Hiscox Share News (HSX)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London looked to end the week on a positive note on Friday, with housebuilders supporting the FTSE 100 after a week of upbeat updates from the likes of Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Bovis Homes.Elsewhere on the London Stock Exchange, Lookers shares were stuck in reverse after the car seller issued a profit warning, and Thomas Cook received an icy reception to news of a GBP750 million injection from its largest shareholder.The large-cap FTSE 100 index was 18.25 points higher, or up 0.2%, at 7,528.07 Friday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 89.65 points, or 0.5%, at 19,532.81, while the AIM All-Share was flat at 917.62.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 12,763.44. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 17,434.33, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.5% at 11,189.39.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.6% and flat respectively in afternoon trade."European markets are on the rise in early trade today, with the housing sector once again providing a boost to FTSE 100 trade. This week's earnings from Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Bovis Homes have provided a more optimistic outlook for the sector, and with market expectations of a BoE rate cut growing there is reason to believe the sector may be able to weather this Brexit storm better than some had expected," Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, said.Barratt was up 2.4% at midday, with Persimmon up 3.4% and Bovis Homes 2.0% higher.Fuelling speculation the Bank of England could cut rates if the UK crashes out of the EU, Monetary Policy Committee member Gertjan Vlieghe cautioned that under a no-deal Brexit, there would likely be "significant" near-term supply-side disruption as well as a further fall in the value of the pound.The monetary policy response to a no-deal Brexit would not be automatic, Vlieghe noted, and would depend on the impact to demand, supply and the exchange rate."My own view remains that a scenario where the MPC holds or cuts the Bank Rate is more likely than one where we increase Bank Rate in response to temporarily higher inflation that would result from the weaker exchange rate and possibly tariffs," he said.Turning back to the positive mood in European equities at the end of the week, IG's Mahony noted recent Chinese trade data."A sharp rise in the Chinese trade surplus has helped boost sentiment this morning, with the decline in exports easing somewhat," he commented.He continued: "However, much of the surplus growth can be attributed to a lack of imports rather than any particularly impressive export figure, with a lack of domestic demand failing to significantly raise imports (-7.3%) following a sharp -8.5% decline in May."Exports fell 1.3% year-on-year to USD212.9 billion, according to the customs data. Exports fared better than analysts had predicted, while imports dropped more abruptly than forecast. June was the first full month that saw US tariffs on USD200 billion worth of Chinese goods increase from 10% to 25%.In the US on Friday, Wall Street is pointed towards a higher start, with the Dow Jones called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 seen 0.2% higher and the Nasdaq on course to gain 0.3%.In the economic calendar, US producer prices are at 1330 BST.Back in London, Hiscox was the worst performer in the FTSE 100, down 4.8%.The insurer said pretax profit for the first half of 2019 is estimated to be between USD150 million and USD170 million amid continued deterioration in insurance market from 2018 catastrophe events, including Typhoon Jebi in Japan and Hurricane Michael in the US state of Florida.The insurer said the scale of deterioration in the market has been significant, with industry loss estimates having increased materially since the two damaging storms.In the FTSE 250, engineer Senior slipped 2.9% after Peel Hunt downgraded the engineer to Hold from Add.Sophos was up 4.0% after saying it is well positioned for growth despite swinging to loss in the first quarter of its current financial year.The FTSE 250-listed security software firm said it swung to a pretax loss of USD4.0 million for the three months to the end of June compared to a pretax profit of USD7.3 million reported in the first quarter last year. More positively for Sophos, its adjusted operating profit increased to USD24.1 million from USD21.9 million and its renewal rate as of June 30 stood at 118% compared to 115% a year ago. Elsewhere on the Main Market, shares in Lookers skid 20% after the car seller said it expects to see a drop in profit for the first half of 2019, and profit for the full year is now set to be below previous expectations.Although trading in the first quarter to the end of March was positive, the second quarter ended June 30 was challenging, as the UK new car market continued its decline with registrations down by 4.6%. Underlying pretax profit for the six months to the end of June is expected to be GBP32 million, down 25% from GBP43 million a year before.Looking ahead, Lookers expects the challenging conditions to continue into the second half, stoked by continued weakness in UK consumer confidence due to political and economic uncertainty. As a result, Lookers expects underlying pretax profit for 2019 to be below previous expectations.Thomas Cook dived 49% after on news Chinese investor Fosun Tourism Group is in talks to inject GBP750 million into the travel agent.The tour operator added that its 2019 summer programme is 75% sold - slightly ahead of the year before - but its underlying earnings in the second half will be behind the year before due to the "uncertain consumer environment" in the UK. Thomas Cook said the investment - which will likely comprise a capital injection and new financing facilities - will see a reorganisation of the company's Tour Operator and Airline business. This will lead to Fosun owning a "significant" minority interest in Thomas Cook's Airline. Fosun already holds an 18% stake in Thomas Cook, making it the firm's largest shareholder."Customers may not see a huge difference, at least in the short term. However, the details of the rescue plan outlined by the travel operator suggest there will be very little left on the table for existing shareholders with debt being written off and converted into shares," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.London Midday is available to subscribers as an email newsletter. Contact info@alliancenews.com