LONDON (Alliance News) - US-China trade newsflow boosted stocks on Tuesday, while the pound's rebound stalled as UK Prime Minister Theresa May toured Europe to talk with her counterparts after the making decision to delay a planned parliamentary vote on her withdrawal deal. The FTSE 100 index closed up 85.40 points, or 1.3%, at 6,806.94. The FTSE 250 ended up 160.95 points, or 0.9%, at 17,653.26 and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.60 points, or 0.2%, at 887.31.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.5% at 11,590.67, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 1.1% at 15,793.00, but the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.5% at 10,986.06.Sentiment on Tuesday was lifted by some promising developments in the US-China trade saga. China and the US on Tuesday discussed a road map for future trade talks during a phone call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin."The two sides exchanged views on the implementation of the consensus on the meeting between the two heads of state and the promotion of the next economic and trade consultations' timetable and roadmap," China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.It is expected that Liu will soon travel to the US for talks, however tensions between the two countries have increased even further over the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington's request. The chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant, Meng Wanzhou, is facing extradition to the US for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran.Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, commented: "This is just the kind of news markets needed to hear to calm other ongoing tensions - the abandoned Brexit vote in the UK, protracted protests in France and swelling fears of an economic slowdown in the US."The pound was quoted at USD1.2517 at the London equities close Tuesday, down compared to USD1.2535 at the close on Monday. The pound had traded at USD1.2750 late Friday.Though sterling rose back above the USD1.26 mark on Tuesday following some upbeat UK wage data, the pound once again trended lower amid no signs of movement from the EU over Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told May during a meeting on Tuesday that "there will be no further renegotiation" of the Brexit deal May negotiated with Brussels. Sources who attended a meeting of Merkel's conservative bloc told dpa that the chancellor nonetheless expressed optimism that the deal would go through.Merkel's comments came after the European Commission president declared there was "no room whatsoever" for renegotiation on the deal. Jean-Claude Juncker said the Withdrawal Agreement on offer was the "best deal possible" and the "only deal possible" as the prime minister embarked on emergency Brexit talks with her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.May's trip to The Hague, Berlin and Brussels comes on the heels of Monday's decision to delay Tuesday's planned vote in parliament on her withdrawal deal amid fears of a defeat. May will bring her Brexit deal back before the House of Commons "before January 21", Downing Street said on Tuesday. Released earlier on Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics reported that average earnings in the UK increased by 3.3% in the year to October, accelerating from 3.1% the previous month. It was the highest figure since 2008 and is more than the latest inflation rate of 2.4%.The ONS said average weekly earnings, adjusted for price inflation, increased by 1.1%, including bonuses, compared with a year ago.The UK's jobless rate is now 4.1%, 0.2 percentage point lower than a year ago. Employment increased by 79,000 in the three months to October to 32.4 million, the highest since records began in 1971.In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 1.7%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 1.9%.The euro stood at USD1.1317 at the European equities close Tuesday, against USD1.1367 at the same time on Monday.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the DJIA up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%. Producer prices in the US unexpectedly showed a modest uptick in November, rising by 0.1% month-on-month following a 0.6% gain in October. Economists had expected prices to be unchanged.The Labor Department said that excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices rose by 0.3% in November following a 0.5% increase in October. Core prices had been expected to edge up more modestly, by 0.1%.Brent oil was quoted at USD60.71 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday, soft compared to USD60.87 late Monday.Gold was quoted at USD1,242.75 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday, down from USD1,245.50 at the close on Monday.In the FTSE 100, miner Anglo American closed up 5.5% as the best blue-chip performer after saying it expects 2018 output to beat existing guidance by 2%, with costs coming in 5% below.In November, Anglo American guided for 660,000 tonnes of copper in 2018, up from a previous range of 630,000 tonnes to 660,000 tonnes. In 2017, it produced 579,300 tonnes of copper.Guidance for 2019 was tweaked to the range of 630,000 to 660,000 tonnes from 600,000 to 660,000 tonnes previously, and for 2020 Anglo American expects copper production in the range of 620,000 to 680,000 tonnes from 600,000 to 660,000 tonnes previously.WPP shares gained 4.8% after the advertising giant unveiled its restructuring plan, admitting it has become "too unwieldy, with too much duplication".As part of a restructuring plan, the company intends to become a more client-centric organisation, have fewer but more integrated companies, and integrate further at a country level.WPP, which owns the JWT and Ogilvy advertising agencies, also will invest GBP15 million a year over the next three years in creative leadership, with a particular focus on the US, and will accelerate investments in technology.WPP will record GBP300 million in restructuring costs over the next three years as it implements the new business plan. It predicts savings of GBP275 million by the end of 2021, around half of which will be reinvested in the business. Ashtead advanced 3.6% after the equipment rental firm raised its annual guidance following a strong first-half. The blue-chip company posted pretax profit of GBP633.4 million for the six months to the end of October, up 19% from GBP536.9 million reported for the same period a year earlier. The result was driven by strong 18% revenue growth to GBP2.07 billion from GBP1.77 billion year-on-year.Looking forward, Ashtead said it intends to continue to focus on operational efficiency and improving margins."We expect full year results to be ahead of our prior expectations and the board continues to look to the medium term with confidence," said Chief Executive Geoff Drabble.Standard Life Aberdeen closed down 2.4% after RBC cut its rating on the asset manager to Sector Perform from Outperform. At the bottom of the FTSE 250 was Superdry, closing down 7.3% after Berenberg downgraded the fashion retailer to Hold from Buy.On Wednesday, Superdry releases its interim results. Half-year figures are also due from electronics retailer Dixons Carphone and Franco Manca pizza chain owner Fulham Shore, with trading statements from oilfield services firm John Wood and Dunhill cigarette maker British American Tobacco. In Wednesday's economic calendar, eurozone industrial production is at 1000 GMT while US CPI is at 1330 GMT.
UK dividends calendar - next 7 days
Friday 31 May | |
abrdn Property Income Trust Ltd | dividend payment date |
Albion Development VCT PLC | dividend payment date |
Alternative Income REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Ltd | dividend payment date |
Bankers Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Bellevue Healthcare Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
City of London Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
CQS New City High Yield Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Custodian Property Income REIT PLC | special dividend payment date |
CVC Income & Growth Ltd EURO | dividend payment date |
CVC Income & Growth Ltd GBP | dividend payment date |
Derwent London PLC | dividend payment date |
Diverse Income Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
EJF Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
Elementis PLC | dividend payment date |
Global Opportunities Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Greencoat UK Wind PLC | dividend payment date |
Henderson Far East Income Ltd | dividend payment date |
Henderson International Income Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Henry Boot PLC | dividend payment date |
Ibstock PLC | dividend payment date |
IWG PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets Ltd | dividend payment date |
Kier Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Marwyn Value Investors Ltd | dividend payment date |
Mobeus Income & Growth VCT PLC | dividend payment date |
NB Global Monthly Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Picton Property Income Ltd | dividend payment date |
Portmeirion Group PLC | dividend payment date |
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd | dividend payment date |
PRS REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Reach PLC | dividend payment date |
Robert Walters PLC | dividend payment date |
Senior PLC | dividend payment date |
Shaftesbury Capital PLC | dividend payment date |
Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) C Ltd | dividend payment date |
STV Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Target Healthcare REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Taylor Maritime Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Vesuvius PLC | dividend payment date |
Weir Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Monday 3 June | |
4imprint Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Ascential PLC | special dividend payment date |
Ashtead Technology Holdings PLC | dividend payment date |
BAE Systems PLC | dividend payment date |
J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan China Growth & Income PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Vector Capital PLC | dividend payment date |
Zotefoams PLC | dividend payment date |
Tuesday 4 June | |
GCP Asset Backed Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
Spectra Systems Corp | ex-dividend payment date |
Wednesday 5 June | |
Carr's Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Ecora Resources PLC | dividend payment date |
Epwin Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Genuit Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Glencore PLC | dividend payment date |
Porvair PLC | dividend payment date |
Sabre Insurance Group PLC | special dividend payment date |
Thursday 6 June | |
Aberforth Split Level Income Trust | ex-dividend payment date |
Abrdn European Logistics Income PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
AJ Bell PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Albion Technology & General VCT PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Assura PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Billington Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Bodycote PLC | dividend payment date |
Capital Gearing Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Computacenter PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Downing Strategic Micro-Cap Investment Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Energean PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Equals Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
FDM Group Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Gemfields Group Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Good Energy Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Helios Underwriting PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Henderson European Focus Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Informa PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Integrafin Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
J Sainsbury PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Jersey Electricity PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
JLEN Environmental Assets Group Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Johnson Matthey PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Judges Scientific PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Learning Technologies Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Legal & General Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Marshalls PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Menhaden Resource Efficiency PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Microlise Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
National Grid PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
National World PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Pets At Home Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Renew Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Restore PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Riverstone Credit Opportunities Income PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Robinson PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
RTC Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Smiths News PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
STS Global Income & Growth Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Topps Tiles PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Utilico Emerging Markets Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Vodafone Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Wickes Group PLC | dividend payment date |
WPP PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
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