HSTG.L Share News (HSTG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened higher on Tuesday staging a small rebound from Monday's sharp losses as trade war fears refused to subside.The FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%, or 17.36 points, at 7,563.41. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.2%, or 30.63 points, at 20,636.18. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.3%, or 3.27 points, at 1,079.61.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 12,872.40, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 18,933.56, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,639.90Trade wars between the US and other major economies weighed on investor sentiment. Tariffs on USD34 billion worth of Chinese imports to the US and a matching USD34 billion worth of US exports to China are due to take effect on July 6."Almost as familiar as the now routine Monday wobble, Tuesday brought the next step in the market's current trade war cycle: the half-hearted rebound. The FTSE was the worst performer [among European indices], effectively flat around the 7550 mark, as its miners continued to drag," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.On the London Stock Exchange, Smurfit Kappa was among the best blue chip performers up 1.2%. The Irish corrugated packaging company said it completed the previously announced acquisition of Dutch paper and recycling business Reparenco Holding for EUR460 million.At the other end of the large cap index, Glencore was the worst performer down 10% after the commodity trader's subsidiary Glencore Ltd received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice over compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and US money laundering statute.The DoJ has asked Glencore produce documents relating to business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela from 2007 to present. Glencore said it is reviewing the subpoena and will provide further information in due course.The FTSE 350 Mining sector index, which houses London's heavyweight miners, was down 2.0%. In the FTSE 250, lender Paragon Banking Group was up 2.5% after it said it acquired residential development finance provider Titlestone Property Finance for GBP48 million and a portfolio of development finance loans for GBP226 million from a series of special purpose-vehicle companies. Titlestone and the SPV companies were owned by funds controlled by Oaktree Capital Management.At the other end of the midcap index, Hastings Group was the worst perfomer down 4.2% after JPMorgan cut the insurer to Neutral from Overweight.Sterling was firm against the dollar quoted at USD1.3141 early Tuesday ahead of the UK construction PMI reading, versus USD1.3124 at the London equities close on Monday.The PMI reading is expected to come in at 52.5. On the political front, the Treasury and Bank of England have been asked to draw up analyses of the impact of any Brexit deal struck by Prime Minister Theresa May. The influential Commons Treasury Select Committee has also requested work from the Financial Conduct Authority on the potential impact of the withdrawal agreement and future framework. Treasury Committee chairwoman Nicky Morgan said MPs should be "properly informed" before the promised parliamentary vote on the deal. In a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond, she requested work on the economic impact of any Brexit deal over both the short term and long term. The long-term analysis would consider both the proposed deal and a "no deal" scenario, with each compared against a "status quo" of staying in the EU. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.7%.In political news from the continent, Germany's centre-left SPD is to decide Tuesday whether to go along with a migration policy plan Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to under duress from her hardline conservative interior minster in order to avoid her government's collapse.The plan - agreed after hours of emergency talks between Merkel's CDU and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's Bavarian CSU - foresees transit centres at the German-Austrian border where migrants will be held until they can be deported to the EU country they first registered in.Seehofer had threatened to resign if Merkel did not agree to turn away some groups of migrants at the border, leading to speculation about a split of the decades-old alliance between their parties, and by extension the break-up of the three-way coalition with the SPD.The SPD has previously expressed opposition to closed migrant centres at the border, and the coalition agreement struck between the CDU, the CSU and the SPD does not foresee them.The euro was firm against the dollar quoted at USD1.1653 from USD1.1601 at the European equities close Monday. In the economic events calendar there is eurozone producer prices and retail sales at 1000 BST and US factory orders at 1500 BST. On Tuesday, financial markets in the US will close early for the Independence Day public holiday and will remain closed until Thursday. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.9%. Stock markets in Hong Kong resumed trading after being closed on Monday for a public holiday.