Kingfisher Share News (KGF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Wednesday amid caution over the trade war between the US and China and the US Federal Reserve's imminent interest rate decision. Top US trade negotiators will head to China next week for another round of talks aimed at settling a months-long trade war.US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will make the trip, an administration official confirmed on Wednesday. No further information is available, the official said.The new round of talks, the fourth since December, was reported Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal, which said a Chinese delegation is scheduled to come to Washington for talks the following week.The FTSE 100 index closed down 32.99 points, or 0.5%, at 7,291.01. The FTSE 250 ended 162.31 points lower, or 0.8%, at 19,388.98, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.84 points, or 0.2%, at 921.26.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.4% at 12,388.76, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.7% at 17,393.58, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.5% at 11,251.48."Weakness is being seen across equity markets in the UK, Europe and US. In part, this is just pre-Fed nerves, but the fact that recent gains are being so easily erased speaks to a deeper unease about the outcome of US-China trade talks. Reports suggest the two sides are failing to agree on a deal due to a lack of concessions from the US, and the possibility of a breakdown is increasing, putting markets at risk of another pullback," said IG Group analyst Chris Beauchamp. On the London Stock Exchange, Kingfisher ended as the worst blue chip performer, down 6.4% after the home improvement retailer posted a sharp fall in annual profit amid a tough year for its French business Castorama. For the year ended January 31, Kingfisher posted a pretax profit of GBP322 million, less than half the prior year's GBP682 million, mostly due to property-related exceptional items. Underlying pretax profit, before transformation costs, fell 13% to GBP693 million from GBP797 million, broadly in line with analyst consensus which had expected a 14% drop to GBP685 million. In the UK and Ireland, like-for-like sales dipped 0.8% to GBP5.06 billion. B&Q UK & Ireland like-for-like sales slipped 3.0%, steeper than last year's 2.8% decline and worse than the 2.6% forecast by analysts. In the rest of the firm's markets, France's like-for-like sales were down 3.7% and those in Poland up 1.7%, broadly in line with consensus. Additionally, Kingfisher said it will start searching for a replacement to Chief Executive Officer Veronique Laury, who is departing three years into the company's five-year turnaround plan."The news of Laury's departure is a positive for investors, although no firm date was set by the company today. The scale of the challenge facing her successor was highlighted by the 7% decline in Castorama's sales and the failure to improve overall profit margins could be the reason for the share price drop," noted analysts at the Share Centre.Housebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley Group and Barratt Developments closed down 4.0%, 3.5%, 3.2% and 2.7% respectively, after data from the Office for National Statistics showed house price growth slumping to its lowest level since 2013.House prices in the UK rose 1.7% in the year to January, slowing from the 2.2% rise posted in December, the ONS said. The reading for January marked the lowest annual rate since June 2013, when it was 1.5%.Anglo-Australian miners Rio Tinto and BHP closed down 2.4% and 0.8% after Brazilian miner Vale said on Tuesday it has been authorised to resume activities at the Laranjeiras tailings dam and the Brucutu mine. The ruling was made by the Lower Public Treasury Court of Belo Horizonte. Vale was forced to suspend operations at Brucutu and Laranjeiras in February following the collapse of a Vale dam in Brumadinho in late January, which was collecting waste from an iron ore mine in Minas Gerais state. The disaster left 186 people dead and at least 122 still missing.In the FTSE 250, Inmarsat closed up 13% after the satellite communications firm after the market close on Tuesday confirmed it received a takeover offer from a consortium of firms in late January - valuing the company at USD7.21 per share. With 462.1 million shares in issue, the offer would value the company at around USD2.68 billion. The consortium - Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus International and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board - made the cash offer on January 31. Subsequently, the consortium added the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board to the members of potentially interested buyers under the deal. The pound was quoted at USD1.3205 at the London equities close, down from USD1.3281 at the close Tuesday - staging a slight recovery from earlier losses, after European Council President Donald Tusk said a short extension to the Brexit is possible but only if UK lawmakers approve the withdrawal deal they have twice rejected.Sterling fell to an intraday low of USD1.3146 in afternoon trade after UK Prime Minister Theresa May requested a three-month delay to Brexit, postponing the UK's departure from the EU from March 29 to June 30.Tusk said there are merits to May's proposal but also a number of legal issues with it, and there would be conditions attached to the EU's acceptance of it, specifically