Pets at home Share News (PETS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Wednesday as US equity markets fell into the red amid a drop in bond yields and uncertainty over global economic outlook.The FTSE 100 index closed down 10.60 points, or 0.2%, at 7,185.69. The FTSE 250 ended down 20.67 points, or 0.1%, at 18,875.57, and the AIM All-Share closed up 4.21 points, or 0.5%, at 909.01.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 12,191.63, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.5% at 16,934.66, while the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 11,120.86."Global indices moved lower once again on Wednesday as investors took risk back off the table. Global growth fears continue to linger hitting risk appetite. As the US 10-year treasury yield inversion with the 3 month yield intensifies, investors are finding recession fears difficult to ignore," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended flat. Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA was down 0.7%, the S&P 500 index down 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.2%.Bond yields have moved to the downside over concerns about the economic outlook, with an inversion of the yield curve leading to worries about a potential recession.Equity markets have seen considerable volatility since the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last week when the Fed indicated it no longer plans to raise interest rates this year.The dovish message from the Fed has been described by some analysts as an effort to support stock markets, although the move also raised concerns about the health of the economy.The pound was quoted at USD1.3222 at the London equities close, flat against USD1.3219 at the close Tuesday, heading into a series of votes in the House of Commons later in the evening. Speaker of the House John Bercow announced that there will be eight options for the indicative votes this evening as Parliament seeks to take control of the Brexit process which saw sterling rise steadily initially against the dollar. Though this was later curbed by Bercow's warning to the PM that she cannot have MP's vote on her Brexit deal for the third time, unless it has been substantially changed.The stand-out omission amongst the indicative is option C or the Malthouse amendment, according to XTB chief market analyst David Cheetham.These options provide MPs the option to vote on what is essentially May's deal but with a unilateral right to leave the backstop, even though this is something that the EU has refused so far. No deal and a second referendum also feature on the list. Though, the most likely candidates to succeed are the 4 options which revolve around a softer version of Brexit.Labour Party lawmakers are to be whipped to support a motion demanding a second referendum on any Brexit deal passed by the Parliament before its ratification.Following a meeting of the leadership later in the day, it emerged that MPs will be told to vote in favour of the referendum motion drawn up by backbenchers Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson and tabled in the name of former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett.Furthermore, May has moved to prevent possible ministerial resignations by allowing Conservative MPs a free vote during the indicative vote Wednesday evening. But the prime minister herself, along with her Cabinet ministers, will abstain in the 'indicative votes', whips have indicated."Much has been made of this relatively unprecedented shift of powers away from the executive, yet with an evidential impasse in place, such a decision is laudable given the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in. Unfortunately, while Parliament is showing itself to be willing to break the mould in order to shift the dial, the sceptics amongst us are wary that such an event could simply highlight their inability to find a common ground," said IG Group's Josh Mahony. On the London Stock Exchange, Imperial Brands closed down 0.5% after the tobacco firm said annual earnings would be restricted by substantial investment into vaping, but gave an optimistic view on its earnings guidance. The Davidoff and Lambert & Butler maker said it is on track to meet full-year revenue and profit targets as it continues to invest in vaping products.The company said sales will be weighted to the second half and operating profit will reflect "continued underlying growth" in tobacco, but will be hit by a GBP100 million investment in blu, Imperial's vaping brand.Imperial said blu, which is part of its next-generation products range, is performing well, with increased brand awareness driving "significant" annual revenue growth.Meanwhile, housebuilding stocks were enjoying an upbeat session after robust interim results from mid-cap construction firm Bellway.The residential property developer reported an improvement in interim profit as the number of homes sold and average prices both rose, leading to an increased payout to shareholders.In the six months to January 31, Bellway's pretax profit increased 8.7% to GBP313.9 million from GBP288.7 million. Revenue rose 13% to GBP1.49 billion from GBP1.32 billion in the same period a year before.Bellway declared an interim dividend of 50.4p, 5.0% higher than the 48.0p interim payout for the same period a year before.Bellway said its trading in the first six weeks since February 1 has been "strong", with 259 reservations per week, compared to 248 per week in the same period the year before.Bellway shares clsoed up 3.2%. Blue-chip housebuilders ended higher on a positive read across, with Taylor Wimpey up 2.1%, Barratt Developments up 2.7% and Persimmon up 1.8%.Also higher in the FTSE 250 was Pets At Home, which closed up 3.2% after Citigroup upgraded the pets retailer to Buy from Neutral.Avast ended down 4.5% at 283.50 pence after Sybil Holdings nearly halved its stake in the FTSE 250-listed cybersecurity firm.Sybil has sold 95.4 million Avast shares, worth 10% of the company, at 284 pence each, netting it GBP271 million. It now holds a stake just under 13%. Avast will not get any proceeds from the sale, after which Sybil has agreed not to sell any more shares for 90 days.Elsewhere on the London Main Market, Debenhams shares closed up 27% to 2.80 pence after a potential 5p-per-share takeover bid from shareholder Sports Direct International.The possible offer values the embattled department store operator at GBP61.4 million. Sports Direct already owns just under a 30% stake in Debenhams.Shares in Debenhams closed at 2.198 pence on Tuesday, which had given the company a market capitalisation of just under GBP27 million. This is less than half what Sports Direct is considering offering.The FTSE 250-listed sportswear retailer said the offer is conditional on Debenhams appointing Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley to its own board in the role of chief executive officer.Sports Direct shares ended down 0.6%. The euro stood at USD1.1250 at the European equities close, marginally lower than USD1.1288 late Tuesday. On the US economic front, the Commerce Department reported that the US trade deficit narrowed much more than expected in January, due to a steep drop in the value of imports.The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to USD51.1 billion in January from a revised USD59.9 billion in December. Economists had expected the deficit to shrink to USD57.0 billion.In the previous month, the trade deficit increased to its highest level since reaching USD60.2 billion in October of 2008.The narrower than expected deficit came as the value of imports tumbled by 2.6% to USD258.5 billion, while the value of exports rose by 0.9% to USD207.3 billion.Michael Pearce, Senior US Economist at Capital Economics, noted the steep drop in the value of imports is "hardly a positive sign for the economy".Brent oil was quoted at USD67.62 a barrel at the London equities close, lower than USD67.87 at the close Tuesday, after data showed US crude stocks unexpectedly rose last week.US oil stockpiles rose by 2.8 million barrels, while analysts were expecting a drop of 1.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said.Gold was quoted at USD1,310.50 an ounce at the London equities close, down from USD1,314.30 late Tuesday, amid a stronger dollar. The economic events calendar on Thursday has eurozone consumer confidence data at 1000 GMT, US GDP readings at 1230 GMT and Germany inflation figures at 1300 GMT. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has trading statements from energy provider SSE and outsourcer Mitie Group. There are also annual results from lender Secure Trust Bank, insurer Sabre Insurance Group and road transport provider Eddie Stobart Logistics.