LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Imperial Brands And Oil Majors Send Stocks Higher

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday with the FTSE 100 driven by gains from Imperial Brands and oil behemoths as investors digest US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.The FTSE 100 index closed up 1.3%, or 96.77 points, at 7,662.52, its highest since early February. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.4%, or 87.23 points, at 20,681.95, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.4%, or 3.71 points, at 1,075.13.The Cboe UK 100 index closed up 1.2% at 12,987.50. The Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.3% at 18,935.98, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.5% at 12,669.61."The FTSE 100 has soared today, boosted by the energy firms on expectations that higher oil prices will result from the Iran deal. It may not be quite as clear-cut as that, at least not in the short term, since oil's remarkable run has now reached the stage where it is being talked about outside of financial markets," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp. "This is usually a sign that the rally has at least peaked for the time being. Even if the Iranians do find themselves cut off from the global oil market, soaring production elsewhere means that there will be plenty of others willing to step into the breach," Beauchamp added. On the London Stock Exchange, Imperial Brands ended as the best blue chip performer up 5.4% after investors looked past the tobacco company's fall in interim earnings, opting instead to focus on a brighter outlook for the second half of the year. Peer British American Tobacco closed up 2.5%.Imperial Brands recorded a 7.6% decrease in operating profit to GBP833 million for the six months to March compared to GBP902 million last year. Pretax profit fell to GBP600 million from GBP804 million a year before. Revenue fell slightly, declining 0.1% to GBP14.28 billion from GBP14.30 billion the year before.However, Imperial Brands said it expects a stronger performance in the second half with further share gains alongside improving price and mix momentum. It has also sharpened its strategic focus and identified potential capital reallocation opportunities, targeting up to GBP2.00 billion in cost savings within the next 12 to 24 months.London's heavyweight oil majors ended among the blue chip risers, tracking spot oil prices higher, with Brent hitting its highest level since late 2014 of USD77.40 a barrel in afternoon trade, in the wake of Trump's announcement on Iran. The North Sea benchmark was higher quoted at USD76.90 a barrel at the London equities close from USD74.15 at the close on Tuesday. BP closed up 3.9%, Royal Dutch Shell 'B' closed up 3.4% and Shell 'A' ended up 3.3%Trump on Tuesday said he would initiate "the highest level" of new sanctions unless Iran fully complies with the spirit of its agreement to never pursue nuclear weapons."The so-called Iran deal was supposed to protect the US and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear bomb, a weapon that will only endanger the survival of the Iranian regime," Trump said. "In fact, the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and over time reach the brink of a nuclear breakout".In response, Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US President of telling "more than 10 lies" during the Trump announcement speech."You heard last night that the president of America made some silly and superficial comments," Mr Khamenei said in a statement on his official website on Wednesday.Iran noted the US tensions will not effect its oil production, but traders may be anticipating some supply interruptions from the Middle East.At the other end of the large cap index, Burberry Group ended as the worst performer down 6.1% after Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a vehicle owned by Belgian billionaire Albert Frere, sold its entire holding in the fashion house. GBL sold its 6.6% stake - representing 27.6 million shares - via an accelerated bookbuild, which was first announced after the market close on Tuesday. Proceeds from the disposal amounted to approximately GBP498 million.Compass Group closed down 4.8% after the contract caterer reported a fall in first half profit due to foreign exchange effects.Revenue for the six months to March slipped 0.8% to GBP11.4 billion from GBP11.5 billion, while operating profit fell 2.7% to GBP853 million from GBP877 million. On an underlying basis, these two figures were up 4.8% and 4.5% respectively. Pretax profit for the period dipped to GBP792 million from GBP831 million last year.G4S closed down 1.5% after the security services provider said first-quarter organic revenue fell 2% as expected due to the mobilisation of a large retail solution contract in North America. G4S, which recorded year-to-date sales of GBP500 million, added its North American retail cash management business continued to build a large sales pipeline and make significant progress with pilot programmes at major retailers, providing confidence in the business' growth prospects.In the FTSE 250, Renishaw ended as the star performer up 15% after the engineering company raised its revenue and profit expectations for the full year.Renishaw's revenue from continuing operations for the first three quarters of the current financial year was up 12% to GBP429.9 million from GBP384.3 million in the same period last year. Its metrology business was the standout performer with revenue growth of 13% to GBP406.6 million from GBP361.4 million. