LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks clambered higher on Thursday, sentiment bolstered as the US and China look to commence a new round of trade talks and investors monitor the situation in Turkey ahead of a conference call with the country's finance minister.The pound, meanwhile, was largely unchanged despite UK retail sales managing to beat expectations in July and reverse last month's fall.The FTSE 100 was up 0.7%, or 49.74 points, at 7,547.61 Thursday midday. The index had closed a sharp 1.5% lower on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 was 0.8% higher, or 157.03 points, at 20,477.38 Thursday. The AIM All-Share was down 0.3% at 1,077.66.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.9% at 12,787.87, with the Cboe UK 250 also 0.9% higher at 18,597.90. The Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.2% at 12,179.05."Yesterday's rout in European markets has been replaced with some cautious buying, with investors taking heart from the rebound in US markets towards the end of the session that saw Wall Street finish well off its earlier lows," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.Market sentiment improved overnight as China said it would hold a fresh round of talks with the US later this month in an effort to diffuse tensions.China's Ministry of Commerce said that a Chinese delegation led by vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen will travel to the US in late August for trade talks to be held with US Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass.In UK data, retail sales increased more than expected in July, bouncing from June's decline.The Office for National Statistics on Thursday showed retail sales including auto fuel rose 0.7% month-on-month in July, having been forecast to grow just 0.2% after a 0.5% contraction in June.Excluding auto fuel, retail sales volume climbed 0.9% over the month, while it was forecast to remain flat. On a yearly basis, overall retail sales accelerated to 3.5% in July from 2.9% a month ago. Economists had expected sales to grow at a stable rate of 2.9%.Andrew Wishart, UK economist at Capital Economics, said the data suggests a recovery in spending is "in the pipeline"."Admittedly, still-weak real wage growth will weigh on consumer spending. Nonetheless, the retail sales data provides reason to think that consumer spending growth could post a slightly improved performance in the third quarter," said Wishart.Despite initially rising following the retail beat, the pound had given back most of these gains by midday, quoted at USD1.2695 from USD1.2692 late Wednesday.In mainland Europe on Thursday, the CAC was up 0.4% while the DAX gained 0.3% at midday.The euro area trade surplus decreased for a third straight month in June, preliminary data from Eurostat showed Thursday.The seasonally adjusted trade surplus fell to EUR16.7 billion from EUR16.9 billion in May. Economists had expected the figure to remain unchanged at May's level. Exports rose 1.6% month-on-month and imports grew 1.8%.In the US, stocks are called for a higher open with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 seen up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq set to gain 0.6%. In the corporate calendar, retail giant Walmart releases earnings before the open.In the economic calendar, US housing starts are at 1330 BST with initial and continuing jobless claims due at the same time.As investors continue to monitor the situation in Turkey, Treasury & Finance Minister Berat Albayrak will hold a conference call at 1400 BST with investors from the US, Europe and the Middle East.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hand-picked his son-in-law Albayrak as the head of a new and merged Treasury & Finance Ministry in July. As his appointment sent the lira into a tailspin, Albayrak pledged to maintain the independence of the central bank and to reduce inflation to single digits.The trade and diplomatic row with the US that followed has been Albayrak's biggest test in his new role, as experts warn of an overheating economy and the lira has plummeted against the dollar and euro.The currency rebounded against the dollar ahead of the call. The dollar quoted at TRY5.85 on Thursday, having hit TRY7.24 on Monday.In the FTSE 100 on Thursday, steelmaker
Evraz was the worst performer, down 4.0% as the stock went ex-dividend. This means new buyers will not qualify for the latest payout.
Kingfisher was down 3.0% as B&Q like-for-like sales rebounded in the second quarter, but the DIY retailer continued to see troubled trading in France.Kingfisher said sales in its second quarter totalled GBP3.26 billion, up 3.4% from last year and 1.6% higher on a like-for-like basis. Within this, B&Q UK & Ireland saw like-for-like sales up 3.6%, with Screwfix sales up 5.5% to drive overall UK & Ireland comparable sales up 4.2%. Like-for-like sales in France were down 1.0%, while Other International was up 1.4%.Meanwhile, price comparison websites were suffering on Thursday."Business bosses around the world increasingly live in fear of Amazon as it seems there is no industry that the tech giant doesn't want to disrupt. The latest shockwave can be felt in the financial services sector on reports that Amazon may launch an online insurance price comparison website," commented Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.Blue-chip insurer
Admiral, owner of the Confused.com website, was down 1.3%. In the FTSE 250, Moneysupermarket was down 2.9% and elsewhere on the Main Market, Gocompare.com declined 1.1%.The biggest faller in the FTSE 250 was
RHI Magnesita, down 5.0%. The refractory products company posted strong interim revenue growth on Thursday, while earnings multiplied year-on-year.
RHI Magnesita's reported revenue for the six months to June has more than doubled to EUR1.51 billion from EUR855.9 million, with organic growth 25%, driven by price increases as well as higher volumes.Reported earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation has almost quadrupled to EUR229 million from EUR64 million, while on an adjusted pro forma basis at constant currency it climbed 88% to EUR218 million.
Rank Group shed 2.3% after the casino operator reported a sharp fall in profit for the its recently ended financial year and said recent trading has been dented by hot weather in the UK.Rank reported pretax profit of GBP35.9 million for the year to the end of June, almost halving from GBP62.9 million a year earlier. Revenue also declined, by 2.3% to GBP691.0 million from GBP707.2 million.Rank added that, post-period end, trading in six weeks to August 12 has been "challenging" following the unseasonal hot weather hitting its UK retail businesses. Despite this, the recently-commenced financial year is still expected in line with current consensus.The best performer was
On the Beach, up 14%. The online travel agent said hot weather in the UK over recent months suppressed demand for foreign holidays, as it also announced the acquisition of Classic Collection Holidays.Despite the weather-related hit, the company said it continues to expect that adjusted pretax profit for its current financial year will be broadly in line with management expectations.Additionally, On the Beach said its subsidiary On the Beach Travel has bought Classic Collection Holidays for GBP20 million.
Marshalls gained 9.1% after the paving stones maker said it started the second half of 2018 well after producing a strong interim performance despite 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
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