LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 Climbs Supported By Standard Life

LONDON (Alliance News) - With the absence of further tariff talk on Tuesday, stocks in London managed to rack up some strong gains by midday amid a number of blue-chip corporate earnings."A momentary respite in the flow of trade tariff news has given stock markets in Europe the chance to focus back on the basics: company earnings. Most European indices are trading higher, even the FTSE, despite a mixed bag of earnings," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.The FTSE 100 index was up 0.8%, or 64.68 points, at 7,728.46 at midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.3%, or 62.04 points, at 20,701.42. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 1,087.11.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.9% at 13,102.60, the Cboe UK 250 up 0.3% at 18,803.19, and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.3% at 12,313.73.In UK data on Tuesday, house prices rose at a faster pace in July to hit a record level, data from Halifax and IHS Markit showed. House prices grew 1.4% month-on-month in July, higher than both the 0.9% rise in June and a forecast 0.2% rise for July.The average house price hit a new record of GBP230,280 in July. During the May to July period, house prices were 1.3% higher than in the preceding three months.In data from the eurozone, Germany's output slumped more than forecast in June and exports stagnated, adding to signs global trade tensions are weighing on Europe's largest economy.Industrial production in Germany contracted by a hefty 0.9% in June from May, when it grew by 2.4%, the Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, said on Tuesday. Analysts had expected production to drop by a more modest 0.5% in June from a previously estimated 2.6% rise in May.In mainland Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.8% at midday.US stocks are seen joining European counterparts with a higher open on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones and Nasdaq both pointed up 0.3% and the S&P 500 seen 0.2% higher.To come in the US corporate calendar, Walt Disney reports after the US market close, along with picture messaging app owner Snap. In the economic calendar is the Redbook index at 1355 BST.Standard Life Aberdeen was the best performer in London's FTSE 100 at midday, up 3.4% as it saw a fall in adjusted interim earnings but accelerated the timing of its share buyback.Adjusted pretax profit from continuing operations - a key profit measure for the company - for the interim period totalled GBP311 million, down 12% from GBP355 million recorded a year ago. The drop was attributed to lower fee-based revenue, which fell by 7% to GBP966 million.The investment manager declared a 7.30 pence per share 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.At the bottom of the index was Intertek, sliding 5.6% after the testing, inspection and certification services provider reported a slowing rate of organic growth over the first half, though posted a rise in profit. The FTSE 100 constituent 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 organic growth of 3.4% over the first half of the year was short of its 4% forecast, as well as the 4% delivered for the first four months of 2018.Hargreaves Lansdown was 3.6% lower despite the fund supermarket reporting a rise in annual profit and resuming the payment of a special dividend.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.Online grocer Ocado declined 2.5% after Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight.InterContinental Hotels was down 2.0% as the Crowne Plaza operator 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, or RevPar - a key profit metric for the hotel industry - increased by 3.7%.Domino's Pizza was the worst performer in the FTSE 250, slumping 10% as it registered a loss for its international business over the first half of the year."These results will be received with something between grudging acceptance and mild disappointment...Domino's is executing well in the UK with strong growth in sales and resilient earnings. But overseas, where the group has been expanding rapidly through acquisitions as well as new openings, profits have come in below par," commented Steve Clayton, manager of the Hargreaves Lansdown Select UK Growth Shares fund, which holds a position in the stock.For the six months to July 1, Domino's revenue grew to GBP259.1 million from GBP211.3 million year-on-year, as pretax profit fell to GBP41.7 from GBP46.2 reported a year ago as high wages in Norway hiked administrative costs to GBP52.7 million from GBP30.6 million year-on-year. Domino's total sales were up 13% to GBP616.6 million from GBP546.5 million year-on-year, with UK & Ireland sales up 8.1% to GBP565.1 million from GBP522.7 million. The company's international business recorded an adjusted operating loss of GBP1.8 million.Ferrexpo gained 3.5% after JPMorgan raised the iron pellet producer to an Overweight rating from Neutral previously.