a factor in the profit drop.The Coca-Cola drinks bottler's pretax profit for the six months ended June 28 was EUR260.8 million, down 10% from EUR290.1 million a year before. Operating expenses rose 5.1% to EUR955.1 million, pushed up by acquisition and restructuring costs, with total restructuring costs multiplying to EUR30.2 million from EUR4.0 million. Also limiting the FTSE 100's rise was gold, which took a step back after surging above the USD1,500 mark on Wednesday. This led blue-chip miner Fresnillo to fall 0.7%, having risen 5.6% on Wednesday.An ounce of the precious metal, thought of as a safe haven and so likely to benefit when risk-off trade dominates, was quoted at USD1,496.35 at midday in London, versus USD1,505.49 late Wednesday.Leading the large-cap gainers was Hargreaves Lansdown, surging 8.2% as it reported growth in assets under administration despite a tough market backdrop.Hargreaves achieved net new business inflows of GBP7.3 billion in the 12 months to June 30, down 4% from the GBP7.6 billion in the prior year, with assets under administration up 8% year-on-year to GBP99.3 billion.Revenue grew to GBP480.5 million from GBP447.5 million the year before, with pretax profit climbing to GBP305.8 million from GBP292.4 million.Revenue margins on funds for the fund supermarket have been broadly stable following the completion of the UK retail distribution review, and the firm said it continues to expect them to remain at "similar levels" over the next 12 months, though "slightly impacted" by the Woodford Investments debacle.Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 index was experiencing a good run, with business lending platform Funding Circle Holdings up 5.1%.Revenue jumped 29% to GBP81.4 million from GBP63.0 million. However, the lender saw a 25% rise in operating expenses to GBP112.7 million, leading its pretax loss to widen to GBP30.8 million from GBP27.1 million the year before. Funding Circle's loans under management ended the interim at GBP3.54 billion, 37% higher from the GBP2.58 billion seen at the same point a year ago. The company said its loan performance across its platform remains in line with expectations.Automotive fluid storage and delivery systems manufacturer TI Fluid Systems was the worst performer in the mid-cap index, down 8.5% after reporting a sharp drop in first half earnings.TI Fluid Systems recorded pretax profit of EUR93.4 million, down 25% from EUR124.0 million in the year ago period, on revenue of EUR1.71 billion and EUR1.77 billion, respectively.The firm said a challenging light-vehicle production environment, notably in China, and cost increases in Europe were to blame for the drop in first half earnings. Global light vehicle production volumes declined 6.7% year-on-year in all markets and reached 45.2 million vehicles.The company also said it expects 2019 revenue to be lower than the prior year.Insurer Hastings was down 7.6%. The insurer reported a sharp drop in profit due to changes in the discount rate applicable for personal injury damage awards but saw a rise in gross premiums. In the six months to June 30, the car and home insurer's pretax profit halved to GBP46.1 million from GBP86.8 million the year before. Hastings blamed the sharp decline in profit on claims inflation running ahead of earned premium inflation, combined with legislative changes which increased underwriting levies.In the US, Wall Street is set to take its cues from Europe with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both pointed up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq is seen 0.5% higher.As Uber prepares to release earnings after the US market close later, shares in rival Lyft were up 6.2% in pre-market trade as the ride sharing firm raised its annual outlook. The Nasdaq constituent reported a net loss for the second quarter of USD664.2 million, versus just USD178.9 million a year ago. However revenue for the quarter rose to USD867.3 million from USD504.9 million, a 72% year-on-year rise.For 2019 as a whole, Lyft now expects to report revenue between USD3.47 billion to USD3.50 billion, having previously guided towards sales in the region of USD3.28 billion to USD3.30 billion.Uber shares were trading 4.0% higher in the New York pre-market.