Intertek Group Share News (ITRK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks ended higher on Tuesday amid a volatile session for the pound, which was trading below the USD1.31 mark ahead of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's likely defeat in Westminster this evening. The FTSE 100 index closed up 20.53 points, or 0.3%, at 7,151.15. The FTSE 250 ended up 50.90 points, or 0.3%, at 19,143.96, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.52 of a point, or 0.1% at 907.48.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.5% at 12,156.62, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.4% at 17,112.76, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 11,105.68."Sterling rode the proverbial Brexit rollercoaster on Tuesday, seeming to settle somewhere between the day's optimistic highs and realistic lows," said Connor Campbell at Spreadex.The pound was quoted at USD1.3083 at the London equities close Tuesday, lower compared to USD1.3101 at the close on Monday.Sterling had traded above the USD1.32 mark early on Tuesday, but quickly tumbled to near USD1.30 after Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the risk of the UK remaining in an indefinite arrangement with the EU to protect an open Irish border after Brexit remained "unchanged."This was despite May saying she had secured legal assurances in last-minute discussions with EU leaders late Monday.Cox said there was still a legal risk of failed trade talks leaving the UK trapped in the so-called "backstop" arrangement, which is designed as a temporary, last-resort measure to guarantee and open Irish border.He said the EU's assurances did reduce the risk that the UK could be "indefinitely and involuntarily detained" in the backstop - designed to keep an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit - because of "bad faith" in negotiations by the EU.Speaking in parliament later, he urged lawmakers to back May's deal, saying their decision was ultimately "political" rather than legal.Nevertheless, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party joined dozens of eurosceptics Conservatives in opposing May's revised Brexit deal.May is now "almost guaranteed" to lose this evening's vote, said Spreadex's Campbell. "That means attention likely already turns to tomorrow's 'no deal' vote; it's going to be interesting to see how granular sterling gets in its reactions as Wednesday goes on," he commented.In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.1%.The euro stood at USD1.1290 at the European equities close Tuesday, higher than USD1.1230 at the same time on Monday.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close, with the DJIA down 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.6% higher.Boeing was trading 6.5% lower in New York, weighing on the Dow, as more countries banned the use of its 737 MAX 8 fleet after Sunday's deadly crash.All 157 people on board a Kenya-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight were killed when the aircraft crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning.Africa's largest airliner said that the cause of the accident is not yet known, but the company decided to ground the particular fleet as an extra safety precaution.This was the second air disaster involving the Boeing 737-8 class of aircraft.The US aviation authority said it believes Boeing's 737 Max 8 model is airworthy, but Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Australia the UK and China have banned the aircraft.In US data, consumer price inflation eased slightly in February on an annual basis, though grew on the previous month. The consumer price index rose 1.5% year-on-year in February, decelerating from a 1.6% rise in January. On a month-on-month basis, US consumer prices rose 0.2% in February, having been flat in January.Broker rating action saw Intertek and Antofagasta end among the worst performers in the FTSE 100, down 1.5% and 1.3% respectively. Merrill Lynch resumed safety and testing firm Intertek with an Underperform rating, while miner Antofagasta was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform by RBC.Meanwhile, Smith & Nephew ended up 1.2%. The medical technology company said it has agreed to acquire the US's Osiris Therapeutics Inc for USD660 million in cash.Maryland-based Osiris is a regenerative medicine firm that produces products such as skin, bone graft, and articular cartilage substitutes.Driving the FTSE 250 higher were Sirius Minerals, Quilter and Computacenter. Sirius Minerals, the best performer in the index as it gained 8.8%, said it is exploring an alternative financing agreement for its massive Yorkshire mine.Sirius is developing the Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine near Whitby.It is currently looking at securing stage two financing for the development project, having pursued senior debt financing with a group of possible lenders since 2016. However, it has now received a "conditional" approach from a "major global financial institution" over an alternative proposal, though it is still a senior debt facility.Quilter shares advanced 8.3% after proposing an inaugural final dividend after reporting growth in both profit and revenue in 2018.In 2018, the UK-focused wealth and asset manager swung to a GBP163 million pretax profit from a GBP54 million loss the year prior. Total fee revenue rose 8.3% to GBP788 million from GBP728 million the year before.Quilter, spun out from Old Mutual, proposed a 3.3 pence per share final dividend, or 61.92 rand cents. During the year, Quilter also paid a 12.0 pence or 206.43 cent special dividend. Computacenter finished 5.0% higher as it posted a rise in adjusted profit for 2018.The computer services firm's statutory pretax profit for 2018 fell 3.2% to GBP108.1 million, as it booked GBP5.7 million of one-off purchase costs and GBP4.4 million of intangibles amortisation. Excluding this, pretax profit on an adjusted basis rose 11% to GBP118.2 million. Computacenter's revenue rose 15% to GBP4.35 billion, with Services revenue up 1.5% and Supply Chain, its main business, rising 21%. Providing a slight drag at the other end was Equiniti, down 7.1%. The financial services administration outsourcer reported an increase in annual profit but said the operational separation of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services is now expected three months later than previously thought.The company's revenue climbed 31% to GBP530.9 million in 2018, with organic revenue growth at a record 7.3%. Equiniti reported pretax profit of GBP20.7 million for 2018, 35% higher year-on-year.However, the operational separation of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services - also known as EQ US - is now expected by June, three months later than previously guided, for a total programme cost of no more than GBP45 million. In commodities, Brent oil was quoted at USD66.64 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday from USD66.32 late Monday.Gold was quoted at USD1,297.69 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday, up from USD1,291.91 at the close on Monday.In the UK corporate calendar on Wednesday, grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets, drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals, investment firm Standard Life Aberdeen, subprime lender Provident Financial and financial services company Prudential all release annual results. In Wednesday's economic calendar, eurozone industrial production is at 1000 GMT followed by US producer prices at 1230 GMT, with durable goods orders due at the same time. US construction spending is at 1400 GMT.In the UK, Chancellor Phillip Hammond presents his Spring Statement to the House of Commons at 1230 GMT. The event will not hold any new spending or tax measures, but he will communicate the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest borrowing and growth forecasts."Although the Office for Budget Responsibility will probably take some money away from Philip Hammond by downgrading its near-term forecasts for the performance of the economy, that cash will probably be more than recouped by the surprisingly strong public finances figures in recent months," said Capital Economics.