LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Brexit And US-China Trade Keep Markets On Edge

LONDON (Alliance News) - Renewed concerns about US-China trade relations and ongoing Brexit worries combined with some negative UK company news to depress the mood of investors in London, sending share prices lower at midday Tuesday. Weighing on the FTSE 100 was NMC Health, following a broker rating downgrade, while tour operator TUI tumbled in a negative read-across after smaller peer Thomas Cook posted a fall in annual earnings and decided to skip its dividend as a result.The FTSE 100 was down 18.82 points, or 0.3%, at 7,017.18 at midday. The FTSE 250 was down 36.33 points, or 0.2%, at 18,682.79 and the AIM All-Share down 0.3% at 928.32.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 11,907.76, the Cboe UK 250 down 0.3% at 16,803.44, but the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.2% at 11,407.87.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.4% lower at midday. The US is pointed towards a lower start, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 seen down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq set to shed 0.4%.Market sentiment was dented after US President Donald Trump vowed to press ahead with hiking tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Monday it was "highly unlikely" he would hold off on plans to increase tariffs to 25% from the current 10% on USD200 billion of Chinese imports.In response, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told journalists on Tuesday that China was willing to resolve economic and trade issues through negotiations. Trump's comments come four days ahead of a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina."These may just be bold statements ahead of the meeting in the hope of pressuring China into a deal, but they're certainly not empty threats. Trump hasn't been deterred so far and while the final tariffs may cause more harm to the consumer at home, I think he'll view this as a short-term price worth paying," said Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.Trump also turned his ire toward the UK government. In a blow to UK Prime Minister Theresa May, her Brexit plan a "great deal" for the EU which could jeopardize the UK's ability to strike up trade agreements with the US. Trump told reporters: "As the deal stands she may not, they may not, be able to trade with the US. And, I don't think they want that at all. That would be a very big negative for the deal."In response, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The political declaration we have agreed with the EU is very clear we will have an independent trade policy so that the UK can sign trade deals with countries around the world - including with the US."Trump's comments come amid confirmation that MPs will vote on May's Brexit deal on December 11 after five days of debate. The timing gives May a fortnight to avert what threatens to be defeat at the hands of scores of Conservative rebels.The pound was down quoted at USD1.2750 at midday, compared to USD1.2814 late Monday.Oanda's Erlam said: "May now has two weeks to sell this deal to the country and, more importantly, the MPs who will vote on it. I think she's really going to struggle to get it passed at the first time of asking on December 11 which likely means more turbulence for the currency."To come in the economic events calendar on Tuesday is the US S&P/Case-Shiller house price index at 1400 GMT, with the Redbook index due just before this, at 1355 GMT. At the bottom of the FTSE 100 was NMC Health, off 4.1% after Jefferies cut its rating on the stock to Underperform from Hold.Tour operator TUI sank 4.2% after peer Thomas Cook managed to undershoot its own annual guidance and suspended its dividend. Thomas Cook, by far the worst performer in the FTSE 250 index, with shares sinking 23%, said it expects to report underlying earnings before interest and taxes of GBP250 million for the year that ended in September, down GBP58 million, or 19%, year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. The result includes GBP28 million in legacy and non-recurring charges, comprising the write-down of historic hotel receivables, flight disruption costs, and company restructuring costs. "The sustained heatwave restricted our ability to achieve the planned margins in the last quarter," explained Thomas Cook Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser.Given the reduction in earnings, the firm has decided to suspend its dividend. For the previous financial year, Thomas Cook paid out 0.6p per share. Amid falling profit and payout, stockbroker AJ Bell also worried about Thomas Cook's rising debt pile. "The big concern is the spike in net debt to GBP389 million which is 45% higher than the consensus analyst forecast of GBP267 million. Analysts had forecast for the business to move into a net cash position in 2020 and that now seems unlikely unless there is a radical improvement in trading," AJ Bell commented. Among the risers on Tuesday was Coca-Cola HBC, up 5.1% and sat atop the FTSE 100 after a double-upgrade by UBS to Buy from Sell. Intertek was up 1.6% after the product testing and certification company said it remains on track to deliver on its 2018 targets following revenue growth at constant rates in the first ten months.Revenue in the ten months to the end of October totalled GBP2.32 billion, up 0.5% year-on-year. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose by 4.8%.There was appetite for baker Greggs, shares up 13% after the company posted a rise in like-for-like sales and expected an increase in annual profit. The sausage roll maker reported sales for the eight weeks to November 24 up 9.0%, with like-for-like shop sales up 4.5%. Greggs said it anticipates its pretax profit for 2018 to come in at "at least GBP86.0 million". A year ago profit was GBP81.8 million.