LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Defensive Stocks Boost FTSE; Brexit Vote Looms

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 gained more than 80 points on Tuesday, outperforming counterparts in Europe and US as London's blue-chip index got a boost from defensive stocks and oil majors.The FTSE 250 also managed to rack up some strong gains despite a drag from Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons and postal operator Royal Mail.Focus in the UK after the London market close lies on Westminster ahead of this evening's vote as UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she is ready to reopen negotiations with the EU on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.The FTSE 100 index closed up 86.83 points, or 1.3%, at 6,833.93. The FTSE 250 ended up 167.93 points, or 0.9%, at 18,702.61, and the AIM All-Share closed down 2.73 points, down 0.3%, at 908.91.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.2% at 11,601.33, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.9% at 16,701.36, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 11,208.13."With just a handful of stocks in negative territory, traders dived into the FTSE ahead of the commons vote this evening," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index. "The FTSE quickly rallied to 6,850 and has steadily moved sideways since," she said. "Defensives were the order of the day as investors sought the relative safety of tobacco stocks and utilities, amid US-Sino trade tensions and ahead of the Brexit vote in the commons."Among tobacco stocks, British American Tobacco closed up 5.7% while Imperial Brands rose 2.7%. Utility firms such as Centrica and SSE rose 2.2% and 2.1% respectively. The pound was quoted at USD1.3152 at the London equities close Tuesday, soft compared to USD1.3161 at the close on Monday, though having spiked to just below USD1.32 earlier in the session.Ahead of this evening's 7pm vote, UK Prime Minister Theresa May told her Cabinet she is ready to reopen negotiations with the EU on the Brexit withdrawal agreement in an attempt to get a deal through parliament.May said that, following this month's crushing 230-vote defeat in the House of Commons, it was clear that only reopening the agreement and changing the backstop will win parliamentary support for her EU withdrawal deal.In a change to previously announced plans, she addressed MPs at the start of debate on a series of proposed amendments to the deal, urging them to back proposals from Tory Graham Brady to replace the backstop with "alternative arrangements".Her hopes of victory for the Brady amendment were boosted when former foreign secretary and Brexit supporter Boris Johnson said he would "gladly" vote for it - if it meant the withdrawal agreement being reopened and legally binding changes being made to the backstop.At the same time, however, the chances of the Commons derailing her plans have also been also heightened after Labour confirmed it will back a cross-party amendment to push the formal Brexit departure day back from March 29 to the end of this year and put parliament in the driving seat on the way forward.In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.8%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.1%.The euro stood at USD1.1435 at the European equities close Tuesday, flat against USD1.1437 at the same time on Monday.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1% but the S&P 500 index down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%. To come in the US company calendar on Tuesday are earnings from iPhone maker Apple and online auction site eBay after the market close. Brent oil was quoted at USD61.36 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday from USD59.66 late Monday.Oil rose on Tuesday after the US sanctioned Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in an effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to cede power to rival Juan Guaido.Petroleos de Venezuela is a primary source of Venezuela's income and foreign currency.The company "has long been a vehicle for corruption," the US Treasury said as it unveiled the sanctions, citing schemes designed to embezzle billions of dollars "for the personal gain of corrupt Venezuelan officials and businessmen."London's oil majors tracked the price of Brent higher, with BP closing up 1.6% while Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares closed up 1.1%, while 'B' shares ended 1.0% higher. It was also a positive session for gold as the precious metal continued to climb to fresh seven-month higher, quoted at USD1,310.47 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday against USD1,302.89 at the close on Monday.Gold miner Fresnillo followed the