LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Respite From Trade War Talk Sends Stocks Higher

LONDON (Alliance News) - A day free of further trade war talk allowed the FTSE 100 to end Tuesday's session at its best closing price in a week."We are not any closer to resolving the trade spat between the US and China, but in the ceasefire of tariffs and tough talk, traders have used to void to pick up stocks," commented David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.Supporting a rise for London's blue-chip index on Tuesday were gains for Standard Life Aberdeen, while the likes of Intertek, Hargreaves Lansdown and InterContinental Hotels provided a drag at the other end.The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.7%, or 54.70 points at 7,718.48 - its best closing price since last Tuesday. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.2%, or 36.26 points, at 20,675.64, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.1%, just 0.99 of a point lower, at 1,086.87.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.9% at 13,102.36, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.3% at 18,794.79, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.1% at 12,330.34.In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.8%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.4%."A strong start from the Dow Jones allowed the European indices to expand their gains as Tuesday went on. The US index jumped 150 points as the bell rang on Wall Street, the Dow leaping to 25,650 for the first time since the end of February," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.Stocks on Tuesday received some respite from the ongoing US-China trade saga, China on Friday having released a list of approximately 5,200 US products worth a total of USD60 billion that would be affected by customs duties of between 5% and 25% and President Donald Trump over the weekend defending his duties on China.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the DJIA up 0.7% as it gained 170.50 points, the S&P 500 index up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%. To come in the US are earnings from Walt Disney Co after Wall Street closes.The pound was quoted at USD1.2953 at the London equities close Tuesday, compared to USD1.2941 at the close on Monday.The euro stood at USD1.1590 at the European equities close Tuesday, against USD1.1564 at the same time on Monday.Brent oil was quoted at USD74.21 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday, continuing to edge higher from USD74.00 late Monday.US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned countries off doing business with Iran after Washington reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic.The US reimposed sanctions on Iran - a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as OPEC - at midnight eastern time in the US, as the Trump administration sought to increase pressure on Tehran after unilaterally pulling out of a nuclear deal reached with the international community in 2015.The first set of sanctions target the Iranian financial system, including Iranian government purchases of US dollars, gold trade and government bond sales. Further measures against the central bank are expected to follow.Meanwhile, gold was quoted at USD1,211.48 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday against USD1,211.05 at the close on Monday.Ending as the best performer in London's FTSE 100 on Tuesday was investment manager Standard Life Aberdeen, gaining 4.7%.Pretax profit for half year ended June 30 was GBP127 million, up 35% from GBP94 million in the year ago period, on a total income of GBP1.08 billion and GBP655 million, respectively. The investment company declared a 7.30 pence per share interim dividend, up 4.3% from 7.00p paid a year ago. It also intends to initially buyback GBP175 million worth of shares in the next few days, as part of its previously announced GBP1.75 billion capital return.Intertek finished the session 9.0% lower as it reported a rise in interim profit despite a fall in revenue.The testing, inspection & certification services provider recorded pretax profit of GBP196.6 million for the six months to June 30, up from GBP190.6 million in the year ago period, on revenue of GBP1.35 billion and GBP1.37 billion, respectively.Berenberg said Intertek's organic growth of 3.4% was light of its 4% forecast, as well as the 4% delivered for the first four months of 2018.Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown ended 4.2% lower despite resuming its special dividend and recording a rise in annual profit.For its financial year ended June 30, the company recorded a GBP292.4 million pretax profit, up 10% while total net revenue was GBP447.5 million, a 16% increase from the year prior.The blue-chip firm declared a final 22.1 pence per share divided, up 8.3% from 20.4p the previous year.Together with the interim and a special 7.8p dividend, which was not paid the year before due to a GBP50 million additional capital requirement ordered by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, its total payout in respect of the recently-ended year jumped 38% to 40.0p.InterContinental Hotels shed 3.0% after the Holiday Inn owner reported a rise in interim revenue to USD2.11 billion from USD1.96 billion last year, though pretax profit dipped 15% to USD303 million from USD357 million.IHG said the dip in profit was due to costs associated with a restructuring programme, amounting to USD32 million, and a one-off USD15 million cost arising from the termination of its US funded pension plan.Global revenue per available room - a key profit metric for the hotel industry - increased by 3.7%.Online grocer Ocado declined 1.3% after Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight, believing the company is now overvalued.Meanwhile, Ferrexpo benefited from a broker rating change, gaining 5.0% to be the second best performing mid-cap stock after JPMorgan lifted its rating on the iron ore pellet producer to Overweight from Neutral.At the bottom of the index was Domino's Pizza Group, closing down 9.9%.Domino's saw revenue grow in the first half of the year to GBP259.1 million from GBP211.3 million, but pretax profit slipped to GBP41.7 from GBP46.2 reported a year ago as high wages in Norway bumped up administrative costs to GBP52.7 million from GBP30.6 million year-on-year. Valve actuators maker Rotork ended 6.4% lower despite seeing half-year revenue climb 10% to GBP331.0 million from GBP299.7 million a year ago, and profit rising 12% to GBP54.7 million from GBP48.8 million."During the first half of the year we saw a continuation of the more favourable market trends seen during the last quarter of 2017 and the receipt of several significant orders," Chief Executive Officer Kevin Hostetler said.In the economic calendar on Wednesday, Chinese exports, imports and the trade balance are due at 0300 BST, while in the US in the afternoon are MBA mortgage applications at 1200 BST and EIA crude oil stocks at 1530 BST.In the corporate calendar, miner Glencore, bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair, and financial services company Prudential release half year results, while travel operator TUI publishes its third quarter results.