LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended mixed with the FTSE 100 not far off record highs through weakness in the pound, while
Taylor Wimpey provided a boost to UK housebuilders.The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2%, or 12.00 points at 7,722.98. The large cap index's record closing high currently stands at 7,778.64.The FTSE 250 ended down 0.1%, or 16.03 points, at 20,784.92, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.1%, or 1.39 points, at 1,082.92.The Cboe UK 100 index closed up 0.3% at 13,120.12. The Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 19,042.90, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.3% at 12,783.52.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt down 0.1. On the London Stock Exchange, Taylor Wimpey ended the session as the best blue chip performer up 3.7% after the housebuilder said it plans to increase its dividend in 2019, as it released new five-year goals to 2023. Taylor Wimpey said from 2019 it will increase its dividend to 7.5% of group net assets, up from 5%. For 2017, Taylor Wimpey paid a dividend of 13.79 pence per share, while for 2018 it plans to pay 15.3p. The company said its goals for the next five years include maintaining operating margins at around 21-22% and increasing return on net operating assets to 35%. Market conditions and current trading were in line with management expectations, the company added. Peers
Barratt Developments and
Persimmon closed up 2.1% and 1.8% respectively.
easyJet closed up 3.1% as the second best performer after the budget airline posted a narrowed loss for the first half on revenue which topped GBP2 billion.Total revenue came in at GBP2.18 billion for the six months to March 31, up from GBP1.83 billion last year. Of this, GBP1.73 billion was passenger revenue and GBP454 million ancillary revenue. The carrier's pretax loss in the half narrowed to GBP68 million from GBP236 million, while it posted a headline pretax profit excluding Tegel of GBP8 million, turning from last year's loss of GBP212 million.In addition, easyJet said it sees a "significant" opportunity to bolster its holiday offerings. The company said it will develop "closer and strong relationships" with selected hotel operators. Further, easyJet will introduce an "expanded" loyalty scheme offer" to reach more of its customers and improve its existing offering, Flight Club.At the other end of the large cap index,
Vodafone ended as the worst performer down 3.6% after the telecommunications firm said it expects a slowdown in underlying profit growth this year and announced the departure of its Chief Executive Vittorio Colao after 10 years at the helm. Gold miners
Fresnillo and
Randgold Resources closed down 3.4% and 1.7% respectively tracking spot gold prices lower.The precious metal was sharply lower quoted at USD1,291.85 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,319.06 late Monday."The pressure on gold was actually building up even before the US data hit the wires. Despite the weakness in the stock markets, the perceived safe haven metal finally took out the liquidity that was resting below USD1,300 in a sharp move as the bulls lost control of the 200-day average support at USD1,306. Sentiment turned negative towards gold ever since government yields started to push higher. As the benchmark 10-year US debt yield climbed above 3.06% today, it made little sense for speculators to buy something that pays no interest," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.The pound was marginally lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.3513 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3594 at the same time on Monday, despite positive headline UK unemployment figures. The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at a 43-year low and real wages increased amid falling unemployment in the first quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.The ILO jobless rate remained at 4.2% in the first quarter, but down from 4.6% a year ago. This was the joint lowest since 1975. The number of unemployed decreased by 46,000 to 1.42 million in the first quarter.At the same time, the employment rate was 75.6%, the highest since comparable records began in 1971.In the first quarter, average earnings excluding bonuses advanced 2.9%, the highest since 2015. In the same period, inflation averaged 2.7%.At the same time, earnings of employees including bonuses grew 2.6% from the last year.However, sterling fell to an intraday low of USD1.3451 against the greenback in afternoon trade - its lowest level in four months amid well-recieved US retail sales numbers. "Today has seen the economic agenda kick into gear, with UK employment taking the headlines amid a sharp rise in unemployment claims and average earnings. While last month's decline in retail sales and inflation may have driven greater hesitancy from the Bank of England, today's deterioration in the jobs market will certainly add greater credence to the notion that we are unlikely to see another rate rise for many months yet," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.The euro was down at USD1.1864 at the European equities close, against USD1.1975 the prior day, as data showed the eurozone economy expanded at a slower pace in the first quarter.Gross domestic product grew 0.4% sequentially in the first quarter, slower than the 0.7% expansion seen a quarter ago. The rate came in line with the estimate released on May 2. On a yearly basis, GDP growth slowed to 2.5%, as estimated, from 2.8% a quarter ago. Moreover, data from Destatis showed that German economic growth halved in the first quarter. GDP grew 0.3% sequentially, slower than the 0.6% expansion seen in the previous quarter.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close as the dollar strengthened and the US 10-year treasury yield hit its highest level since 2011 - as it crept above 3%. The DJIA was down 1.0%, the S&P 500 index down 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.1%.In economic news, retail sales in the US increased in line with economist estimates in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department.The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.3% in April after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8% in March. Economists had expected sales to rise by 0.3% compared to the 0.6% increase originally reported for the previous month.The slowdown in the pace of retail sales growth came as sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers inched up by just 0.1% in April and spiking by 2.1% in March.Brent oil was quoted at USD78.75 a barrel at the London equities close from USD78.23 at the close on Monday. The North Sea benchmark hit an intraday high of USD79.42 its highest since late 2014. In Wednesday's corporate calendar, there is Japan's GDP at 0050 BST, and industrial production at 0530 BST. Germany's CPI is at 0700 BST, with the same from the eurozone due at 1000 BST. In the US, MBA mortgage applications are at 1200 BST with housing starts at 1330 BST and industrial production at 1415 BST.In the corporate calendar on Wednesday, fashion house
Burberry releases full-year results, while transport operator
National Express, paper and packaging firm Mondi and housebuilders
Galliford Try and
Crest Nicholson release trading statements.
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