Kingfisher Share News (KGF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks were mixed midday Thursday as continuing Brexit negotiations in Salzburg were at the forefront of market trading."Brexit concerns are back at the forefront of the market mindset in Europe, with Theresa May attempting to convince EU leaders that they should support the Chequers agreement. With two leaders mentioning that they hope to see another EU referendum, the whole process seems to be a shambles as this clearly highlights that many see no resolution in sight," said Joshua Mahoney market analyst at IG. Mahoney added: "With May battling to gain support over a form of Brexit which many have said would not pass in UK parliament, there is a feeling that she is flogging a dead horse. Both sides certainly see the need to start making inroad in their outlook of what Brexit will look like, yet for all the positive and optimistic rhetoric, we are yet to see any significant headway made."The FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%, or 14.38 points, at 7,345.07. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.1% at 20,502.11. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.2% at 1,090.87.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3%, the Cboe UK 250 was flat, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1%.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3219 early Thursday, higher than USD1.3162 at the London equities close on Wednesday.EU leaders are to turn their attention to Brexit on the second day of an informal meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg, after British Prime Minister Theresa May briefed them on her view of negotiations. Over dinner on Wednesday, May told her EU colleagues that the onus was now on Brussels to find common ground as the clock ticks down to reach a deal on Britain's departure from the bloc on March 29, 2019. May has been touting her "Chequers Plan," which she called on Wednesday "the only credible and negotiable plan on the table." EU leaders are trying to decide how much flexibility to offer May so that she has a stronger hand at home. May will not be present Thursday, when the discussions will include the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. EU leaders will also consider whether a special summit will be needed in November. Separately, UK retail sales grew unexpectedly in August, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed.Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, gained 0.3% month-on-month in August, slower than the 0.9% increase seen in July and in contrast to the expected fall of 0.2%. This was the second consecutive rise in sales volume.Sales excluding auto fuel, also advanced 0.3% after rising 1.1% a month ago, while economists had forecast a 0.2% fall.On a yearly basis, retail sales volume growth slowed to 3.3% from 3.8% in July. Nonetheless, the pace of increase exceeded the expected 2.3%.Similarly, excluding auto fuel, retail sales climbed 3.5% after rising 4% in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 2.4% rise.In the US, stocks are pointed towards an improved session with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all expected to call up by 0.1% Focus will be on initial and continuing jobless claims coming out at 1330 BST.On the London Stock Exchange, Aston Martin Lagonda has set a price range to its proposed initial public offering, which implied a market capitalisation of up to GBP5.07 billion after admission. The luxury car maker said that its initial public offering price range is between GBP17.50 and GBP22.50 per share, while the expected size of the offering is of 56.8 million shares, or 25% of the company. The company expects to confirm the final pricing of the offer on October 3, when dealings will start on the London Stock Exchange. Admission of the shares to trading is expected on October 8. FTSE 100 risers included Rio Tinto, which gained 2.1% on plans to return the company's coal disposal proceeds to shareholders through a USD3.2 billion share buyback programme. The programme will combine an off-market buyback tender targeting up to 41.2 million shares, of around USD1.9 billion, and on-market purchases. Details of the on-market purchases will be set out following the completion of the off-market buyback, which is expected on November 12. The disposal proceeds come from the completed sales of Hail Creek, Valeria and Kestrel, all located in Australia.Johnnie Walker whisky maker Diageo gained 0.8% after it made a good start to the financial year and said that annual sales were estimated to be in line with the board's forecast of mid-single digit growth.In his annual general meeting statement, Chief Executive Ivan Menezes said that the current year to June 2019 "started well and performance is in line with our expectations".However, due to some increased market foreign exchange volatility, the company is forecasting a negative impact on net sales of GBP175 million and on operating profit of GBP45 million.In 2018 financial year, net sales totaled GBP12.16 billion and operating profit came in at GBP3.69 billion. At the other end of the blue chip index, Kingfisher was down 1.8%. The home improvement and garden centres retailer recovered from closing down 6.3% on Wednesday, as a result of a profit drop. For the six months to July 31, Kingfisher posted pretax profit down 30% to GBP281 million from GBP402 million a year ago. In the FTSE 250, AVEVA Group was up 3.5% after Barclays upgraded the industrial software firm to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight, and also raised the target price to 3,150 pence from 2,800p.Kier Group moved 2.1% upwards as the infrastructure services company swung to a pretax profit of GBP106.2 million in the year to the end of June from a loss of GBP14.2 million a year earlier, as revenue improved by 5% to GBP4.5 billion from GBP4.3 billion. This was due to substantially reduced one off costs to GBP30.7 million from GBP140.3 million the prior year, when the group conducted a portfolio simplification, involving the closure of its Hong Kong and Caribbean operations. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit rose by 9.0% to GBP136.9 million from GBP126.1 million the prior year.Weir Group was up 2.6% at midday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the engineering company to an Overweight rating from Equal-Weight, but lowered its price target to 2,120 pence from 2,240p. IG Group was lagging at the bottom of the FTSE 250, down 7.3%. The online trading platform provider said revenue in the three months to the end of August declined by 5% to GBP128.9 million on weak performance in the UK and Europe, the Middle East & Africa regions, where revenue fell by 8% and 12%, respectively. The result was hit by a reduction in client numbers. In the UK, the number of clients fell by 13% to 34,000, while the Europe, the Middle East & Africa unit saw a 10% decrease in client numbers to 27,200.In mainland Europe at midday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%.The euro was quoted at USD1.1710, up from USD1.1685 at the European equities close Wednesday.The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development downgraded it global growth projections for both 2018 and 2019.According to Interim Economic Outlook, released Thursday, the global economy will grow 3.7% each this year and next. In May, the OECD had projected 3.8% expansion for 2018 and 3.9% for 2019.The US will expand 2.9% in 2018 and 2.7% in 2019, the agency said. China's growth is seen at 6.7% this year and 6.4% in 2019."Trade tensions are starting to bite, and are already having adverse effects on confidence and investment plans," OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone, said."Trade growth has stalled, restrictions are having marked sectoral effects and the level of uncertainty on trade stances remains high."