NSF.L Share News (NSF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were firmly in the green at midday buoyed by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggesting the US central bank could be open to cutting interest rates. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 38.46 points, or 0.5%, at 7,252.84 at midday. The FTSE 250 was up 177.76 points, or 0.9%, at 19,186.19. The AIM All-Share was up 3.81 points, or 0.4%, at 945.74.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.4% at 12,287.41. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.9% at 17,207.24, but the Cboe UK Small Companies was marginally lower at 11,738.45."Two volatile trading days into the week and the FTSE seems to have come up for a bit of air. The positive impetus came from a stronger close on Wall Street after comments from the Federal Reserve which the market interpreted as a signal of an imminent rate cut," said CityIndex's Fiona Cincotta.Fed Chair Powell pledged the central bank will take appropriate actions to sustain the US economic expansion. Powell mentioned recent developments involving trade negotiations and other matters in opening remarks at a Chicago Fed conference on Tuesday, acknowledging that the Fed does not know how or when these issues will be resolved."We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the US economic outlook and, as always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labour market and inflation near our symmetric 2% objective," Powell said in his speech.Stocks in New York were set for a higher open on Wednesday adding to the sharp gains recorded on Tuesday following Powell's remarks.The DJIA was called up 0.5%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6%% and the Nasdaq Composite pointed up 0.7%. The three indices rose 2.1% to 2.7% on Tuesday.On the London Stock Exchange, fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown was suffering a second day of selling pressure after star fund manager Neil Woodford suspended withdrawals from its flagship equity fund, which had been a constituent of Hargreaves' favourite fund investment list. Hargreaves was anchored to the bottom of the FTSE 100 at midday, shedding 5.4%. Hargreaves on Monday removed the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund and the Woodford Income Focus Fund from its Wealth 50 list. Woodford apologised and sought to reassure investors blocked from withdrawing from his multi-billion pound fund. Woodford appeared in a video suggesting his firm faced having to hold a fire sale in order to meet the demand for redemptions, which were reported to have hit GBP10 million a day. He insisted that Woodford Investment Management has a strategy in place to stabilise the equity income fund so that holders will eventually be able to access their investments. FTSE 250-listed Woodford Patient Capital Trust, which is managed by Woodford Investment Management, was also suffering from the fallout. Trading in Woodford Patient Capital Trust remains unaffected by the suspension, and as a result, was trading 4.2% lower at midday Wednesday, having lost 7.2% on Tuesday. Cruise line operator Carnival was up 3.5% after agreeing to pay a penalty of USD20 million, admitting its subsidiary Princess Cruises violated terms of a 2017 settlement for waste disposal.Senior US District Judge Patricia Seitz approved the settlement agreement after Carnival Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald admitted the company's responsibility for probation violations from the previous environmental case. "The company pleads guilty," Arnold said in courtroom. "We acknowledge the shortcomings. I am here today to formulate a plan to fix them."At the top of the midcap index was Provident Financial, rising 15%. The home credit lender was in demand following the collapse of Non-Standard Finance's hostile GBP1.1 billion takeover for the company.Responding to a statement from lender Non-Standard Finance, stating that it would "lapse" the offer after discussions with the UK regulators, Provident said it "greatly regrets the unnecessary distraction, cost and impact of the uncertainty" caused by the bid. Non-Standard Finance's bid for its bigger London-listed home credit rival collapsed after the UK financial regulator blocked the deal on Tuesday. Non-Standard Finance's shares were down 6.0%. Engineering services firm Babcock International was up 3.4% at midday after announcing its medium-term targets ahead of a capital markets day, with a focus on a trio of core sectors for the company. Babcock explained that for the period following March 2020 it is targeting earnings growth at a compound annual growth rate of between 3% and 5%. It also intends to retain margins at "around" 11%. Over the next five years, Babcock is targeting generating around GBP1.4 billion in free cash flow after growing cash flow in line with earnings. It also intends