Next Share News (NXT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened lower on Thursday with markets shaken by a sales guidance cut by US tech giant Apple, blaming a weak Chinese market and fanning fears of an economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. In the UK however it was a strong start to the trading session for London-listed retailers after industry bellwether Next reported in-line Christmas sales performance. The FTSE 100 was down 34.65 points, or 0.5%, at 6,699.58, while the FTSE 250 was 82.99 points lower, also 0.5%, at 17,503.71. The AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 861.57.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 11,370.75, while the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at 15,656.45 and the Cboe UK Small Companies flat at 10,897.23.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.0%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 1.0%.The lower open in Europe comes after a "rare" sales warning from iPhone maker Apple, said Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets."Apple's overnight sales warning specifically pointed to China contributing most of the expected shortfall for iPhones, Macs and iPads. This adds fuel to the fire of concerns about slowing global growth and/or a trade war, and compounds this week's China PMI manufacturing misses. After Tesla announced price cuts, that's two New Year kicks for the tech sector which has resumed its October and December sell-off," said van Dulken.Apple shares shed nearly to 8% in post-market trade after the iPhone maker said it now expects first-quarter revenue of around USD84 billion, down from its prior estimate of between USD89 billion to USD93 billion.Apple said it did not expect the magnitude of the economic deceleration in emerging markets, particularly in China. The company said most of its revenue shortfall compared to guidance, and over 100% of year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in China across its iPhone, Mac and iPad products.Worrying manufacturing data from China on Wednesday and also on Monday had heightened fears over an economic slowdown, as the country's two manufacturing PMI scores both fell below the neutral mark of 50 into contraction territory.In Asia on Thursday, markets in Japan remain closed. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed flat, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended down 0.4%.In the US on Wednesday, prior to the Apple update, Wall Street had ended in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing slightly higher, up 0.1%, the S&P 500 also up 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite rising 0.5%.Shares in Tesla Motors climbed off their worst levels of the day in New York on Wednesday but still closed down 6.8% after missing market expectations for deliveries.The electric car maker reported fourth-quarter deliveries of 90,700 vehicles, up 8% from the third quarter but below analyst estimates for about 92,000. Tesla also said it is reducing the price of Model S, Model X and Model 3 vehicles in the US by USD2,000 to partially absorb a reduction of the federal tax credit for electric vehicles.US futures are pointed to a sharply lower open on Thursday, however, after Apple's warning. The Dow Jones is pointed down 1.4%, the S&P 500 also down 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite - of which Apple is a constituent - down 2.4%.In London, retailers were topping the FTSE 100 after Next, the first listed retailer to report Christmas trading, revealed an as-expected sales performance. Next, up 5.4% and the best blue-chip performer, said strong sales in the three weeks prior to Christmas along with a good half-term holiday week at the end of October made up for disappointing sales in November.For the period from October 28 to December 29, the retailer recorded full-price sales growth of 1.0% on the year-ago period, with online sales rising 15% and retail sales declining 9.2%. Total full-price sales including interest income for the period grew 1.5% on the prior year, in line with the company's September guidance.The clothing, footwear and home products chain said it now expects group pretax profit for the year ending late January to total GBP723 million, down 0.6% from previous guidance of GBP727 million.The GBP4 million cut to profit guidance was blamed on margin reduction and operational costs associated with higher online sales. Next expects to record a GBP1.5 million hit from higher sales of lower margin seasonal products such as personalised gifts and beauty products. The remaining GBP2.5 million profit reduction was attributed to increased costs.Clothing, food and homeware retailer Marks & Spencer was 3.4% higher on news of Next's in-line Christmas. Other retailers heavily exposed to UK consumers were higher, such as Primark owner Associated British Foods, up 2.6%, and JD Sports Fashion, up 1.1%.Next's update came after department store John Lewis on Wednesday said it experienced very strong sales on Christmas Eve and made a "confident" start to clearance sales. In the week to December 29, sales at the store chain were up 4.5%, driven by a 103% increase in gift-food purchases. The John Lewis gifts, cooking and dining segment also had a stellar week, with sales up 25%.Vectura shares rose 8.1% after the drugmaker said it expects annual revenue in line with market consensus but earnings to be "materially above".Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation is expected to be "materially" ahead of market consensus, which the company put down to revenue mix, productivity initiatives and margin improvements. Research & development investment for the full year is expected to be at, or around, the bottom of its GBP55 million to GBP65 million guidance range. In the economic calendar on Thursday is the UK's construction PMI, due at 0930 GMT. The reading is expected to come in at 52.9 for December, down from the 53.4 reported in November.In the US, private payroll processor ADP releases employment change figures for November at 1315 GMT, a precursor to Friday's monthly nonfarm payrolls report.