LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 Up As No-Deal Brexit Fears Sinks Pound

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were higher at midday on Wednesday with the FTSE 100 given a boost by the weak pound, which continued to sink over "No-deal" Brexit concerns.The FTSE 100 index was up 0.9%, or 67.58 points, at 7,786.06. The FTSE 250 was up 0.5%, or 93.16 points, at 20,768.80 , and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 1,088.08.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 13,194.74, the Cboe UK 250 was was up 0.3% at 18,863.57, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,331.85."While the rest of Europe wilted in the face of the US's latest tariffs on Chinese goods, the FTSE benefited from the continuation of sterling's awful August," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.On the London Stock Exchange, Paddy Power Betfair was the worst blue chip performer after the bookmaker said its profit grew slightly in the first half of 2018, but lowered its earnings expectations due to uncertainty over Australian tax reforms and its FanDuel acquisition. The company reported pretax profit of GBP106 million for the six months to the end of June, up 4% from GBP102.3 million the year before. Underlying pretax profit dropped, however, to GBP172.2 million compared to GBP177.6 million. Looking forward, Paddy Power Betfair said it now expects Ebitda for the full-year to come in between GBP460 million and GBP480 million, due to the the introduction of additional taxes in Australia and losses from the FanDuel daily fantasy sports business. In 2017, underlying Ebitda was GBP473 million. Glencore was down 0.5% after the commodities house said it would be focusing on returning cash to shareholders and reducing debt in future, following "record" interim earnings in what was a fairly rocky six months for the firm.Revenue for the first half of the year rose to USD108.55 billion from USD100.29 billion last year, as pretax profit grew to USD3.72 billion from USD2.87 billion.Glencore's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation grew 23% to USD8.27 billion, though this came slightly short of analyst consensus of USD8.54 billion adjusted Ebitda. In the FTSE 250, TI Fluid Systems was the best performer at midday up 6.5% after the automotive fluid manufacturer said interim profit climbed 4.6% although foreign exchange rates provided a headwind in the first half of the year. For the six-month period to June 30, the company's revenue dropped 0.5% to EUR1.76 billion from EUR1.77 billion a year ago. However, on constant currency basis, revenue rose 4.5%. The company said the reported revenue growth was driven by "a combination of new business awards, volume and mix". Pretax profit rose to EUR124.0 million from EUR118.5 million reported in the comparative year ago period. TI Fluids maintained its outlook for the rest of 2018, expecting further revenue growth - excluding the impact of currency movements. At the other end of the midcap index, Hill & Smith Holdings was the worst performer down 21%, with around GBP241 million wiped off its total market value.The infrastructure products and galvanising services company reported a drop in first half profit. In the six months ended June 30, Hill & Smith's pretax profit decreased 14% to GBP28.9 million from GBP33.5 million the year before. Revenue increased 1% to GBP295.4 million from GBP291.8 million. Hill & Smith's "difficult" first half was down to a poor performance in the UK, which resulted from bad weather in the first quarter, delays to road projects and a "more cautious" investment environment. The company also said the volatile pricing of zinc commodity prices dented operating margins.Spire Healthcare was down 11% after Berenberg double downgraded the private healthcare company to Sell from Buy. On Monday, Spire said it expects 2018 profit to be "materially lower" than 2017 after declines in its NHS business and increased investment.UDG Healthcare was down 5.7% as the healthcare service provider said it sold its Aquilant division to H2 Equity Partners for EUR23 million. UDG said it will receive EUR20.5 million as an initial cash consideration, while a further EUR2.5 million is deferred and conditional on the division achieving its gross profit targets for the financial years 2018 and 2019. UDG added that it will recognise an impairment charge of USD10 million on the asset value of Aquilant as at March 31. It will also recognise a USD34 million charge relating to "foreign exchange losses held in equity".Bellway was down 3.3% after the housebuilder warned a slowdown in UK house prices has put pressure on margins.The Newcastle-headquarted firm warned that there would be "more moderate" growth in house prices in the year ahead."The decline or stagnation of UK house prices has shown little signs of abating, with government measures to limit the buy-to-let market compounding a market that has been hurt by Brexit fears," said IG Group's Josh Mahony. In spite of this, Bellway said it "broke through" the 10,000 homes barrier for the "first time in its history", completing the sale of 10,307 new residential dwellings in the year, a 6.9% increase on last year.The pound was down against the dollar quoted at USD1.2882, compared to USD1.2953 at the London equities close on Tuesday.Sterling slipped below the USD1.29 mark for the first time since September 2017. UK Prime Minister Theresa May challenged the Scottish government to get behind her Brexit proposals, instead of trying to "sow the politics of division".May insisted all parts of the UK should support the Chequers deal, agreed by the cabinet on Britain' departure from the EU.May spoke out after holding talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - with the SNP leader saying afterwards the discussions had failed to ease her concerns that Britain could be forced to quite the EU without a formal agreement."My concern about the increasing prospect of a no deal Brexit certainly wasn't allayed in that meeting," Sturgeon said. "The pound failed to benefit from last week's Bank of England rate rise and markets are now turning their attention to the Brexit process, which will likely dominate trends in GBP for the remainder of this year," said said Oanda's Dean Popplewell.In Paris the CAC 40 was flat while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%The euro was higher against the dollar at USD1.1601, against USD1.1590 at the European equities close Tuesday. Stocks in New York were set for a flat open on Wednesday following a higher close on Tuesday. Ahead in the US earning calendar, Twenty-First Century Fox will report earning after the market close in New York. Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co has agreed to acquire a chunk of Rupert Murdoch's media empire for USD71 billion.Late Tuesday, Disney reported a 23% increase in profit for the third quarter on Tuesday, driven largely by growth in park and resorts as well as studio businesses.However, Disney's earnings for the quarter fell short of Wall Street estimates, as did revenue.