KAZ.L Share News (KAZ)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened flat on a quiet Friday for company news, amid renewed hopes for trade talks between the US and China.Meanwhile, several stocks suffered from broker rating and price target changes.The FTSE 100 index was flat, down 0.43 point, at 7,555.95 early Friday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 0.1% at 20,434.68. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.1% at 1,078.70.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 12,085.20, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 18,567.68, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.1% 12,149.99."Bolstered by news that the US and China would next week resume low-level trade talks, as well as the continued stability of the [Turkish] lira engineered not least through regulatory means, yesterday saw US and European equity markets continue the improved tone that had begun to emerge in Asian time," said Chris Scicluna of Daiwa Capital Markets Europe.China has accepted an invitation from the US for a new round of trade talks to be held in late August. China's Ministry of Commerce said that a Chinese delegation led by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen will travel to the US for trade talks to be held with US Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.1%.In UK company news, Royal Bank of Scotland was up 0.5% early Friday after promoting Deputy Chief Financial Officer Katie Murray to interim CFO with effect from October. Murray will take over from Ewen Stevenson who will depart on September 30, after joining the company in 2014, the UK state-backed bank said.RBS added that the search for a successor to take over the role of finance chief permanently is underway, and the bank will make an announcement in due course.The bank said that Stevenson will maintain his role until the end of September to facilitate an orderly handover to Murray, and then, he will be placed on gardening leave - a suspension from work on full pay - until his contract with RBS ceases at the end of November.Stevenson will continue to receive his salary until November 30, but he will not receive "any compensation for loss of office", RBS added. FTSE 100-listed insurer RSA Insurance rose 0.4% to 633.80 pence after Barclays raised its price target on the stock to 693p from 682p, retaining an Overweight rating.DIY retailer Kingfisher sunk to the bottom of the blue chip index, down 1.8% after several brokers cut their price target - including Deutsche Bank, CFRA, HSBC and UBS - following Kingfisher's second-quarter trading update on Thursday. Kingfisher shares had closed down 4.8% on Thursday. This was despite reporting strong results in the UK and Ireland, helped by "improved performance of weather-related categories". Kingfisher's performance in France, however, suffered from "weaker footfall". Total sales were flat at GBP1.19 billion, with like-for-like sales down 1.0%. Castorama sales decreased 3.1% to GBP648 million from GBP668 million.In the FTSE 250 index, stone and concrete products firm Marshalls was at the top, up 2.3% to 494.33p, after Berenberg raised the group's price target to 530 pence from 510p, keeping its Buy rating.On Thursday, Marshalls had said it started the second half of 2018 well after seeing off bad weather. Recent trading, in June and July, Marshalls said, has been "very strong", with revenue for the two months 21% higher year-on-year.This comes after Marshalls posted revenue of GBP244.3 million for the six months to June, up 12% year-on-year, with pretax profit also increasing 12% to GBP32.5 million. Marshalls raised its interim dividend to 4.00p per share from 3.40p a year prior.KAZ Minerals was the worst performing mid-cap, down 6.5% as brokers such as JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, UBS and Deutsche Bank cut their price target for the copper miner, in spite of positive results on Thursday.In the six months ended June, the KAZ Minerals posted a 48% increase in pretax profit to USD355 million from USD240 million. Revenue increased 52% to USD1.10 billion from USD721 million the year before.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2730 early Friday, higher than USD1.2727 at the London equities close on Thursday.UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that a no-deal Brexit would be a "mistake we would regret for generations".Hunt said the UK government would consider EU proposals that demanded accepting European environmental and social legislation, in order to facilitate a free trade agreement.The comments came in an interview with ITV News after a meeting with the Dutch foreign minister as part of a three-day tour of northern Europe.When asked whether he was presenting the government's Brexit plan as "take it or leave it", Hunt answered: "No, but it is a framework on which I believe the ultimate deal will be based and I've been to several countries and met seven foreign ministers and am meeting more in the weeks ahead and I'm getting a strong sense that not just in Holland but in many of the places I've visited that they do want to engage seriously to try and find a way through to try and get a pragmatic outcome."The euro was quoted at USD1.1384 early Friday, lower from USD1.1392 at the European equities close Thursday.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.1% early Friday.The economic events calendar on Friday has inflation data from the eurozone and Canada at 1000 BST and 1330 BST respectively.