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP97.6 million, a 39% increase from GBP70.1 million in the same period last year. Renishaw is increasing its full-year revenue and profit forecast given in its half-year interim report. It now expects full-year revenue to be in the range of GBP585 million to GBP610 million, up from previous guidance of GBP575 million to GBP605 million.At the other end of the midcap index Greggs ended as the worst performer down 15% after the bakery chain said weak customer footfall and severe weather conditions dented sales performance for the first 18 weeks of 2018 and it remains cautious in respect of sales outlook for the remaining part of the year.The company also said underlying profits for the full-year are likely to be at a similar level to last year due to the more cautious outlook and year-to-date trading conditions. In domestic political news, UK Prime Minister Theresa May repeatedly stressed her desire for the UK to leave the customs union as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned that her "divided" Cabinet is failing to make progress on Brexit.Corbyn asked the prime minister if she agreed with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's view that plans for a customs partnership are "crazy", before pushing her to detail her preferred option.But May sidestepped the questions and instead focused on attacking Corbyn's record, claiming he now wanted the UK to stay in the customs union despite spending "an entire career" opposing such an arrangement.She also accused Labour of "letting Britain down once again" after telling MPs the Opposition's Brexit strategy meant it would fail to meet its pledge to strike trade deals.The pound was firm quoted at USD1.3577 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3505 at the same time on Tuesday, ahead of the Bank of England's 'Super Thursday'. Headlining the calendar on Thursday at 1200 BST the central bank will simultaneously release its monetary policy statement, Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes, alongside the May Inflation Report.This will be followed by a press conference with BoE Governor Mark Carney at 1230 BST.Over the past month dovish comments from Carney, a weaker-than-expected first-quarter gross domestic product print, and a broadly disappointing set of Purchasing Managers' Index readings dampened expectations of an interest rate hike. At the beginning of April, expectations for a May hike were high. The BoE in February had said it would look to raise rates "somewhat earlier and to a somewhat greater extent" than signalled in November.However, consensus forecasts tumbled to around a 50% chance of a May hike after Carney in April said he was "conscious" there are other meetings over 2018."If the BoE were to raise interest rates this would come as major surprise now. But with the pound correcting itself over the past three weeks, we don't think that BoE's likely inaction would necessarily lead to further declines for the pound, for this outcome is mostly priced in now," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada."What the pound does next will surely depend on the BoE's revised growth and inflation targets and hints about the timing of the next rate rise. So, we could actually see the pound go higher even if the BoE were to hold rates steady," Razaqzada added. In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt also ended up 0.1%. The euro was flat at USD1.1855 at the European equities close, against USD1.1854 the prior day.Gold was up quoted at USD1,314.20 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,307.60 late Tuesday.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.Still to come, Rupert Murdoch's film and TV company Twenty-First Century Fox reports earnings after the New York close. In Thursday's UK corporate calendar telecommunications firm BT releases full-year results, while grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets, clothing retailer Next, gold miner Randgold Resources, and RSA Insurance Group publish first-quarter results.Trading statements are due from broadcaster ITV, insurer Beazley, building products company SIG and housebuilder Barratt Developments, with interim results from online travel agent On the Beach Group.In the economic calendar on Thursday, the RICS housing price balance is at 0001 BST, with China's producer and consumer price indices both due at 0230 BST. UK manufacturing production is at 0930 BST, along with industrial production and the trade balance due at the same time, with the NISER GDP estimate at 1300 BST.In the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST with the consumer price index due at the same time.Stock markets in France and Germany are closed for Ascension Day.