Next Share News (NXT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Mining stocks were helping the FTSE 100 outperform on Thursday, with commodities, in particular gold, boosted by a dovish statement by the US Federal Reserve. The FTSE 250, however, was dragged into the red by losses for stock-specific reasons for Renishaw, IG Group and Ted Baker. The Bank of England said its Monetary Policy Committee voted 9-0 to keep the key UK interest rate unchanged at 0.75%. It said recent economic data has been mixed but said it expects UK consumer inflation to remain close to its 2% target in coming months. It provided no commentary on interest rate expectations.The FTSE 100 index was 31.12 points higher, or 0.4%, at 7,322.13 Thursday midday. The FTSE 250 was down 135.68 points or 0.7%, at 19,253.30, while the AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 920.68.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 12,427.49. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.8% at 17,254.34, and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.1% at 11,264.45.The pound was quoted at USD1.3113 following the BoE's decision at midday Thuesday, down from USD1.3205 late Wednesday.Released early Thursday, official data showed UK retail sales showed continued strength in February.UK retail sales grew 4.0% year-on-year in February, slower than the 4.1% recorded for January - which itself was revised down from 4.2% - but beating expectations for a 3.3% gain, as cited by FXStreet. On a monthly basis, UK retail sales were up 0.4%. Non-food store retailing helped to drive growth in the month-on-month rise, while food stores were the only negative contributor.The monthly fall in food stores, of 1.2%, was the largest decline since December 2016, and reversed a rise of 0.9% in January. Alcohol stores saw the biggest monthly decline in the quantity bought in February, falling 5.3%.The Office for National Statistics also said UK public sector borrowing in February was the smallest in two years, while year-to-date borrowing hit a 17-year low.Borrowing in the current financial year to date was GBP23.1 billion, GBP18.0 billion less than in the same period a year ago and the lowest year-to-date figure for 17 years. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks in February was GBP200 million, the lowest February borrowing since 2017 and GBP1.0 billion less than in 2018. In mainland Europe early Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.In the US, stocks are seen opening lower with key indices pointed down 0.4%.Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was significantly outperforming the mid- and small-cap indices. "Resources companies are pushing the FTSE index higher this morning, particularly miners, which are benefiting from a spike in metals prices," said Fiona Cincotta at City Index. Miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, BHP and Rio Tinto were up 2.7%, 2.5%, 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively, at midday.The top gainer was Fresnillo, up 4.7% as the Mexican gold miner tracked the price of the precious metal higher. Gold was quoted at USD1,315.39 at midday, up from USD1,301.00 late Wednesday following the US Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement and press conference."The dovish surprise from the Fed hit the dollar hard overnight, with the greenback slipping to its lowest point since the start of February. The bleeding could have been worse were it not for the pound giving the greenback a good run for its money," said Craig Erlam at Oanda. "This has offered some welcome reprieve for gold, which typically benefits from both a weaker dollar and dovish pivots from central banks, both of which the Fed delivered last night," he explained.The US central bank on Wednesday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, holding the target range for the Federal Funds Rate at 2.25% to 2.50%, and it no longer predicts any rate hikes at all in 2019. The FOMC estimated that US economic growth this year will be about 2%, which is lower than its previous forecast and less than the White House's rosier estimate of about 3%.Part of the reason for the Fed's lower growth rate projection is that a global economic tailwind that helped lift the US economy last year is gone, he said, noting that the European and Chinese economies have slowed.Back in London, ex-dividend stocks were capping the FTSE's gains, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 5.7%, life and pensions consolidator Phoenix Group down 3.4%. and property investor SEGRO down 1.9%.Next was down 1.4% at midday after the retailer reported a well-flagged profit decrease, despite revenue edging up. For the year ended January 26, the fashion and homewares seller posted a pretax profit of GBP722.9 million, down 0.4% from GBP726.1 million the year before, but in line with the company's expectations of GBP723 million.Revenue rose to GBP4.17 billion from GBP4.09 billion a year ago. Full-price sales were up 3.1%, broadly in line with Next's guidance of a 3.2% increase. Next declared a 4.4% increase to its total dividend, up to 165.0 pence from 158.0p a year ago. "Full year results for the year to January 2019 are bang in-line and there is no change to guidance for the new financial year. Clearly investors were expecting something more given Next's shares have fallen on the news," said Russ Mould at AJ Bell. Mould commented: "Over the years it has pleasantly surprised with generous dividends and strong trading. So one can only felt a slight sense of disappointment when the dividend is only lifted by 4.4% and sales growth guidance remains fairly mild."Among stocks keeping the FTSE 250 in the red at midday were Renishaw, IG Group and Ted Baker.Renishaw sank 10% after the precision measurement, 3D laser scanning and healthcare products maker lowered its revenue guidance and said it expects to report a fall in annual profit amid a slowdown in encoder product demand in Asia.Renishaw now expects to report revenue for the year to the end of June in a range of GBP595 million to GBP620 million, down from GBP635 million to GBP665 million anticipated previously.Pretax profit is expected between GBP123 million and GBP141 million, which would be at least 9.1% lower than the year before.Online trading platform IG Group tumbled 7.3% after a soft third quarter, which saw revenue decline on lower market volatility. IG's revenue for the third quarter ended March was GBP108.0 million, 12% lower than the second quarter, though client numbers did rise 1% to 125,600. IG said the decline in volatility led to a fall in revenue per client, with February, in particular, being a period of low volatility and market activity.Ted Baker reported a double-digit drop in profit and lowered its payout as it battled "very tough" trading conditions.For the year ended January 26, the upmarket fashion retailer posted pretax profit of GBP50.9 million, down 26% from GBP68.8 million a year ago. Before exceptional items, pretax profit fell 14% to GBP63.0 million. "Performance has been impacted by the very difficult trading conditions throughout the year including competitive discounting across the retail sector, consumer uncertainty, the well-publicised challenges facing some of our UK trading partners and the unseasonable weather across our global markets at different points throughout the period," Ted Baker said. Ted Baker reduced its total dividend by 2.5% to 58.6 pence per share from last year's 60.1p. This was after recommending a final payout of 40.7p, lowered from 43.5p a year ago.