SSE Share News (SSE)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed on Friday with the FTSE 100 ending in the green with investors buying stocks following sharp declines, as concerns over rising interest rates, trade and Italy weighed on sentiment. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3%, or 22.81 points at 7,049.80, ending the week up 0.8%. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.9%, or 165.60 points, at 18,795.75, ending the week down 0.9% and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.1%, or 10.87 points, at 999.48, ending the week 0.8% low.The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.1% at 11,946.33, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.1% at 17,025.53, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed down 0.5% at 11,673.77."While markets dropped back from the highs of the week, we have seen dip buyers emerge once again. Yesterday's weakness merely served as an opportunity for buyers to step in, so if we can avoid another sell off in the latter half of the US session the recovery from the lows is intact," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp."It is clear that the market has yet to decide whether it can resume its march higher or not, but the start of earnings season has gone well, providing one reason for optimism," Beauchamp added. Sentiment was also lifted by rally by Chinese stocks, which rebounded strongly from an initial move to the downside despite disappointing GDP data.Data showed Chinese GDP climbed an annual 6.5% in the third quarter, shy of estimates for 6.6% and down from 6.7% in the previous quarter.However, investors reacted positively after three top Chinese financial regulators stepped in to bolster investor confidence.The heads of the People's Bank of China, the Securities Regulatory Commission and the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission all issued statements expressing support for the markets.On the continent, Italy's flagship FTSE MiB index closed flat amid worries over the country's budget plans. On Saturday, deputy prime minsters Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio are expected to have a meeting in Rome that should lead to the peace sanctioned between the two populist government forces, amid a dispute on the budget draft.The Italian government has until Monday to respond to the European Commission's letter that the nation's significantly higher deficit targets represented a deviation "unprecedented in the history" of EU budget rules. Italian government bond yields have hit four-year highs on concerns over the country's controversial budget plans."The Italian bond market is very large and as such is a significant element of mainstream global government bond indices used by funds to 'benchmark' their investment performance. If the credit rating agencies downgrade the credit rating of Italy as a result of this budget, then more volatility can be expected," said Sandra Holdsworth, head of rates at Kames Capital."Any signal that the country might be on its way to gaining a sub investment grade rating will cause outflows from the market leading to higher yields," Holdsworth added. In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.6%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.3%. The euro was flat at USD1.1500 late Friday, against USD1.1510 at the European equities close Thursday. On the London Stock Exchange, Unilever ended higher with consumer goods giant having reported a drop in revenue for the third quarter due to currency headwinds and disposals on Thursday.The company's shares closed up 3.1% at 4,110.00p pence each on Friday, though they are still down sharply from 4,227.50p at the start of October when the Dove soap maker cancelled plans to unify as a single Dutch entity.London Stock Exchange Group closed up 2.5% boosted its majority holding in clearing house LCH Group Holdings by a further 15% and positive third quarter earnings. The stock exchange operator will be paying up to a maximum of EUR438 million to take its stake to 80% - the deal will be funded from existing cash and debt.The deal is expected to close before the end of 2018. LSEG said the acquisition signals its "continued confidence" in LCH's "opportunities for further growth".For the three months ended September, LSEG reported a 7.4% increase in total income to GBP522 million from GBP486 million in the same period a year ago.Energy stocks also ended in the green amid higher oil prices, with Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' shares closed up 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. In addition, energy suppliers Centrica and SSE closed up 1.4% and 1.9% respectively. Brent oil was higher quoted at USD80.12 a barrel at the London equities close from USD79.44 at the close Thursday.Conversely - as a result of higher oil prices - airlines ended lower with easyJet and British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group closing down 6.3% and 3.3% respectively. At the other end of the large cap index, InterContinental Hotels closed down 3.5% as the eponymous hotel operator said it intends to concentrate on its luxury offering as a means to facilitate growth after it reported modest revenue growth amid a lacklustre performance in the US.The company, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Hotel brands, said RevPAR in the Americas was flat, impacted by strong prior-year demand from the 2017 hurricanes. Room rates were up 1.4%, but this was completely offset by a 1.4% drop in occupancy. The US accounts for over 50% of group revenue.In addition, announcement that GBP500 million is to be returned to shareholders via a special dividend was not enough to stop shares in IHG falling on Friday.In the FTSE 250, Intu Properties ended as the best performer, up 13% at 200 pence after the shopping mall operator said it was considering a 215p a share takeover offer from a consortium backed by Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group.The pound was marginally lower quoted at USD1.3045 late Friday, compared to USD1.3078 at the London equities close on Thursday.In domestic economic news, UK government borrowing in September fell to its lowest level since 2007, giving Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond some positive news ahead of the budget later this month.Public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, fell by GBP800 million in September to GBP4.10 billion, the Office for National Statistics said.This was the lowest September borrowing since 2007 and better than the GBP4.50 billion economists had expected."The public finances have continued to improve rapidly this year, enabling the chancellor to accommodate plans for higher NHS spending without raising other taxes or cutting spending in other departments more aggressively over the next couple of years," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon MacroeconomicsStocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, rebounding from sharp losses on Thursday. The DJIA was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 index up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.0%.In US corporate news, Procter & Gamble reported first-quarter core earnings per share of USD1.12, an increase of three percent versus the prior year. The consumer goods firm benefited from a lower tax rate due to implementation of the US Tax Act was partially offset by a reduction in operating margin, driven largely by negative currency impacts and lower non-operating income. Currency-neutral core earnings per share increased 11% for the quarter. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of USD1.09 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.For the first-quarter, net earnings to Procter & Gamble increased 12% year-on-year to USD3.20 billion. Net earnings per share were USD1.22, an increase of 15% versus the prior year.First-quarter net sales were USD16.69 billion, in-line with the year-ago level. Excluding the impacts of foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestitures, organic sales increased four percent driven by a three percent increase in shipment volume. Analysts expected revenue of USD16.46 billion for the quarter.P&G shares were up 7.7% in New York. Gold was a touch lower quoted at USD1,227.28 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,228.24 late Thursday.The economic events calendar on Monday has Ireland wholesale price index readings at 1100 BST. In a light UK corporate calendar on Monday there is half year results from Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings.