Ocado Share News (OCDO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Monday, tracking Asian equity markets lower after US President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs against Mexico ignited fears of a global recession.Global growth worries, already heightened by a recent escalation in US-China trade conflict, intensified after Trump announced a 5% tariff on Mexican goods imported into the US. Trump stated that the rate will increase gradually if Mexico does not make efforts to stop illegal immigration of people into the US.In addition, Trump said he has decided to end preferential trade treatment for India from June 5."Treasury yields have tumbled and gold price has gone through the roof, thanks to the ongoing trade war between the two biggest economies of the world. Traders pushed the price of gold higher, surpassing the critical level of USD1,300, as many investors see a higher chance of recession taking place if both countries do not change their stubborn behaviour," ThinkMarkets analyst Naeem Aslam said. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.2%.Chinese manufacturing expanded slightly in May for the third straight month, according to the Caixin China General Manufacturing Index released on Monday.Caixin reported its purchasing manager's index stood at 50.2 in May, the same as April. A figure over 50 indicates expansion. It said that manufacturers had seen an increase in new orders despite the fact that China is the midst of a trade war with the US.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.4%, S&P 500 down 1.3% and Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%.The FTSE 100 was down 60.13 points, or 0.8% at 7,101.58. The FTSE 250 was down 145.47 points, or 0.8%, at 18,824.78. The AIM All-Share was down 4.21 points, or 0.4% at 955.70.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.7% at 12,058.90. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.3% at 17,014.55, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,774.25. In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.6%. On the London Stock Exchange, BT Group was among a handful of best blue chip risers, up 1.1% after Credit Suisse raised the telecommunications company to Outperform from Neutral.Mexican gold miner Fresnillo was up 1.0%, tracking spot gold prices higher. The precious metal was quoted at USD1,311.62 an ounce Monday, up from USD1,300.10 at the London equities close Friday.Among mid-caps, Egyptian gold miner Centamin was up 3.5%. At the other end of the large-cap index, Ocado was the worst performer, down 4.5% after Jefferies downgraded the online grocer to Underperform from Hold. In the FTSE 250, Kier Group was the worst performer, down 25% after the construction company said adjusted operating profit for financial 2019 will be lower than previously expected due to mounting volume pressures on three of its divisions.Kier said it has continued to experience volume pressures within its Highways, Utilities and Housing Maintenance businesses.In addition, despite double-digit order book growth, the Buildings business unit's revenue growth for 2019 will be lower than previously forecast, the company said.This will dent Kier's financial results for the year ending June 30, with revenue expected to be "broadly in line" with financial 2018 and underlying operating profit around GBP25 million lower than previously guided.A year ago, Kier's revenue amounted to GBP4.5 billion while adjusted profit from operations was GBP160 million. The pound was quoted at USD1.2643 Monday, higher than USD1.2616 at the London equities close Friday.Ahead of his arrival in the UK on Monday morning, US President Trump praised Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, talked up the prospect of a Brexit trade deal, rebuked London Mayor Sadiq Khan and denied making "bad" comments about the Duchess of Sussex as he set off for the UK.The US president said he expected his three-day state visit to be "very important" and "very interesting" as he left the White House on Sunday evening. Trump called on the UK to leave the EU without a deal if Brussels refuses to meet its demands and urged the government to send Farage into the negotiations.The economic events calendar on Monday has manufacturing PMI readings from Italy, France, Germany, the eurozone and UK at 0845 BST, 0850 BST, 0855 BST, 0900 BST and 0930 BST respectively.