LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 Retreats From Highs As Oil Stocks Weigh

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday Wednesday, with oil stocks weighing on the FTSE 100 and Centamin leading the FTSE 250.The FTSE 100 index was down 20.68 points, or 0.3%, at 7,502.39. The large cap index touched a six-month high on Tuesday.The FTSE 250 was up 18.95 points, or 0.1% at 19,926.97, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.66 points, or 0.3% at 961.22.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 12,732.18. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 17,839.16, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 11,496.51.In Paris the CAC 40 was flat, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.6%. "European indices have remained robust over the past week, and the small losses we have seen thus far are mainly due, in the FTSE's case, to a drop back for miners and oil stocks," said IG Group's Chris Beauchamp.On the London Stock Exchange, Land Securities was the best blue chip performer, up 2.7% after Deutsche Bank raised the property company to Buy from Hold.Associated British Foods was up up 1.8% after the sugar producer and owner of fast fashion retailer Primark delivered a "robust" set of half-year results and raised its interim dividend. Revenue for the 24 weeks to March 2 rose 1% to GBP7.53 billion, though pretax profit slipped to GBP515 million from GBP603 million a year ago. Pretax profit was hindered by GBP79 million in exceptional items, with AB Foods having booked no such charges a year ago. On an adjusted basis, profit was largely in line with a year prior at GBP627 million. Sales at clothing chain Primark were 4.4% ahead of a year ago, said AB Foods, driven by increased retail selling space partially offset by a 1.5% decline in like-for-like sales. Primark's operating margin came in at 11.7% versus 9.8% a year ago, resulting in a 25% year-on-year rise in adjusted operating profit to GBP426 million.AB Foods said its outlook for the current financial year is unchanged, with earnings per share expected to be in line with the year before. The company declared an interim dividend of 12.05 pence, up 3% on last year's 11.70p.At the other end of the large cap index, Anglo American was the worst performer, down 2.2%. The miner was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight by JPMorgan. BP was down 1.4% and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and Shell 'B' were down 0.9%. The oil majors were tracking spot oil prices lower quoted at USD74.35 a barrel Wednesday, down from USD74.46 at the London equities close Tuesday. Oil prices inched lower from multi-month highs on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency said markets are "adequately supplied" and that "global spare production capacity remains at "comfortable levels". The North Sea benchmark touched a six-month high of USD74.70 on Tuesday. Antofagasta was down 1.2%. The Chilean copper miner reaffirmed 2019 guidance after reporting a first-quarter performance in line with expectations.In the three months to March, Antofagasta's copper production rose 23% on the year before to 188,600 tonnes, but was down 14% on the final quarter of 2018.This met expectations, with the year-on-year rise due to higher ore throughput and expected higher grades. However, the fall from the previous three months was caused by maintenance at the Los Pelambres and Centinela mines and lower grades.Copper sales rose 31% year-on-year to 178,900 tonnes, but declined 18% quarter-on-quarter.In the FTSE 250, Centamin was the standout performer, up 11%, after the gold miner reiterated annual guidance as first quarter production beat expectations. The company's gold production from its flagship Sukari mine in Egypt was 116,183 ounces for the three months to the end of March, a 16% reduction compared to 137,600 ounces produced in the prior quarter. In the first quarter of 2018, gold output was 124,296 ounces. Centamin had expected to produce between 105,000 ounces and 115,000 ounces in the first quarter.Looking ahead, the company reiterated 2019 guidance of delivering gold production between 490,000 ounces and 520,000 ounces, at cash costs of between USD675 and USD725 per ounce produced. Centamin will release its three-year outlook, including 2020 and 2021 guidance, in the second quarter of 2019. Berenberg said this longer-term guidance should be received well by the market, given that uncertainty over the outlook for grades has knocked investor confidence in Centamin.The pound was quoted at USD1.2941 at midday, higher than USD1.2932 at the London equities close on Tuesday.On the economic front, UK public sector borrowing in March was GBP900 million higher than the same month a year ago, though borrowing in the latest financial year remained at a 17-year low.Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, in March was GBP1.7 billion, GBP900 million more than the same month a year prior. As a result, borrowing in March 2018 remained the lowest March borrowing since 2006, the Office for National Statistics said. Borrowing in the latest full fiscal year to the end of March, was GBP24.7 billion, GBP17.2 billion less than in the previous financial year and the lowest financial borrowing for 17 years. Elsewhere, the UK government formally launched its search to find the next governor of the Bank of England. Canadian Mark Carney has been at the helm of the central bank since the summer of 2013 and will step down at the end of January 2020. He previously agreed a seven month extension to his current contract to help ensure a "smooth" Brexit process. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said he believes the role of governor is "more important than ever" due to a "rapidly evolving economy". Among those tipped to succeed Carney include Andrew Bailey, head of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, BoE Chief Economist Andy Haldane, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, and Shriti Vadera, chair of Santander UK.Stocks in New York were set for a flat to higher open, with Boeing set to report first-quarter earnings before the market open. The aerospace firm faces its first key test as investors look to see how two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft have affected its earnings. The DJIA was called up 0.1%, while the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were called flat. US stocks ended higher on Tuesday as investors cheered upbeat earnings reports from a number of big-name companies, including Procter & Gamble, United Technologies, Twitter and Coca-Cola. In addition, the S&P 500 index reached a new all-time high Tuesday.Still to come in the US earnings calendar, social media company Facebook will report after the closing bell in New York.