Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed on Thursday as hopes over a rate cut from the US overshadowed the latest round of trade threats. US President Donald Trump said the US is considering imposing tariffs on additional Chinese products worth USD300 billion exported to the US.The latest action that escalates US-China trade tensions comes a day after the International Monetary Fund warned that the tariff hike by the two economic super powers could cut global economic output by 0.5% in 2020.The FTSE 100 index closed up 39.63 points, or 0.6%, at 7,259.85. The FTSE 250 ended down 6.65 points at 19,065.52 and the AIM All-Share closed 3.82 points lower, or 0.4%, at 935.59.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.6% at 12,316.06, the Cboe UK 250 closed flat at 17,126.83, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 11,723.48.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.2%."The FTSE was a standout performer in eurozone and Wall Street also moved higher extending gains for another session. Once again weaker US data has investors eyeing up a rate cut by the Fed. Investors are so carried away with the prospect of lower rates that they good as ignored President Donald Trump's latest half a trillion-dollar threat on China," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. In the FTSE 100, Rolls-Royce closed up 1.3% after the jet engine maker has transferred around GBP4.1 billion of pension risk liabilities to Legal & General Group.Rolls-Royce said its UK pension trustee has completed a deal to transfer pension risk liabilities to Legal & General Assurance Society, a unit of Legal & General Group. L&G closed up 1.3%.The deal covers the transfer of assets and liabilities relating to around 33,000 pensioners who are members of the Rolls-Royce UK Pension Fund, out of a total of 76,000 members. Alongside the transfer of around GBP4.1 billion of liabilities to Legal & General, the Rolls-Royce pension trustee will also transfer around GBP4.6 billion in assets. The transaction will result in a reduction in Rolls-Royce's net assets by around GBP500 million. Rolls-Royce will continue to maintain its funding of its remaining pension plans unchanged. The deal will see Rolls-Royce make an exceptional cash contribution of around GBP30 million. The company has retained free cash flow guidance for the full year.At the other end of the large caps, Taylor Wimpey ended the worst performer, down 7.5% after the stock went special ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the housebuilder's special payout on July 12.Kingfisher, Vodafone and J Sainsbury closed down 4.8%, 3.8% and 3.8% respectively after going ex-dividend for ordinary shares. In the FTSE 250, Entertainment One ended the best performer, up 16% after the independent movie producer said President & Chief Content Officer Mark Gordon will be staying at the company, contrary to reports in media industry magazine Variety. Entertainment One said veteran film and TV producer Gordon remains a part of the company both "now and into the future". Variety reported on Wednesday that Gordon was in talks to abandon the firm after creative differences with Entertainment One's senior managers. At the other end of the midcaps, AJ Bell ended down 1.7% after Invesco Asset Management said it is to sell 38.0 million shares in the stockbroker via a share placing.The euro stood at USD1.1292 at the European equities close, up from USD1.1257 late Wednesday, as the European Central Bank announced plans to leave interest rates on hold until the middle of next year.The ECB has held its key refinancing rate at 0.00% since March 2016 as it attempted to shore up growth in the 19-member eurozone and to head off the threat of falling inflation.The central bank said it was holding its deposit rate at -0.40% and the marginal lending rate at 0.25%.The ECB's 25-member governing council said in a statement it "now expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels at least through the first half of 2020" so as to ensure inflation remains roughly in line with the bank's annual target of just below 2.0%.ING said despite the lack of explicit detail, the ECB got "as close as it gets" to an interest rate cut and thinks that if the Federal Reserve will cut rates, the Frankfurt-based bank will likely follow suit. Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed will act "as appropriate" to support the economy. Powell's comments were widely seen as an indication the central bank is prepared to discuss lowering interest rates if escalating global trade disputes weigh down economic growth.Central banks across the world have turned to easing measures as the global economy is pressured by trade tensions. Australia reduced rates on Tuesday for the first time in three years and India cut for a third time this year on Thursday."While President Draghi could not deliver a clear and explicit dovish bias due to the lack of a meaningful change to the eurozone growth and inflation ECB staff forecasts, the signal was very clear. In our view, the ECB is as close as it gets to an interest rate cut. If the Fed is in a situation whereby it needs to cut interest rates (largely due to the trade war effect) it is likely that the ECB will deliver interest rate cuts as well," said ING.The ECB also trimmed its economic growth forecasts for next two years amid global trade tensions.The ECB now sees the eurozone economy expanding by 1.2% this year, up on its 1.1% prediction in March. However, the economy is projected to grow by 1.4% in 2020 and 2021, representing a downward revision on the bank's March forecasts.Furthermore, in an attempt to ensure the eurozone remained on a growth path, the ECB also set new interest rates for its so-called targeted longer-term refinancing operations that provide long-term loans to banks.The new cheap loans, which are set at 10 basis points above the average refinancing rate over the period of the loans and a minimum of 10 basis points above the deposit rate, are aimed at encouraging banks to increase their lending to businesses and consumers.The pound was quoted at USD1.2721 at the London equities close, flat against USD1.2725 at the close Wednesday.Speaking at the International Finance Spring Membership Meeting in Tokyo, Japan, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the dollar remains strong even as emerging economies steadily increase their share of the global economy.Carney also said policymakers of advanced economies should take into account the impact of their monetary policy actions on emerging economies."While it is unrealistic to expect advanced economy policymakers to internalize fully spillovers from their actions on emerging markets, given their domestic mandates, AE monetary policies will increasingly need to take account of spillbacks," Carney said.The BoE head made no reference to domestic monetary policy. Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday.The DJIA was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%.Employment is expected to climb by 185,000 jobs in May after surging up by 263,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.6%.The strength of the jobs data could have a notable impact on the perceived prospects for a near-term interest rate cut by the Fed.A day ahead of the release, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits came in unchanged in the week ended June 1.The report said initial jobless claims came in at 218,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.Elsewhere, a report released by the Commerce Department showed the US trade deficit narrowed in the month of April.The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to USD50.8 billion in April from a revised USD51.9 billion in March. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to USD50.7 billion from the USD50.0 billion originally reported for the previous month.The narrower deficit came as the value of imports fell by USD5.7 billion or 2.2% to USD257.6 billion, while the value of exports dropped by USD4.6 billion or 2.2% to USD206.8 billion.Brent oil was quoted at USD60.52 a barrel at the equities close, firm from USD60.44 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted at USD1,335.70 an ounce at the London equities close, up from USD1,329.29 late Wednesday.The UK corporate calendar on Friday has annual results from Seneca Global Income & Growth Trust. The economic events calendar on Friday has Germany industrial production numbers at 0700 BST, UK Halifax house prices at 0830 BST and Italy retail sales at 0900 BST. In addition, financial markets in China and Hong Kong will be closed on Friday for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.