LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE Struggles Amid Subdued Mood; AB Foods Up

LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices in London remained in the red at midday on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 weighed down by the likes of ITV, easyJet and Whitbread.This was despite Sage Group and Associated British Foods climbing on well-received trading updates."Overnight, the demand for risk assets has taken a step back again, with global equities trading under pressure ahead of the North America session on investor concerns of rising tensions between the world's two largest economies, US and China," explained Dean Popplewell, vice president of market analysis at Oanda. The FTSE 100 was down 34.84 points, or 0.5%, at 6,827.84, while the FTSE 250 was 49.32 points lower, or 0.3%, at 18,437.41. The AIM All-Share was down 0.1% at 904.05.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 11,592.61, while the Cboe UK 250 was 0.3% lower at 16,472.33 and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.1% at 11,079.49.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 0.3% was lower Thursday midday.Sentiment was subdued on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei may have stolen the technology behind a robotic device that T-Mobile US used to test smartphones, citing sources familiar with the matter.US prosecutors are conducting a probe which is reportedly at an advanced stage and could lead to an indictment soon.Glenn Schloss, vice president of corporate communications at Huawei, declined to comment on the new allegations but told dpa that Huawei and T-Mobile had already settled their dispute over the robot in 2017. This follows a diplomatic dispute between Canada and China after the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, at the request of US authorities. The US suspects her of violating US trade sanctions against Iran.As a chaotic week for UK politics continues, Theresa May and senior Cabinet ministers are meeting representatives of other parties in a bid to find consensus to break the parliamentary deadlock over Brexit.However, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is refusing to meet May until she takes the prospect of a no-deal Brexit off the table.After seeing off a vote of no-confidence in her government on Wednesday, which came a day after a crushing defeat on her Brexit deal, May invited the other party leaders for individual talks to find a way forward on Brexit.Despite the turmoil, the pound was firm on hopes of avoiding a no-deal Brexit.The pound was quoted at USD1.2900 Thursday midday, firmer than USD1.2867 at the London equities close on Wednesday.It emerged that Chancellor Philip Hammond told business leaders on Tuesday that the 230-vote defeat for May's plans had raised the question of whether a no-deal Brexit could now be taken off the table.And a transcript of the call, obtained by the Daily Telegraph, recorded that the Chancellor said an amendment expected to be tabled by Tory backbenchers including Nick Boles on Monday could pave the way for Parliament to vote to "rescind" Article 50.In the US, stocks are seen opening lower with the Dow Jones called down 0.3%, the S&P down 0.4% and the Nasdaq 0.5% lower. Ahead of the open there are earnings from Morgan Stanley, the latest big US bank to report fourth quarter earnings. After the Wall Street closes there are earnings from video streaming service Netflix, coming just a day after the firm revealed the biggest increase in subscription prices since launching its service twelve years ago.Leading the declines in London on Thursday was ITV, shares down 6.1% and the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 after Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy.SSE shares were 3.4% lower as the energy provider went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the firm's latest payout. easyJet was down 3.2% after Barclays cut the low-cost airline to Underweight from Equal Weight.Whitbread shares were 2.1% lower after the hotelier gave a third quarter update and disappointed with its 2020 guidance.In the UK, third quarter sales were up 2.5%, but dipped 0.6% on a like-for-like basis. Year-to-date sales were up 2.7%, with like-for-like down 0.7% due to a decrease in food and beverage sales. Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn hotel chain and recently sold its Costa Coffee coffee shop chain to Coca-Cola, said it expects underlying pretax profit in the 2020 financial year to be in line with that achieved in the current financial year.The reflects the assumption of weaker UK market revenue per available room, investment in the UK and Germany, and some "short-term operational dis-synergies" following the sale of Costa.At the top of the index, meanwhile, was accounting software firm Sage, up 5.9%. The blue-chip company reported a 7.6% increase in organic revenue for the three months to the end of December to GBP465 million. Recurring revenue rose by 11% to GBP387 million, underpinned by software subscription growth of 28% to GBP237 million. Associated British Foods gained 5.9% on a robust performance by its low-cost fashion retail chain Primark. For the 16 weeks to January 5, Primark saw sales up 4.0% on the prior year, both at constant currency and actual rates, on the back of increased retail selling space.Sales at Primark were 4% ahead of last year, at both constant currency and actual exchange rates, and with a higher operating profit margin, profit was "well ahead". The sales growth was delivered by increased retail selling space, with like-for-like sales posting a "modest decline".Elsewhere on the Main Market, N Brown shares fell 8.2% after posting a fall in third quarter revenue in a "challenging and highly promotional peak trading period".For the 18 weeks to January 5, the fashion retailer posted group revenue down 1.6%, as Product revenue fell 6.0% on the prior year while Financial Services revenue was up 9.7%.The firm's online performance was better, with Product revenue up 1.3% and Power Brands revenue up 6.4%. The group's digital sales now account for 79% of Product revenue compared to 71% for the same period last year.