LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended broadly lower on Wednesday as investors tentatively await US President Donald Trump's rendezvous with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.7%, or 50.79 points at 7,658.26. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.5%, or 99.27 points, at 20,753.60, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.7%, or 7.43 points, at 1,101.12.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 0.9% at 12,977.72, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.6% at 18,902.02, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.1% at 12,403.26.Trump lashed out at lawmakers opposed to his tariff policies just hours before the key meeting on trade with Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House. Trump called politicians opposed to his trade tactics "weak" and suggested they were making it more difficult to negotiate."When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity," Trump said on Twitter.He urged Americans to "be cool" as he negotiates: "The end result will be worth it!"Trump also pledged to implement USD12 billion worth of aid for US farmers which get caught in the crossfire in the country's trade war with China in a possible move to appease Republican party members ahead of the US mid-term elections later this year. Juncker appeared self-assured ahead of the meeting in Washington, a day after Trump called the EU a "big abuser" of trade relations."We are not in the dock here. And therefore we don't need to defend ourselves," the commission chief told German public broadcaster ZDF late Tuesday."Up until now emerging market China has been the principal focus of Trump's war on trade. However, attention is now turning to the EU. A ramping up of trade tension and tariffs between the US and the EU could have more serious consequences, potentially leading to a crisis or even a full-blown recession," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.On the London Stock Exchange,
3i Group ended as the best blue chip performer up 2.8% after the private equity investor said it made a "good start" to the year as it increased its first quarter net asset value per share. The company's total return for the three months to June 30 stood at 5.1%, and 3i made cash realisations of GBP337 million in the quarter.
Taylor Wimpey closed up 1.8% and
Barratt Developments, up 1.3% after Berenberg started coverage on the housebuilders with Buy ratings.
ITV closed up 0.9% after the broadcaster said reality show Love Island and the football World Cup were behind its 9% increase in half-year external revenue. For the six months to June 30, the company posted external revenue up 8.9% to GBP1.59 billion from GBP1.46 billion reported in the comparative year-ago period. Revenue from advertising increased 2%, "as expected", with a 48% growth in online advertising revenue. Non-advertising revenue was up 14% to GBP958 million. At the other end of the large cap index,
Fresnillo ended as the worst performer down 7.3% after the miner tweaked its annual production guidance, raising gold guidance but lowering silver, following its second quarter production report. Silver production in the second quarter of the year was up 5.7% on year, whilst production over the first six months of 2018 was up 9.7% to 30.8 million ounces. This was due to the start up of operations at San Julian JM in July 2017. Looking to 2018 as a whole, Fresnillo sees total gold production between 900,000 ounces to 930,000 ounces - previously guided between 870,000 ounces and 900,000 ounces - while silver is seen slightly lower, between 64.5 million ounces to 67.5 million ounces, from the previously guided 67 million ounces to 70 million ounces.In the FTSE 250,
Brewin Dolphin ended as the best performer up 6.4% after the investment manager said its total funds increased in the third quarter, amid a record level of quarterly total income.In the three months ended June 30, Brewin Dolphin total funds increased 6.6% to GBP42.3 billion from GBP39.7 billion at the end of the previous quarter. Total income increased 8.9% in the quarter to GBP84.2 million from GBP77.3 million. The company's fee income in the third quarter increased 7.6% to GBP59.2 million from GBP55.0 million the year before. At the other end of the midcap index,
Wizz Air closed down 8.5% after the central and eastern Europe-focused airline said profit in the first quarter of its current financial year decreased, hurt by higher costs and air traffic disruptions. For the three months ended June 30, pretax profit declined 14% to EUR52.1 million from EUR60.5 million in the same period the previous year, while revenue rose 18% to EUR553.4 million from EUR469.3 million. The lower pretax profit came in due to the increased expenses.
Indivior closed down 7.7% after the drugmaker said it was unable to provide new guidance to replace that which it withdrew earlier this month due to the brief market entry of Indian rival Dr Reddy's Laboratories' generic version of Indivior's blockbuster buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual film.Compounding its woes, Indivior warned of a bigger-than-expected hit from the launch of Dr Reddy's opioid addiction treatment variant. The impact of which "could be materially higher" than the USD25 million hit on revenue previously forecast earlier this month, the company said.Indivior posted a fall in net revenue, down 5% to USD524 million from USD553 million a year ago. Operating profit dropped to USD200 million from USD244 million.The pound was flat against the dollar quoted at USD1.3145 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3140 at the close Tuesday.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.9%. The euro stood marginally lower at USD1.1675 at the European equities close, against USD1.1686 late Tuesday, ahead of the European Central Bank's interest rate announcement on Thursday. The ECB Governing Council meets in Frankfurt announcing its policy decision at 1245 BST. This will be followed by a press conference with President Mario Draghi at 1330 BST.At the last meeting, in June, the council decided to set an end date for its quantitative easing programme. The monthly bond-buying scheme will be halved to EUR15 billion a month from October - from its current rate of EUR30 billion - until the end of the 2018, with purchases then planned to stop entirely.Stocks in New York were broadly higher at the London equities close as investors digested a raft of earnings updates from prominent companies. The DJIA was down 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.In US corporate news, General Motors reported second quarter net income attributable to its common shareholders rose to USD2.38 billion or USD1.66 per share from USD1.66 billion or USD1.09 per share a year ago. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were USD2.59 billion or USD1.81 per share.Looking ahead, the car maker forecasts full-year earnings below analysts' estimates, citing increases in commodity costs as a result of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and the impact of unfavourable foreign exchange. GM shares were down 7.4% in New York.Coca-Cola Co reported that its second-quarter comparable earnings per share from continuing operations grew 3% to USD0.61, impacted by a 2% currency headwind. Earnings per share from continuing operations grew 68% to USD0.53. The soft drinks giant's second quarter net revenues declined 8% to USD8.90 billion, impacted by a 15% headwind from the refranchising of company-owned bottling operations. Coca-Cola shares were up 2.1% on Wall Street. Aerospace giant Boeing also reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates but warned of lower than expected margins for its defence business in 2018. Boeing shares were down 2.2%. "The early declines in Boeing and General Motors highlights the stark contrast that is likely to exist in the US, where trade tariffs drag manufactured goods while services remain relatively unscathed," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.Still to come in the US earnings calendar, social media company Facebook reports after the market close. Brent oil was firm quoted at USD73.94 a barrel at the equities close from USD73.72 at the close Tuesday. Gold was a touch higher quoted at USD1,228.33 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,225.70 late Tuesday.The economic calendar on Thursday has South Africa producer prices at 1030 BST and US durable goods data at 1330 BST.In a busy UK corporate calendar on Thursday there are full year results from distiller
Diageo and pay-TV company
Sky. There are also half year results from oil major
Royal Dutch Shell, Anglo-Swedish drugmaker
AstraZeneca, tobacco firm
British American Tobacco, asset manager
Schroders, medical devices maker
Smith & Nephew and information and analytics group
RELX.
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