Virgin Money Holdings Share News (VM.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended just marginally lower on Monday, having eased off the worst levels of the session, amid fears of a US-China trade war."With both the US and China set to impose a raft of tariffs on 6 July, there is likely to be an increasingly unstable and anxious market environment as we progress towards that deadline," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony."However, equally as important is the huge uncertainty we are seeing build in Germany, with Angela Merkel clashing with the leader of their coalition partner," Mahony added.The FTSE 100 index closed down just 2.58 points at 7,631.33 on Monday, easing off its intraday low of 7,601.60. The FTSE 250 ended flat, or 5.92 points lower, at 20,999.60, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.1%, or 0.83 of a point, at 1,100.77.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 12,935.09, the Cboe 250 closed down 0.1% at 19,199.82, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.5% at 12,890.10.Over the weekend, China announced retaliatory tariffs on USD34 billion worth of goods from the US, which will come into effect on July 6. An additional USD16 billion will be imposed later.Beijing said the tariffs were being imposed "to protect our legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the basic principles of international law."This came after the White House on Friday announced a 25% tariff on USD50 billion worth of Chinese goods over "unfair trade practices.""With the June FOMC meeting behind us and the lack of meaningful US data points this week, it will be the risk sentiment driven by the rising/falling (likely the former) probability of escalating trade wars that should be the key driver of USD crosses this week," said analysts at ING.The pound was down quoted at USD1.3246 at the London equities close Monday, compared to USD1.3294 at the close on Friday.The euro stood at USD1.1607 at the European equities close Monday, lower against USD1.1623 at the same time on Friday.In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to host Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte later Monday for his inaugural visit to Berlin amid a Europe-wide dispute on migration.The debate about how the EU should deal with an influx of asylum seekers was reignited last week, when Italy refused to accept a charity-run vessel carrying more than 600 African migrants.Conte arrives in Berlin during a dramatic debate between Merkel and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who has threatened to introduce stronger police checks at the country's borders without the chancellor's approval.In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.9%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 1.4%.Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA down down 0.7%, the S&P 500 index down down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%. Brent oil was quoted at USD74.40 a barrel at the London equities close Monday from USD73.11 late Friday.Gold was quoted at USD1,278.30 an ounce at the London equities close Monday against USD1,279.70 at the close on Friday.In London, RSA Insurance and Aviva closed up 2.1% and 1.3% respectively after The Sunday Times reported German insurance giant Allianz is on the hunt for a large scale acquisition, with the two blue-chip stocks identified as potential takeover targets.At the bottom of the index was Ocado, ending its first day trading in the FTSE 100 down 3.0%The online grocer - which was promoted to the large-cap index in last month's index review - was cut to Underperform from Buy by Merrill Lynch.Packaging firm DS Smith closed 1.4% lower despite reporting a strong rise in annual profit and revenue.For the 12 months to April 30, the company recorded pretax profit of GBP292 million, up 21% from GBP264 million in the year ago period, on a revenue of GBP5.76 billion and GBP4.78 billion, respectively.DS Smith declared a final dividend of 9.8 pence per share, down from 10.6p paid a year ago. Total payout for the 2018 financial year stood at 14.7p, down from 15.2p paid a year ago.In the FTSE 250, defence contractor Cobham closed 3.9% higher after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.Drugmaker Indivior closed up 1.7% after receiving a temporary restraining order from the US New Jersey District Court for rival Reddy's Laboratories to cease the launch activities of a generic alternative to Indivior's opioid-addiction drug. The restraining order will remain in place pending a hearing on a preliminary injunction motion filed by Indivior on Friday, due to unresolved patent litigation with Reddy's.Virgin Money closed 1.2% lower at 350.67p after it agreed to be taken over by fellow mid-cap lender CYBG.The combination of the two FTSE-250 listed lenders will see Virgin Money shareholders receive 1.2125 new CYBG shares for each Virgin share, valuing each Virgin share at 371 pence. The offer values Virgin Money as a whole at GBP1.70 billion, and will give the combined entity a value of around GBP4.40 billion.The deal represents a 19% premium to the closing price of 312p per Virgin Money share on May 4, the last business day prior to the start of the CYBG offer."Today's share price moves are considerably more muted to the original market reaction, suggesting that traders pretty much accepted the CYBG offer as a done deal and priced in much of the implied upside," said Accendo Markets analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants.Hatsaturjants continued: "A muted reaction to the merger also reflected disappointment that it wasn't sweetened by any cash (remember, cash is king in M&A), as well as the limited improvement on the original offer."Shares in CYBG closed down 2.1% on Monday.In the UK corporate calendar for Tuesday, there are full year results from equipment rentals firm Ashtead Group, womenswear retailer Bonmarche Holdings, regional airline Flybe Group and footwear retailer Footasylum. There is also third quarter results from plumbing & heating products supplier Ferguson. In the economic events calendar there is eurozone current account and construction output figures at 0900 BST and 1000 BST respectively. There is also US housing starts data at 1330 BST. In addition, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaks at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal at 0900 BST.