LONDON (Alliance News) - London shares ended broadly higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 beneftiing from weakness in the pound and gains from Ocado, housebuilders and BP. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.1%, or 9.53 points at 7,035.85. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.5%, or 100.91 points, at 18,667.73, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.7%, or 6.48 points, at 960.85.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 11,947.18, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.6% at 16,936.45, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 11,456.05."Global markets are exhibiting a high degree of uncertainty at the moment, with volatility remaining elevated despite European markets closing out the session in somewhat indecisive fashion," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.The pound was down quoted at USD1.2727 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2793 at the close Monday.Sterling slipped to a 10-week low against the dollar as Brexit concerns overshadowed Monday's UK Budget statement."Losses for the pound have grown more prominent of late, with fears over a possible no-deal Brexit coupled with the heightened realisation the UK may not find it easy to replicate the current EU relationships with nations around the world," Mahony added. In domestic political news, Prime Minister Theresa May said her government's new Budget was not part of a plan to pave the way for an early general election."No. We are not preparing for another general election," May said in response to a journalist's question during a visit to the Norwegian capital, Oslo. "That would not be in the national interest."The Budget unveiled by Chancellor Philip Hammond pledged the end of austerity measures and new injections of capital into the UK's economy after the country leaves the EU.On the London Stock Exchange,
Ocado Group ended as the best blue chip performer, up 5.0% after the online grocer revealed the details of its partnership with US supermarket chain The Kroger Co. Following the announcement of the partnership in May, Kroger will order 20 Customer Fulfilment Centres over the first three years of the agreement, with three centres to be ordered before the end of 2018. Ocado for its part will install and maintain the mechanical handling equipment needed in the centre to maintain an agreed level of throughput. Ocado said it expects the earnings impact of the agreement to be neutral in its current financial year. Ocado will finance Kroger's customer fulfilment centres in a similar basis to previous deals, up to the point when the final funding structure has been finalised. Housebuilders were also in the green in the wake of Monday's Budget which saw the popular Help to Buy scheme extended.From April 2021, a new Help to Buy equity loan scheme will run for two years before closing in March 2023.
Persimmon closed up 2.3%,
Taylor Wimpey, up 3.5%,
Berkeley Group, up 3.1% and
Barratt Developments, up 2.4% on Tuesday.
BP closed up 2.0% after the oil major reported its strongest quarterly profit in five years, helped by higher crude oil prices and production from the ramp-up of major projects.BP has begun five major Upstream projects so far in 2018, with expansion at the Gulf of Mexico's Thunder Horse and the starting-up of the Western Flank B site in Australia coming in after the third quarter ended. An increase in production as well as the oil price rise has led BP to post replacement cost profit for the third quarter of USD3.09 billion, more than double the USD1.38 billion it posted the same period a year prior. Compared to the second quarter of 2018, the figure was 73% higher. Looking ahead, BP expects fourth-quarter production to rise on the third quarter, due to the acquisition of BHP Billiton assets.At the other end of the large cap index,
Reckitt Benckiser ended as the worst performer, down 4.7% after the household goods firm reported a drop in third quarter revenue due to a temporary manufacturing disruption in Europe.In the three months to September 30, the consumer goods company posted total net revenue of GBP3.12 billion, down from GBP3.21 billion recorded the year before.Reckitt said that, while the disruption at its European Infant Formula & Child Nutrition manufacturing plant was temporary and resolved within the quarter, it is likely to have some residual impact on the final quarter of the year.Revenue from Reckitt's Infant Formula & Child Nutrition division fell 8.5% to GBP659 million from GBP720 million year-on-year.In the FTSE 250,
IG Group ended the best performer, up 5.2% after the online trading platform appointed Non-Executive Director June Felix as its new chief executive officer with immediate effect.Felix's appointment follows the departure of Peter Hetherington in late September, though at that time IG said he would remain with the FTSE 250 constituent until the end of the financial year to help with the handover.At the other end of the midcaps,
