Ocado Share News (OCDO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 in the red for the first time in six sessions following a lack of clarity over trade talks between the US and China from President Donald Trump. The FTSE 100 index closed down 4.28 points, or 0.1%, at 7,173.09. The FTSE 250 closed up 77.39 points, or 0.4%, at 19,073.41, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.01 points, or 0.1%, at 924.13.The Cboe UK 100 ended flat at 12,181.53, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.6% at 17,019.25, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.2% at 11,207.52."The FTSE snapped a six-day winning streak on Wednesday after Trump dented risk appetite with his nothing new State of the Union Address last night. Traders had been optimistic that Trump would provide further details on developments in US-Sino trade relations, instead little sign of progress saw investors adopt a more cautious approach to trading on Wednesday," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.4%. On the London Stock Exchange, Barratt Developments closed up 2.8% after the housebuilder said it further extended its capital return plan to 2020, amid positive earnings growth for the first half of its financial year.For the six months to the end of December, pretax profit for the period rose by 19% to GBP408.0 million from GBP342.7 million the prior year, while revenue grew by 7.2% to GBP2.13 billion from GBP1.99 billion. Barratt declared an interim dividend of 9.6 pence per share, up from 8.6p the year before, which the company said represents one-third of the expected ordinary dividend for the year, meaning this should come in around 28.80p. The UK's largest housebuilder also said it has further extended its capital return plan, with the intention to make two GBP175 million special returns to shareholders for the 2019 and 2020 financial years.CRH closed up 2.0% after Reuters reported Europe's largest activist investor Cevian Capital built up a stake in the Irish building materials firm.Christer Gardell, managing partner at Cevian told Reuters: "We have actively taken advantage of the recent market turbulence to make a number of new investments and add to some existing holdings."According to the news agency, the Swedish investment firm has now become CRH's second largest shareholder behind asset management firm BlackRock. However, the exact size of Cevian's stake was not disclosed by Gardell. "Traders are taking the view that the activist investor will pressure CRH's management to make the company more efficient," commented CMC Markets analyst David Madden. GlaxoSmithKline closed up 1.6% after the drugmaker said its profit increased significantly in 2018 as a result of reduced research and development costs as well as a strong performance from its shingles vaccine. For 2018, Glaxo posted a pretax profit of GBP4.80 billion, from GBP3.53 billion in 2017. Revenue was GBP30.82 billion, rising from GBP30.19 billion in 2017 and exceeding the GBP30.56 billion consensus.However, Glaxo said it is expecting a decline in earnings per share in the year ahead due to a number of significant changes to its business and the launch of a generic form of one of its drugs.At the other end of the large cap index, Ocado Group ended as the worst performer, down 6.3% after the online grocer warned over a sales hit following a major fire at its robotic warehouse in Hampshire that took more than 24 hours to bring under control.On Tuesday afternoon, Ocado said a fire had broken out at the fulfilment centre in Andover, damaging some equipment. The company said Wednesday the fire "was not contained as we believed", and had expanded overnight. The fire is now under control, Ocado said, but part of the building's roof has now collapsed and there has been significant damage to the building.The retailer added the shutdown means there will be a "constraint on our ability to meet our growing customer demand". In addition, Peel Hunt cut the stock to Hold from Buy in the wake of the damage caused by the blaze. In the FTSE 250, CYBG closed up 14% after the lender said it enjoyed a solid first quarter and raised its annual guidance. The owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks said its net interest margin for 2019 would be at the upper end of its previous guidance range.The pound was firm, quoted at USD1.2960 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2936 at the close Tuesday, ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision on Thursday.The BoE will announce its latest monetary policy decision, alongside the release of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes, at midday on Thursday. Additionally, the bank's quarterly inflation report is due, and there will be a press conference with BoE Governor Mark Carney held at 1230 GMT.When the BoE announces its latest decision on Thursday, there will be just 50 days to go until the day the UK is meant to leave the EU on March 29. It is widely expected that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged. "The BoE faces a tricky communication challenge on Thursday at the February Inflation Report. Any guidance on the likely future path of rates must be contingent on a currently unknown outcome for Brexit," said Berenberg.Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May will head to Brussels on Thursday seeking concessions from the European Union, despite the bloc's insistence that the withdrawal agreement reached last year is not up for renegotiation. May will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday morning and European Council president Donald Tusk in the afternoon. Tusk said the EU was not making "any new offer" and was hoping to hear from May "a realistic suggestion on how to end the impasse in which the process of the orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU has found itself following the latest votes in the House of Commons"."An EU initiative to remove the arbitrary deadline could be the key that unlocks Brexit. Instead of allowing itself to become a captive to May's no-deal threats, the EU could offer Britain the time to seek a national consensus and then decide calmly on its future relationship with Europe, whether a customs union, a Norway-style single market arrangement, an arms-length trade deal, or no Brexit at all," noted ING's Anatole Kaletsky.The euro was down, quoted at USD1.1376 at the European equities close, against USD1.1407 late Tuesday after disappointing factory orders data from Germany.Germany's factory orders decreased for a second straight month in December and at a faster pace, defying expectations for a modest gain, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Manufacturing orders decreased a calendar and seasonally adjusted 1.6% from the previous month, while they were forecast to rise 0.3%. The latest fall was the most since June, when orders shrunk 3.6%.In addition, the German economy is at risk of falling into a recession when the Federal Statistics Office releases its fourth-quarter economic data next week, according to Deutsche Bank.Next week, the Statistics Office publishes its fourth-quarter gross domestic product estimate, which - if negative - would put Germany in a state of recession after contracting in the third quarter.Europe's largest economy shrank by 0.2% in the third-quarter of 2018, largely due to problems in its key automotive sector."Given much weaker than expected January business surveys and in particular the slump in their more forward looking components we are now expecting the German economy to contract again in the first quarter of 2019," Deutsche Bank said, adding that it expects a 0.2% contraction to start off 2019.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close amid uncertainty over trade talks between the US and China, which continues to hang over the markets. US President Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday lacked substantial details on progress in the talks.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called last week's meetings with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He "very productive" in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," although traders may be looking for more concrete results.The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.In related news, the Commerce Department released a government shutdown-delayed report showing the US trade deficit narrowed by much more than anticipated in the month of November.The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to USD49.30 billion in November from a revised USD55.70 billion in October.Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to USD54.00 billion from the USD55.50 billion originally reported for the previous month."One piece of good news for investors worrying about trade wars is that the US trade deficit with China dropped for the first time in five months. While it hardly shifts the dial, it will perhaps help to make the president a touch more conciliatory. But it is just as likely that Trump will take it as a sign that his strategy is bearing fruit," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.On the corporate front, Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox reported earnings for its second quarter that advanced from the prior year.The media company's earnings came in at USD10.83 billion, or USD5.81 per share compared with USD1.84 billion, or USD0.99 per share, in prior year's second quarter. Excluding items, Twenty-First Century Fox reported adjusted earnings of USD681 million or USD0.37 per share for the period.Fox shares were up 0.2% in New York. Brent oil was flat, quoted at USD62.43 a barrel at the London equities close from USD62.42 at the close Tuesday. Gold was down, quoted at USD1,312.20 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,314.60 late Tuesday.The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has annual results from medical devices maker Smith & Nephew and insurer Beazley. There are also trading statements from contract caterer Compass Group, high street fashion retailer Superdry, food ingredients maker Tate & Lyle, housebuilder Bellway and travel agent Thomas Cook Group. The economic events calendar on Thursday has Germany industrial production figures at 0700 GMT, UK Halifax house price index reading at 0830 GMT, while the European Commission will release their economic growth forecasts at 1000 GMT. Financial markets in China and Hong Kong remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.