INTU.L Share News (INTU)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday amid optimism over US-China trade deal prospects, with the FTSE 100 shrugging off sharp declines from J Sainsbury.Officials from the US and China are meeting in Washington this week as the world's two largest economies attempt to reach a long-term trade deal.The US and China currently face an early March deadline to strike an agreement, although President Donald Trump has suggested the deadline could be postponed.The FTSE 100 index closed up 49.45 points, or 0.7%, at 7,228.62. The FTSE 250 ended 133.14 points higher, or 0.7%, at 19,202.03, and the AIM All-Share closed up 3.15 points, or 0.4%, at 910.14.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.7% at 12,278.08, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 17,087.89, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.6% at 12,766.47.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.7%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.8%. "European equities enjoyed a positive run today as traders are a little more optimistic about the state of US-Chinese trade relations," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.On the London Stock Exchange, John Wood Group ended the best blue chip performer up 5.8% after Merrill Lynch restarted coverage on the oilfield services company with a Buy rating. Lloyds Banking Group closed up 5.1% after the high street bank hiked its dividend payment and upped its buyback programme as it posted increased annual profit on lower remediation and payment protection insurance costs.Lloyds declared a total dividend of 3.21 pence, up 5% on 2017. It also said it will embark on a GBP1.75 billion share buyback, up from GBP1 billion share buyback announced in 2017.The GBP4 billion total capital return for 2018 is a 25% increase on the GBP3.20 billion returned in 2017.The bank's 2018 pretax profit increased 13% to GBP5.96 billion from GBP5.28 billion the year before. Analyst consensus saw Lloyds achieving pretax profit of GBP6.4 billion."The big jump in profits can be almost all explained by falling charges for PPI compensation. To date PPI has cost Lloyds GBP19 billion, and with the claims deadline looming in August, that's going to be a millstone the bank will be glad to leave behind. That means more cash can flow through to shareholders, which is precisely what we're seeing with an increased dividend and share buyback programme to boot," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf said. Glencore closed up 2.8% after the commodities house said it is to return a further USD2 billion to shareholders in a buyback.The Swiss miner completed USD2 billion in share buybacks over 2018, and it is now to repeat this in 2019. The company will pay a 20 US cent per share dividend for 2019, flat on 2018.Glencore's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation came in at USD15.77 billion for 2018, up 8.4% from USD14.55 billion a year prior. Consensus had been for USD16.14 billion.At the other end of the large cap index, J Sainsbury ended the worst performer, down 17%, after the UK Competition & Markets Authority said it found "extensive" concerns over supermarket chain's planned tie-up with Walmart-owned Asda.The CMA harboured concerns that a potential merger between two of the UK's largest supermarkets could lead to higher prices and reduce quality and choice for shoppers across the UK.Shares in supermarket chain WM Morrison Supermarkets closed down 5.3% amid concerns over the outlook for consolidation in the grocery sector and the prospect for rivals to acquire any offloaded stores by Sainsbury-Asda merger."The buyer would have to be seen as a credible national player and not bring additional competition concerns. The most likely buyer would have been Morrisons, but they are unlikely to want the additional brand and would bring competition concerns," analysts at Peel Hunt said.In the FTSE 250, Acacia Mining ended the best performer, up 12% after the gold miner said its majority shareholder Barrick Gold has tabled a proposal with the Tanzanian government over a resolution to Acacia's problems in Tanzania.The proposal includes the creation of a local operating economy to manage Acacia's operations in the country. Acacia has been locked in a long-running dispute with the government of Tanzania which has banned exports of gold and copper concentrates from Tanzania.At the other end of the midcaps, intu Properties ended the worst performer, down 7.8% after the shopping mall operator skipped its final dividend after a difficult year, with the firm wanting to reduce its debt rather than distribute the cash to shareholders. The Lakeside shopping centre owner's debt to earnings ratio was 53% at the end of 2018, above its 50% self-imposed limit, from 45.2% at the end of 2017. intu made a 9.4p final payout a year ago. The lack of a final payout for 2018 brings total dividends paid in respect of the year to 4.6p, a reduction on the 14.0p paid for 2017.Peer Hammerson closed down 3.1%. The pound was quoted at USD1.3081 at the London equities close, higher than USD1.3036 at the close Tuesday, shrugging off earlier losses after three MPs quit the Conservative Party, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Theresa May's authority.Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston hit out at the prime minister's "disastrous" handling of Brexit as they left to join the new Independent Group.The three - who will join the eight former-Labour MPs who have formed the Independent Group - claimed May had failed to stand up to the "hard line" European Research Group, or ERG, of Brexiteers.May said she was "saddened" by the decision but insisted that "we are doing the right thing for our country" by delivering Brexit.The prime minister was headed to Brussels to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to obtain legally binding changes to the Irish border backstop, which has so far proved the biggest obstacle to getting a deal.The euro marginally higher, quoted at USD1.1348 at the European equities close, against USD1.1331 late Tuesday.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close amid uncertainty about the potential for a trade deal between the US and China as the next round of trade talks get underway in Washington, DC this week.News that China accused the US of attempting to curtail its technology development by putting pressure on allies to shun networks supplied by Huawei Technologies raised concerns about tensions between the world's two largest economies.However, President Donald Trump later told reporters the US-China trade talks are "going very well" and once again hinted that an early March deadline to reach a deal could be postponed."I can't tell you exactly about timing, but the date is not a magical date," Trump said in the Oval Office. "A lot of things can happen".Trump claimed China is "trying to move fast" so that an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods currently set to take effect does not happen.The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.Investors are also looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting held in late January at 1900 GMT. The minutes may shed additional light on the Fed's shift toward a "patient" approach regarding future interest rate hikes."After the Fed's last meeting in late January, we have heard from Chairman Jay Powell and a few other FOMC members, all suggesting that US interest rates are likely to remain unchanged for a while, and that the next move is dependent on incoming data. So, if the FOMC minutes convey a dovish message, bear in mind that this may already be priced in. However, should they reveal a significantly more dovish message than what Powell and co have since portrayed, then we could see a more pronounced drop in bond yields and the dollar," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Gold was quoted at USD1,344.85 an ounce at the London equities close, higher than USD1,337.52 late Tuesday. The precious metal hit an intraday high of USD1,346.67 in early trade - its highest level in ten months. Brent oil was quoted at USD66.66 a barrel at the London equities close, up from USD66.09 at the close Tuesday."Oil should trade sideways given the gains that have already been recorded. We expect OPEC to remain disciplined in its attempt to rebalance the oil markets and early signs suggest that Saudi Arabia is acting to limit the downside for prices," said analysts at Oxford Economics. The economic events calendar on Thursday has inflation readings from Germany and Italy at 0700 GMT and 1000 GMT respectively. There is also services PMI data from France, Germany and the eurozone at 0815 GMT, 0830 GMT and 0900 GMT respectively. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has full year results from defence giant BAE Systems, Anglo-Dutch information and analytics provider RELX, miner Anglo American, British Gas parent Centrica and lender Barclays.