Parliament's approval of what has already been agreed.May told the UK Parliament on Wednesday: "The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable."It would be a failure to deliver on the referendum decision this House said it would deliver."I have therefore this morning written to President Tusk... informing him that the UK seeks an extension to the Article 50 period until June 30."May will formally make her request to the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, where the unanimous approval of all 27 remaining member states is required for any extension.French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian chimed in saying Paris would prefer a no-deal Brexit if May cannot show how she will get the country's withdrawal agreement through Parliament.Furthermore, the UK would have to participate in European Parliament elections if the country is granted a Brexit delay beyond May 23, a European Commission discussion paper has said, warning that failure to do so would bring "serious legal and political risks" for the EU."Despite the various votes from MPs detailing their lack of appetite for a no-deal Brexit, that outcome very much remains on the table, May's request merely punting the cliff edge back a few months, rather than providing any kind of actual solution," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. In domestic economic news, UK consumer price inflation unexpectedly accelerated in February for the first time in six months, led by higher prices for food and alcohol.The consumer price index rose 1.9% year-on-year following a 1.8% increase in January, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Economists had expected the inflation rate to remain unchanged.A modest rise in food and alcohol and tobacco prices was behind the latest acceleration in inflation, while weaker price growth in clothing and footwear offset a further rise in inflation, ONS said.The Bank of England, which is set to announce its latest policy decision at midday Thursday, targets inflation at 2.0%. The central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. However, with wage growth at 3.4%, economists are not yet ruling out an interest rate hike from the central bank this year despite Brexit uncertainty."A lot will depend on the length of a possible article 50 extension, but if the EU offers the UK a longer period...perhaps until the end of the year..., this could open a brief window for the Bank of England to hike over the summer," ING economist James Smith said.While that relies heavily on the strength of the economy recovery, Smith said: "It's equally possible that an Article 50 extension could lead to a prolonged pause from the BoE, particularly given that the 'no deal' risk will not be taken off the table permanently."In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.8%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 1.6%. In Germany, shares in Bayer closed down 9.6% after a San Francisco federal jury found that exposure to the pharmaceutical company's Roundup weedkiller caused a man's cancer.Bayer took control of Roundup following its USD63 billion acquisition of Monsanto last year. The jury will now decide whether Monsanto will be held liable.The euro stood at USD1.1354 at the European equities close, flat against USD1.1353 late Tuesday.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close ahead of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision at 1800 GMT.The DJIA was down 0.6%, the S&P 500 index down 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.4%.The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, although the accompanying statement, as well as the central bank's economic projections, may impact the outlook for rates.Investors will also be paying close attention to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference for any additional clues on the future path, timing of monetary policy changes and plans to wind down its bloated balance sheet."We don't anticipate the Fed's patient tone will change much in this meeting, and we expect the Fed's dot plot to either project unchanged or slightly higher interest rates through the end of 2019. Fundamentally, we see the bulk of global tensions as the product of near-term headwinds. As these headwinds subside, US growth could stabilize and inflation could pick up modestly. If this happens, the Fed may hike once in the second half of the year after carefully communicating a change in stance to markets," said analysts at LPL Financial Research. Brent oil was quoted at USD68.30 a barrel at the London equities close, up from USD67.42 at the close Tuesday.Oil prices surged after the Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories fell by 9.6 million barrels in the last week to March 15, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 309,000 barrels.The EIA said crude oil inventories stood at 439.5 million barrels at March 15, slightly below the average for the season.Gold was quoted at USD1,301.00 an ounce at the London equities close, down from USD1,305.89 late Tuesday.The economic events calendar on Thursday has UK retail sales numbers at 0930 GMT and Japan inflation readings at 2330 GMT. Financial markets in Japan are closed on Thursday for the Vernal Equinox Day holiday. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has annual results from clothing and homewares retailer Next and fashion retailer Ted Baker. Contract-for-difference provider IG Group will report third-quarter earnings.