to continue to reduce its net debt levels and deliver a "sustainable dividend". For the financial year ended March 2019, Babcock generated underlying operating margins at 11.4%. Net debt fell to GBP957.7 million from GBP1.12 billion the year prior. In order to deliver these medium-term targets, Babcock explained it would focus on its three markets in which it has "strong leadership positions": Defence, Emergency Services and Civil Nuclear. Gambling firm GVC Holdings was up 3.5%. The company said it was "disappointed" with the low level of shareholder approval for the company's 2018 remuneration report.At the gambling company's annual general meeting, held earlier on Wednesday, just 58% of shareholders approved the remuneration report, with 42% opposing it.All other resolutions were passed with over 80% of favourable votes. "The remuneration committee notes and is naturally disappointed with the vote on resolution 2," Remuneration Committee Chair Jane Anscombe said.She added: "We understand that some shareholders ultimately felt unable to support the remuneration report, in part due to our legacy arrangements, which going forward no longer form part of our remuneration framework." In domestic economic news, activity in the dominant UK services sector accelerated sharply in the month of May, the latest survey report from IHS Markit showed.IHS Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers' index rose to 51.0 in May from 50.4 in April. This comfortably beat the consensus estimate of 50.6, as compiled by FXStreet. Any reading above 50.0 indicates expansion in the sector. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit noted: "Although service sector business activity gained a little momentum in May, with growth reaching a three-month high, the pace of expansion remained disappointingly muted and failed to offset a marked deterioration in manufacturing performance and a fall in output of the construction industry during the month."The pound was quoted at USD1.2712 at midday, up from USD1.2675 at the London equities close Tuesday.The euro stood at USD1.1277 at midday, higher than USD1.1204 at the European equities close Monday. CMC's David Madden said: "The US dollar index is softer today on the back of Powell's and Clarida's comments yesterday. The euro and sterling have been helped along by the dip in the greenback."Cincotta added: "Sterling is trading slightly higher but remains within a tight channel with traders keeping a close eye on the Tory leadership contenders. The prospect of a harder pro-Brexit stance that could include the option of a no-deal exit from the EU is keeping the pressure on the pound."In Paris the CAC 40 and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.6% higher at midday. On the continent, Eurozone private sector growth remained sluggish in May, despite an improvement on the earlier flash reading sending the pace to a three month high as the service sector expanded at a "solid" rate.Data from IHS Markit showed the eurozone composite purchasing managers' index edged up to 51.8 points in May from 51.5 points in April. The final May print also represented an improvement on the flash reading of 51.6 points. Elsewhere in global economic news, the International Monetary Fund added to China's list of concerns by cutting the country's growth forecast for this year and next, citing downside risks and high uncertainty surrounding trade tensions.The lender lowered the growth forecast for this year to 6.2% from 6.3% seen in April.The projection for next year was trimmed to 6.0% from 6.1%. On conclusion of the IMF staff Article IV mission to China, the lender said it expects China's growth to gradually slow to 5.5% by 2024, as the economy moves towards a more sustainable growth path."The near-term outlook remains particularly uncertain given the potential for further escalation of trade tensions," IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said.Overnight, China registered a "modest" expansion in business during May, but growth has eased. The Chinese Services Business Activity Index fell to 52.7 in May, a three-month low, from 54.5 in April. A figure over 50 means expansion. This shows that services sector activity did expand in May, but the rate eased somewhat from April. On a wider scale, the World Bank downgraded its global growth outlook, citing subdued investment and risks from escalating trade tensions.Global growth is forecast to slow to 2.6% this year, reflecting weaker-than-expected trade and investment, the bank said in its semi-annual report. The 2019 growth outlook was revised down from 2.9%. Annual economic growth is projected to gradually rise back to 2.8% by 2021, predicated on continued benign global financing conditions and a modest recovery in emerging market and developing economies.Still to come in the economics calendar Wednesday, is US Markit services PMI at 1445 BST.