Hunting was the worst performer, down 5.2% after the oilfield services firm said that following steady revenue in the third quarter of 2018, it is confident in trading for the full year to remain in line with management and market expectations.However, Hunting also warned that although the US onshore market remains robust, geopolitical tensions and lower confidence in commodity prices slowed US offshore and international markets.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.4%. The euro was marginally lower at USD1.3626 at the European equities close, against USD1.1377 late Monday, after data showed eurozone economic growth halved in the third quarter amid global trade disputes, Italy's budget chaos, and problems in the automotive industry.Gross domestic product expanded only 0.2% sequentially after rising 0.4% in the second quarter, preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed.The economy logged its weakest expansion in four years, while economists had forecast the growth rate to remain at 0.4%.Year-on-year, GDP growth slowed to 1.7% from 2.2% in the preceding period and below the forecast of 1.8ECB President Mario Draghi last week said the euro area economic recovery is proceeding along its solid and broad-based path despite prominent uncertainties linked to the global trade such as the threat of protectionism.Meanwhile, Italy's economy stagnated in the third quarter, following second quarter's 0.2% growth.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with investors looking to pick up stocks at reduced levels after bargain hunting efforts in the previous session were thwarted by renewed concerns about the trade war between the US and China.On Monday, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell to six-month closing lows and the Dow slumped to its lowest closing level in well over three months.The DJIA was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.Moreover, President Donald Trump's prediction the US will reach a "great deal" with China on trade has offset some of the concerns, although the president warned of more tariffs if a deal is not possible."I think that we will make a great deal with China and it has to be great, because they've drained our country," Trump told Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Monday.The comments from Trump came after a report from Bloomberg said the US is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if next month's talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war.Trump and Xi are expected to meet on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning November 30.In US corporate news, General Electric reported that its third-quarter adjusted Industrial earnings per share declined 38% year-over-year to USD0.13 from USD0.21.Adjusted Industrial earnings were USD1.16 billion, down 36% from prior year. Adjusted EPS was USD0.14 compared to USD0.21. Adjusted earnings declined 35% to USD1.18 billion. GE said it plans to reduce its quarterly dividend from USD0.12 to USD0.01 per share beginning with the next dividend declaration, which is expected to occur in December. The change will allow GE to retain approximately USD3.90 billion of cash per year compared to the prior payout level, it said.GE is currently down 8.4% in New York.Pfizer narrowed some of its 2018 financial guidance and now expects adjusted earnings per share for 2018 to be in the range of USD2.98 to USD3.02, compared to the prior outlook of USD2.95 to USD3.05 per share.The US drug maker's guidance range for revenue was narrowed to a range of USD53.0 billion to USD53.7 billion from a range of USD53.0 billion to USD55.0 billion. This primarily reflected lower-than-anticipated Essential Health revenue, which in turn was primarily due to continued legacy Hospira Sterile Injectable Pharmaceuticals product shortages in the US. Still to come in the US earnings calendar, social media company Facebook's earnings report is coming up after the close on Tuesday.Brent oil was quoted sharply lower at USD75.55 a barrel at the London equities close from USD77.17 at the same time the prior day. Oil prices dipped for a second day running, with rising trade tensions between the world's two largest economies and conflicting signals about global supply trends weighing on the commodity."Production from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US reached 33 million barrels per day together for the first time last month, and that is weighing on the price too," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.Gold was down quoted at USD1,223.27 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,229.10 late Monday, as the dollar firmed and demand for the safe haven asset waned. The economic events calendar Wednesday has Germany retail sales numbers at 0700 GMT, France inflation readings at 0800 GMT, Italy unemployment data at 0900 GMT and eurozone inflation and unemployment figures at 1000 GMT. In addition, the Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision at 0100 GMT. The UK corporate calendar on Wednesday has third quarter results from emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, clothing and homewares retailer Next and IT provider Computacenter.
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