LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Stocks End Higher As Trade Tensions Cool

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended in the green on Wednesday snapping a three-day losing run as fears over the trade spat between the US and China eased. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3%, or 23.55 points at 7,627.40. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.4%, or 90.60 points, at 20,926.38, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.3%, or 2.96 points, at 1,095.64.The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.5% at 12,951.27, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.6% at 19,166.18, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.1% at 12,898.03."Stock markets are broadly positive as investors are a little less fearful about a global trade war. Beijing softened its stance overnight, but there was a report recently that they will have a strong countermeasure against the tariffs imposed by the US," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.On the London Stock Exchange, Ocado Group ended as the best blue chip performer up 6.1% at 1,006.60 pence after Peel Hunt reiterated its Buy rating and nearly tripled its price target on the online grocer, saying it has the potential to become the "Microsoft of retail logistics". The stock has surged in value since the start of this year alone, and is up nearly fourfold since the start of 2017 to date. Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco closed up 3.5% and 3.0% respectively after Liberum started coverage on the cigarette makers with Buy ratings. Analysts at the brokerage said shares in Imperial Brands and BAT are oversold and represent a highly attractive entry point for investors.Sky closed up 3.2% after Twenty-First Century Fox entered into an amended and restated merger agreement with Walt Disney Co.Under the new terms, Disney has agreed to acquire Fox assets for a price of USD38 per Fox, including Fox's stake in the London-listed pay-TV company. This price represents a significant 35% increase over the purchase price of approximately USD28 per share included in the Disney Merger Agreement when it was announced in December 2017. BT Group closed up 2.6% after Jefferies upgraded the telecommunications company to Buy from Hold following positive comments from Ofcom over progress in its Openreach separation. However analysts at Jefferies believe BT's dividend may be cut in order to accommodate the UK regulator's concerns. At the other end of the large cap index, Berkeley Group ended as the worst performer down 5.9% after the London-focused housebuilder warned of a sharp profit drop for the current financial year due to a subdued property market and lower transaction volumes.Berkeley expects profitability in the year ending April 30, 2019, to be down 30%, but also predicts it to return to"more normal levels" following the 2019 financial year. The group increased its pretax profit guidance for the five year period from May 1, 2016, to April 30, 2021 to GBP3.38 billion from GBP3.30 billion. The increase in five-year profit guidance was attributed to land sites acquired in the period from 2010 to 2013."There are no shocks or surprises here but the guidance is clear that Berkeley is set to become a business with much lower profits than we have been in the last two years - this was always going to be the case as the substantial profits made in central London were never likely to be replaced," said Shore Capital's Robin Hardy. Peers Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey ended down 0.5%, 0.6% and 0.1% respectively. The pound was higher against the dollar at USD1.3201 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3179 at the close Tuesday, after UK Prime Minister Theresa May won a crucial vote on parliament's role in approving the final deal for Britain leaving the EU, after making concessions to pro-EU rebels in her Conservative party.The Commons, parliament's elected main house, rejected an amendment by 319 to 303 votes that would have allowed lawmakers to control the Brexit process if May's government were unable to reach agreement with the EU.The Bank of England will announce its latest monetary policy decision, alongside the release of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes, at midday on Thursday.The central bank is expected to hold interest rates amid confused signals over when to expect another rate hike and mixed data from the UK. An increase in Bank Rate - which was initially forecast to materalise in May before a disappointing first quarter GDP outturn - is now seen in August, or perhaps later.There will not be a press conference with BoE Governor Mark Carney immediately after, but he will give a speech at the Lord Mayor's bankers and merchants dinner at Mansion House in the evening at 2115 BST."The main reason for the recent weakness in sterling against the dollar appears to be rising fears of protectionism. While we do not expect tomorrow's meeting of the UK's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to do much to boost the exchange rate, we do think that the prospects for monetary policy in the UK and the US will drive it back up before the year is over," said analysts at Capital Economics.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%. The euro was firm against the dollar at USD1.1581 at the European equities close, versus USD1.1579 the prior day.Stocks in New York were broadly higher at the London equities close. The S&P 500 index was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%, but the DJIA was down 0.2%.In economic news, existing home sales in the US unexpectedly decreased in the month of May, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors.NAR said existing home sales fell by 0.4% to an annual rate of 5.43 million in May after plunging by 2.7% to a downwardly revised 5.45 million in April.The drop surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to climb to an annual rate of 5.52 million from the 5.46 million originally reported for the previous month.Brent oil was higher quoted at USD75.05 a barrel at the London equities close from USD74.71 at the close Tuesday, ahead of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting at the end of the week. Iran signalling that OPEC may fail to agree on output limits, production policy is likely to dominate the agenda at the meeting, which takes place in Vienna, Austria, on Friday. "Despite an initial rebuttal of a production increase proposed by Russia (via Saudi Arabia), we are seeing a gradual shift in tone which will likely see some form of rise in output come Friday. For markets, the line in the sand seems to be the 1 million barrels a day level. Anything less than that will be seen as a compromise given the Saudi target is closer to 1.5 million barrels a day," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.Gold was quoted at USD1,274.01 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,274.60 late Tuesday, as demand for safe haven assets waned.In the economic events calendar on Thursday there is UK public sector borrowing figures at 0930 BST and US housing price index data at 1400 BST. In the UK corporate calendar there are full year results from mobile phone and electrical goods retailer Dixons Carphone and half year results from defence countermeasures maker Chemring Group.