SSE Share News (SSE)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices in London opened lower Monday, following a string of weak economic data from the US, China and Japan and ahead an key week for UK politics and a European Central Bank policy decision on Thursday."As markets enter a new week, the general theme remains one of caution, particularly following the recent spate of weak economic data (last Friday's US payrolls report and Chinese and Japanese data over the weekend) and with major risk events on the horizon this week, with the Brexit vote on Tuesday and ECB," said analysts at Lloyds. The FTSE 100 index lost 20.30 points, or 0.3%, to 6,757.81 in early trade Monday. The FTSE 250 was down 100.29 points, or 0.6%, at 17,743.82 and the AIM All-Share was 0.3% lower at 894.44.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 11,474.70, while the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 15,952.68. The Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,183.85.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.2% and 0.6%, respectively.On the London Stock Exchange, Smith & Nephew was the best blue-chip performer at the open, up 2.2% after Morgan Stanley raised the medical devices maker to Overweight from Neutral.Informa was up 1.7% after JPMorgan upgraded the exhibitions and business information group to Overweight from Neutral.NMC Health was up 1.1%. The UAE-based private healthcare operator reiterated its previous annual earnings guidance, citing supportive industry dynamics and continued positive operational developments.For 2018, NMC Health said it expects to record 24% year-on-year growth in total revenue, with organic revenue growth of 15%. Total revenue in 2017 stood at USD1.60 billion, with organic growth have contributed roughly 16% that year.A 24% increase suggests 2018 revenue will be just short of USD2 billion.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2018 is predicted to total USD480 million, up 36% from USD353.4 million a year ago.NMC Health said it expects 2019 revenue growth of around 22% to 24% and Ebitda growth of 18% to 20%. Excluding impact of acquisitions completed in 2018, revenue growth for 2019 is anticipated to be 12% to 13% and Ebitda growth around 15%.At the other end of the large cap index, Centrica was down 3.9% at 134.20 pence after Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the British Gas parent to 115p from 135p and reiterated its Sell rating on the stock.SSE was down 3.3% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the energy supplier to Hold from Buy.Elsewhere, Interserve was down 65% after the cash-strapped outsourcing firm confirmed its shareholders face "material dilution" under a deleveraging plan its intends to announce in early 2019. However, Interserve said it continues to trade in line with its expectations for 2018On Saturday, The Financial Times had said Interserve's shareholders could lose everything under the terms of a rescue finance plan being discussed between Interserve and creditors. Under the terms of the proposed refinancing plan, banks and other debt holders would take a significant loss as part of a debt-for-equity swap, while public shareholders would be virtually wiped out, the newspaper said.On Sunday, Interserve confirmed its lenders are engaged in constructive discussions regarding the agreement and implementation of a deleveraging plan, which it said would deliver a strong balance sheet.The company said that the plan is likely to involve the conversion of a substantial proportion of its external borrowings into new equity. And, if implemented in this form, the deleveraging plan could result in "material dilution" for current Interserve shareholders.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 2.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended down 1.3%.China's foreign trade slowed in November, as the world's second-largest economy languishes amid a trade war with the US, data released Saturday showed. Exports grew 5.4% year-on-year to USD227.4 billion, considerably slower than the 16% growth in October. Meanwhile, imports rose 3% - the slowest rate in at least a year - to USD182.7 billion. In October, China's imports had shown a robust 21% year-on-year growth.The weaker-than-expected data is the latest sign of the trade war's growing impact on the Chinese economy. The US has imposed tariffs on USD250 billion worth of Chinese goods, roughly half of all of the country's exports to the US.China's consumer price index rose 2.2% year-on-year in November, official data showed Sunday. Consumer inflation slowed from 2.5% in October. Food prices rose 2.5% year-on-year last month, while prices for health care climbed 2.6%, the National Bureau of Statistics said.China summoned the Canadian ambassador over the detainment in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, which it called "vile in nature", state media reported Sunday. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum on Saturday to protest Meng's detention by Canadian authorities, Xinhua news agency said.Meng was arrested in Vancouver the previous Saturday at the request of US authorities while she was transiting from Hong Kong en route to Mexico. The US alleges she breached US sanctions on Iran and is seeking her extradition. China urged Canada to free Meng and protect her rights, or face "grave consequences," Le said.Japan's economy contracted between July and September more than initial data showed, the government said. Gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of 2.5% and not the 1.2% as initially reported, according to government figures. The revised data confirmed the world's third-largest economy was weighed down by a string of natural disasters in the third quarter, putting it at risk of falling into a recession.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.2%, S&P 500 down 2.3% and Nasdaq Composite down 3.1%.US stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure on Friday as trade concerns loomed, the yield curve continued to flatten and the latest jobs report missed estimates, raising concerns of a slowing economy.The pound was lower, quoted at USD1.2729 from USD1.2750 at the London equities close Friday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May faces a make-or-break week, with the crunch vote in Parliament on the Brexit deal she negotiated with the EU set for Tuesday.In the latest developments, the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK could unilaterally decide not to leave the European Union. The court found that if the UK does decide to revoke Article 50 and stop the Brexit process it would remain in the EU as a member state and the revocation must be decided following "democratic process".In a statement, the ECJ said: "In today's judgment, the full court has ruled that, when a member state has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU, as the UK has done, that member state is free to revoke unilaterally that notification."In economic news, Black Friday did little to help beleaguered brick-and-mortar shops as footfall on the UK high street dropped in November, the latest BRC/Springboard Retail Footfall Monitor showed.Figures covering the four weeks between October 28 and November 24, showed a 3.2% drop in total retail footfall on the previous year, when it had grown by 0.2%.This is the 12th consecutive month of footfall decline in a year that has seen physical retailers suffer from increasing online competition.On Black Friday itself, November 23, there was a 5.4% drop in footfall, Springboard reported. What's more, footfall was down 5.5% during the entire Black Friday week, "more than in any week of the month", it said.The economic events calendar on Monday has UK industrial and manufacturing production data and monthly GDP numbers at 0930 GMT.