WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices were broadly flat by midday Thursday, despite sharp market declines in the US and Asia that had led to a lower open, with steel maker Evraz among the London blue-chips keeping the FTSE 100 index positive."Somewhat contrary to expectations, a strange calm has descended across European markets, belying the volatility of the US and Asian sessions. US futures are looking perkier, and European indices are holding their ground for the time being. The problem is that most of the selling of late has taken place in the US, and until American investors have decided to stop selling and start buying, European markets will remain under pressure," said IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp.The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% or 6.80 points at 6,969.78 by midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.4% higher, or 66.02 points, at 18,472.50. The AIM All-Share was down 0.5% at 972.31.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 11,826.37, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 16,747.07. The Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.4% at 11,520.30.In the UK, Evraz was leading the index of large-caps, up 4.1%. The steel maker said it expects improvements in the final quarter of 2018 as it finalises maintenance and repairs at its plants in Russia. Crude steel output fell by 10% in the three months to the end of September to 3.1 million tonnes from 3.5 million tonnes produced in the second quarter of 2018. The result was hurt by lower pig iron production, which declined 11% quarter-on-quarter to 2.4 million tonnes from 2.7 million tonnes.The crude steel output is expected to be flat in the final quarter of 2018 due to planned plant maintenance, while production of pig iron is anticipated to grow by between 3% and 5% following a completion of scheduled repairs at Evraz's consolidated West-Siberian metallurgical plant.Lloyds Banking was up 2.3% as it said it remains on track to meet annual targets, despite a drop in third-quarter profit.For the nine months to September end, Lloyds pretax profit increased 9.6% to GBP4.93 billion from GBP4.50 billion. In the same period, the bank's net income increased 2.3% to GBP13.42 billion from GBP13.12 billion the previous year. In the three months ended September, pretax profit decreased 6.7% to GBP1.82 billion from GBP1.95 billion the year before, due to the significantly higher restructuring costs. Lloyds posted restructuring costs of GBP284 million, a 59% increase from the GBP148 million paid in the same period a year before.Anglo American was up 1.5% after Societe Generale raised its rating on the mining stock to Buy from Hold. Pulling the FTSE 100 in the other direction was WPP, down 17%. The advertising firm reported a drop in third quarter revenue due to slowdown in its North American businesses and said it intends to sell a stake in its market research unit Kantar Group. WPP reported an 0.8% fall in revenue for the three months to the end of September to GBP3.76 billion from GBP3.79 billion for the same period the year before. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose by 1.2% and life-for-like revenue by 0.2%, with acquisitions providing 1.0% growth.Revenue particularly declined in the company's North America businesses, down 1.5% on a reported basis, as client losses and spending reductions led to a slip in WPP's media and data investment, health & wellness, and communications businesses.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively.Germany's business sentiment weakened for the second straight month in October, survey data from Ifo Institute showed. The business climate index fell more-than-expected to 102.8 in October from 103.7 in September. The expected score was 103.2.Firms were less satisfied with their current business situation and less optimistic about the months ahead. The current conditions index came in at 105.9 versus 106.6 a month ago and forecast of 106.0. Likewise, the expectations index dropped to 99.8 from 100.9 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the indicator to decline to 100.4.The euro was quoted at USD1.1414 at midday, up slightly from USD1.1397 at the London equities close on Wednesday.Deputy Premier & Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Italy will not ask Russia or any other foreign partner to buy its sovereign debt in order to avoid a possible financial crisis. Italy's borrowing costs have surged since its populist government announced plans to defy eurozone budget discipline rules by raising the deficit, triggering a major confrontation with the European Commission."The budget will give stability and tranquillity to Italy; we do not need outside help," Salvini said on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Forum, a business conference in the northern Italian city of Verona. Salvini, who leads the far-right League party, said the budget was designed to respond to the needs of the Italian people, not to assuage financial markets. He said they needed to adapt to this reality.The pound was quoted at USD1.2906 at midday, essentially flat with USD1.2905 late Wednesday, at lows not seen since the start of September.Theresa May is pushing ahead with her Brexit agenda after facing down critics with an "emotional" address to Tory backbenchers. The UK prime minister appeared to steady her position after she delivered a "heartfelt" appeal for Conservative MPs to stand firm as EU withdrawal negotiations enter their frantic final phase. The move came as the government prepared to unveil parliamentary preparations for a no-deal Brexit in less than three weeks' time, according to The Times. A raft of legislation intended to deal with the consequences of the UK exiting the EU without an agreement will be launched in the second week of November, the newspaper reported. Despite May seeming to dampen speculation of an imminent bid to oust her with a well-received address to a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan predicted the PM only had months left in power.Wall Street is pointed towards a higher open on Thursday. The Dow Jones is called up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq up 1.7%.Before the US open are results from pharmaceutical company Merck & Co, while Alphabet, a parent company of Google, and online retailer Amazon will report earnings after the close.