Saga Share News (SAGA)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Wednesday as US-China trade war fears returned to the fore, after US President Donald Trump toughened his stance. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said he has "no interest" in negotiating unless China agrees to come back to the table to discuss previous terms of a deal he has claimed was nearly complete.Trump said he expects to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit later this month and has warned that he will impose new tariffs on Chinese goods if his counterpart does not attend the summit.The FTSE 100 index closed down 30.83 points, or 0.4%, at 7,367.62. The FTSE 250 ended down 75.66 points, or 0.4% at 19,250.06 and the AIM All-Share closed 0.72 points lower, or 0.1%, at 944.57.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.4% at 12,501.18, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.3% at 17,279.71, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.3% at 11,279.71.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.5%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.3%."The FTSE 100 followed global bourses lower on Wednesday as concerns over the US-Sino trade dispute returned to rock the markets. Weak US inflation figures boosted rate cut expectations later in the session pulling Wall Street and European bourses off their session lows," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. On the London Stock Exchange, Reckitt Benckiser ended the best blue chip performer, up 4.4% after the household goods maker hired its new chief executive from Pepsico.Pepsico Chief Commercial Officer Laxman Narasimhan will be appointed chief executive designate of Reckitt Benckiser on July 16 and will formally take over incumbent Rakesh Kapoor's role at the beginning of September, Reckitt said.As well as taking up the role of group CEO, Narasimhan will also "directly" lead the Health Business unit.Fresnillo ended up 2.5%, with Mexican gold miner was tracking spot gold prices higher quoted at USD1,334.28 an ounce, up from USD1,325.80 late Tuesday. Midcap peers Hochschild Mining and Centamin closed up 5.2% and 3.7%, respectively. At the other end of the large cap index, British American Tobacco ended the worst performer, down 4.4%, after the cigarette maker left its full-year guidance unchanged, but warned it expects annual global industry sales volume to fall around 3.5%. BAT said it was on track to deliver constant currency revenue growth in the "mid-upper half" of its 3% to 5% long-term guidance range for 2019. BAT also anticipated "good" operating margin improvement in 2019. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nick Hyett said falling cigarette volumes are an inevitable fact of the tobacco industry and BAT has been able to offset the decline through a combination of shifting smokers onto higher margin products and hiking prices.However, Hyett highlighted that one of the most potent threats to BAT emanates from increased regulatory scrutiny on the tobacco industry from the US Food & Drug Administration. "The acquisition of Reynolds gave BAT a dominant position in US menthol. That's a segment that's been in regulators sights for some time - thanks to its perceived status as a gateway for new smokers. The FDA are now considering banning them altogether. While many menthol smokers would likely move over to non-menthol products, it would still be a major blow," Hyett noted. Auto Trader closed down 2.4% after UBS cut the digital automotive marketplace to Sell from Neutral on valuation grounds, but said the share price does not reflect execution risks the company may face as it evolves its business. "Auto Trader is also trading at its highest forward price to earnings ratio since early 2016, despite a slow-down in revenue growth in the last two years. We believe the share price does not fairly reflect possible risks to Auto Trader execution, and we downgrade our rating to Sell," UBS analysts said. In the FTSE 250, Provident Financial closed down 6.6% after Canaccord Genuity cut the doorstep lender to Sell from Hold.Saga closed down 4.7% after the over-50s travel and insurance provider said Chief Executive Officer Lance Batchelor will retire with effect from the end of January 2020, when the company's current financial year ends. Batchelor has been in the helm of Saga since 2014.The pound was quoted at USD1.2727 at the London equities close, flat against USD1.2722 at the close Tuesday, as frontrunner in the Conservative Party leadership race Boris Johnson set out his stall.The former foreign secretary fired a warning to MPs that they will face "mortal retribution" from the electorate if they try to prevent Brexit from happening. Johnson insisted he wanted a "sensible, orderly" departure from the European Union but said the UK had to be ready for a no-deal Brexit if it was to get the terms it needed from Brussels.City Index analyst Ken Odeluga said: "Despite the lack of illuminating content revealed during his press conference though, purposeful sterling traders also showed up for the first time in weeks, giving the pound against the dollar its first clear reaction to the contest yet. True, sterling has been on a fair run higher since marking a bottom on the USD1.26 handle last week, but it unmistakeably extended gains to the highest since June 7 during Johnson's comments. In other words a clear cohort of sterling bulls have revealed their hand." "Up till this point the prevailing assumption had been that any political influence that brought the possibility of a no-deal Brexit nearer was anathema to the pound, due to the potentially corrosive impact on the economy. Now, perhaps, sterling's perceived buy case is changing. The pound has flagged the upside in reaction to comments from the Tory candidate who had been synonymous with 'crash-out' risk. The reckoning that a possible resolution of similarly economically corrosive Brexit stalemate was bought."The euro stood at USD1.1320 at the European equities close, flat against USD1.1316 late Tuesday. Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA down 0.1%, S&P 500 index down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.On the US economic front, a report form the Labor Department showing tame inflation further fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates in the near future.The report showed a slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth, with the headline index up by 1.8% year-on-year in May compared to the 2.0% increase in April.The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slowed to 2.0% in May from 2.1% in the previous month."Tariff changes may eventually push up some goods prices, while apparel prices should soon rebound," said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley. "But for now, inflation pressures in aggregate remain benign."Brent oil was quoted at USD60.85 a barrel at the London equities close, down sharply from USD62.54 at the close Tuesday. Crude oil fell after the Energy Information Administration reported another build in inventories at 2.2 million barrels for the week to June 7, compared with a build of 6.8 million barrels a week earlier. The consensus estimate was for a drop of 480,000 barrels.The economic events calendar on Thursday has Germany inflation readings at 0700 BST, eurozone industrial production at 1000 BST and US import and export prices at 1330 BST. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has annual results from paper and packaging company DS Smith, wine retailer Majestic Wine and currency manager Record. There are also first-quarter earnings from supermarket chain Tesco and a trading statement from personal care products maker PZ Cussons.