price of gold, closing up 2.4%.Another blue-chip riser on Tuesday was DS Smith, ending up 3.4% after JPMorgan reinstated an Overweight rating on the packaging firm. Peer Smurfit Kappa closed up 2.9%, while Mondi ended 0.6% higher.Ending comfortably as the session's worst performer in the FTSE 100 amid broad-based gains was Hargreaves Lansdown, down 6.3% after missing consensus. Hargreaves Lansdown's net revenue in the six months to the end of December climbed 9.4% year-on-year to GBP236.4 million from GBP216.0 million, while pretax profit increased 4.4% year-on-year to GBP153.4 million from GBP146.9 million.As of the end of December, Hargreaves' assets under administration fell 6.2% to GBP85.9 billion from GBP91.6 billion at June 30. Hargreaves Lansdown achieved growth in client numbers, up 45,000 to 1.1 million, but net new business inflows were GBP2.53 billion, down 24% year-on-year.Consensus estimates expected Hargreaves to record first half profit of GBP156 million, based on expected net new business of GBP2.6 billion and closing assets under administration of GBP88 billion.Bunched at the bottom of the FTSE 250 were PZ Cussons, Royal Mail and Domino's Pizza Group.PZ Cussons, shares tumbling 15%, said it will look to limit its exposure to Nigeria after "extremely challenging" trading.The Imperial Leather soap maker registered a 23% fall in revenue to GBP111.3 million in Africa for the six months to November. Group revenue fell by 10%, or 4.6% constant currency, to GBP335.1 million. Like-for-like revenue also slid 4.6%.To help streamline its activities and focus on Personal Care and Beauty operations in Europe and Asia, the company has begun some strategic initiatives, it said, which include "limiting exposure to Nigerian volatility".Royal Mail fared little better, ending 13% lower after the postal operator narrowed its annual profit guidance amid a weaker-than-expected performance in its letters business.For the nine months ended December 23, revenue for the UK Parcels, International & Letters business fell 1% on an underlying basis.This was after revenue from letter delivery fell 6%, offsetting a 6% rise in parcel revenue. Letter volumes fell 8% with parcel volumes up 6%.Royal Mail now expects full-year operating profit before transformation costs of between GBP500 million and GBP530 million, narrowed from the range of GBP500 million to GBP550 million given previously. Pizza delivery firm Domino's shed 8.7% after reducing its annual profit expectations following weak performances in Norway and Switzerland.Domino's now expects underlying pretax profit to be at the lower end of the consensus range of GBP93.9 million and GBP98.2 million.This new guidance came after fourth quarter like-for-like sales in the UK rose 4.5%, though Norway's comparable sales were down 6.4% and Switzerland down 7.7%.Helping to offset these losses were gains for housebuilder Crest Nicholson and healthcare services provider UDG Healthcare.UDG Healthcare rose 7.4% after reporting ts first quarter saw profit "well ahead" of the year prior, with the firm expecting growth for the full-year.For the three months ended December, constant currency pretax profit is expected to be "well ahead" of the same period the year prior, without providing specific figures.The stronger performance was driven by a operating profit at its Sharp clinical services business which was "significantly" ahead of the year prior. This followed continued "strong momentum" in the US as well as a "weak" comparative period the year before.Crest Nicholson shares gained 6.1% despite the home builder reporting a fall in annual profit. Pretax profit for the 12 months to October 31 fell to GBP176.4 million from GBP207.0 million the year before, but sales including joint ventures did increase 7% to GBP1.13 billion.Crest Nicholson's volumes for the year rose to 3,020 homes, up 3%, while forward sales were 11% ahead year-on-year in mid-January at GBP639.4 million.In Wednesday's UK corporate calendar, eastern and central Europe-focused airline Wizz Air releases third quarter results and recruitment firm Staffline puts out annual results. In the economic calendar on Wednesday, the British Retail Consortium shop price index is due at 0001 GMT while French GDP is at 0630 GMT and Gfk consumer confidence for Germany at 0700 GMT. Later in the morning there is mortgage approval data for the UK and eurozone consumer confidence at 1000 GMT, followed by German CPI at 1330 GMT.In the US, private payroll processor ADP releases employment change figures for January, a precursor to Friday's monthly nonfarm payroll data, while the Federal Reserve announces its latest monetary policy decision at 1900 GMT. This will be followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.