LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London once again ended with record highs on Tuesday buoyed by the easing of trade friction between the US and China, as the latter cut the import levy on US cars.The FTSE 100 index ended with a record closing high up 0.2%, or 18.28 points at 7,877.45. The large cap index breached the 7,900 barrier for the first time in late afternoon trade. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.3%, or 53.78 points, at 21,191.44, with a fresh record closing high of its own. The AIM All-Share closed up 0.3%, or 3.14 points, at 1,095.15.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.6% at 13,398.84, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 1.1% at 19,433.17, and the Cboe UK Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 12,924.43.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.7%. China announced it will cut vehicle import tariffs from as much as 25% to 15% starting in July, the latest move to open up the auto market to foreign investment amid trade negotiations with the US. The Finance Ministry also said tariffs on auto parts will be slashed from as much as 25% to 6%.The announcement comes after last month China promised it would fully lift restrictions on foreign ownership in the auto industry within five years - and for electric vehicle makers by the end of this year.Chinese President Xi Jinping had pledged in April to ease restrictions on foreign investment in the automotive, aircraft and shipbuilding industries. But the measures also come as China and the US appear to be exchanging concessions over trade after a month-long row."Equity markets have enjoyed a good run today, as the trading relationship between the US and China continues to improve. Beijing revealed it will cut the import levy on US cars, and this is seen as a positive given the strained relations between the two countries," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.On the London Stock Exchange,
Marks & Spencer ended as the worst blue chip performer down 2.9% after the food, clothing and homewares retailer said it will close over 100 stores by 2022, almost 10% of its current total, as part of the previously announced UK store estate reshaping programme. The UK retailer also said that it will scale back its food store opening programme and will now open 15 fewer stores than planned for 2019 financial year. The company plans to close 14 Clothing & Home stores in the current financial year ending March 31, 2019, as part of the store estate transformation plan.M&S reports annual results on Wednesday and the group's strategy will be under the microscope with analysts eyeing signs of further progress against a backdrop of an aggressive restructuring drive.According to consensus supplied by the company, adjusted pretax profit for 2018 is set to fall, coming in at GBP573.0 million compared to GBP613.8 million in 2017. In the FTSE 250,
Rank Group ended as the best performer up 9.6% after the gambling company acquired Spanish online bingo operator YoBingo.es for EUR52 million in cash, as part of the company's geographic expansion plans.Online grocer
Ocado Group closed up 3.2% with its deal with US grocer Kroger still appreciated by the market. Last week Ocado inked a deal with Kroger under which Ocado's technology will be used in the US exclusively by Kroger for grocery and other food distribution related activities."The big outperformer of late continues to be Ocado, with the tie up with Kroger continuing to send shockwaves through the market. Losses for both M&S and Tesco highlight this," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.
Tesco shares closed down 1.2%.At the other end of the midcaps,
Pets At Home ended as the worst performer down 13% after the pet products retailer reported a rise in annual revenue though profit tumbled, as it looked ahead to the second year of its transformation plan. The company said like-for-like revenue rose 5.5% in the financial year to March 29, as reported sales rose 7.8% to GBP898.9 million. Merchandise revenue rose 6.8% to GBP765.4 million, while Services & Other rose 14% to GBP133.5 million. The gross margin slipped to 51.7% from 54.2%, as pretax profit tumbled 17% to GBP79.6 million from GBP95.4 million.
Halfords Group closed down 12% after the bicycle and car parts retailer posted a rise in revenue but a dip in profit for its recently-ended financial year, with underlying profit to be steady in the year ahead. Revenue rose 3.7% in the year to March 31, coming in at GBP1.14 billion, up 2.0% on a like-for-like basis. Pretax profit slipped to GBP67.1 million from GBP71.4 million. Underlying pretax profit fell 5.0% to GBP71.6 million from GBP75.4 million. Looking ahead, the retailer said it anticipates the UK motoring market will remain "robust", with good growth prospects for the cycling market. However, Halfords said it does not expect prices to rise in cycling this year.
Inmarsat closed down 7.1% after a US rival made maritime industry history by ending the London-listed satellite communications company's monopoly. Iridium Communications Inc said on Monday the International Maritime Organization's Maritime Safety Committee has recognised that it meets the criteria needed to provide Global Maritime Distress and Safety System services.The move is particularly significant because UK-listed Inmarsat was the only company in the world to have provided GMDSS-approved satellite communication services.The pound was firm quoted at USD1.3437 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3407 at the close Tuesday.Bank of England Governor Mark Carney defended the decision to hold UK interest rates steady this month despite having signalled a hike in May.Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Nicky Morgan asked the Bank chief whether he accepted that statements referring to a "somewhat earlier-than-expected" interest rate rise was "rather confusing", given that rates were ultimately kept steady at 0.5%.Carney said a hike was never set in stone."If the outlook changes, the actual policy stance will adjust, and of course the policy stance is determined by the sum of the individual decisions," Carney told MPs during a Treasury Select Committee hearing on Tuesday.The euro was firm at USD1.1785 at the European equities close, against USD1.1765 the prior day.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.In political news, the US has warned that it is set to impose the "strongest sanctions in history" on Iran.In his first major foreign policy speech after becoming the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said: "This sting of sanctions will be painful if the (Iranian) regime does not change its course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen to one that rejoins the league of nations."Pompeo said the Trump administration is hell-bent upon implementing its Iran strategy. The former CIA Director, who is a known Iran hawk and ardent opponent of the nuclear deal, was delivering remarks at the conservative think-tank, Heritage Foundation, in Washington.Brent oil was trading around its highest levels since late 2014 quoted at USD80.18 a barrel at the London equities close from USD78.80 at the same time the prior day. Oil prices were higher on concerns over falling crude output in Venezuela - home to the world's biggest petroleum reserves. Venezuela and Iran are both members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries which, since January 2017, has sought to curb output of a supply glut that in mid-2014 led to an oil price collapse.Gold was up quoted at USD1,292.63 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,288.82 late Tuesday. Although the precious metal continued to hover around lows not seen since December.The corporate calendar on Wednesday has full year results from food, clothing and homewares retailer
Marks & Spencer, water company
Severn Trent, Indian copper miner
Vedanta Resources and defence outsourcer
Babcock International. There are also half year results from soft drinks maker
Britvic and Zoopla owner
ZPG. In the economic events calendar, there are manufacturing PMI readings from Japan, France, Germany, eurozone and US at 0130 BST, 0800 BST, 0830 BST, 0900 BST and 1445 BST respectively. There is also UK inflation data for April at 1030 BST.
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