LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Housebuilders Hurt By Slip In UK House Prices

(Alliance News) - Stocks continued to trade mostly lower at midday on Friday, as market focus remained on the US jobs report later in the day.Holding back the FTSE 100 were losses for housebuilders and miners, while the mid-cap index was dragged down by SIG, which reported a decline in first half revenue.London's leading stock index was down 14.27 points, or 0.2%, at 7,589.31 Friday at midday. The FTSE 250 was 78.67 points lower, or 0.4%, at 19,718.93, while the AIM All-Share was down 0.2% at 915.62.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 12,866.89. The Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% lower at 17,612.46 and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.2% at 11,385.82.UK house prices were largely stable in June, a Halifax report showed, and continued to show a "reasonable degree of resilience" despite a backdrop of uncertainty.On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.3%, while year-on-year, house prices were up 5.7%. Halifax noted that the annual figures come against a "particularly low growth rate" in June 2018. The average house price in June stood at GBP237,110.In May, house prices had risen 0.4% on a monthly basis and 5.2% annually. Halifax Managing Director Russell Galley said June's figures extend the "largely flat trend" observed over recent months."More generally the housing market is displaying a reasonable degree of resilience in the face of political and economic uncertainty. Recent industry figures show demand looking slightly more stable, with mortgage approvals ticking along just above the long-term average," said Galley.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2541 Friday midday, down compared to USD1.2564 at the London equities close on Thursday. The pound began the week trading near to the USD1.27 mark.On the LSE, Persimmon was the worst performer in the blue-chip index, down 2.8%, followed by Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey, both down 1.8%.Rio Tinto and Evraz, were down 2.7% and 2.1%, respectively, and Antogafasta was trading 1.9% lower. "House builders and mining companies are weighing on the FTSE, the latter sliding because of a drop in metals prices over the last few days, the former because of a 0.3% decline in UK house prices in June," said Cityindex Senior Market Analyst Fiona Cincotta. Among the mid-caps, broker ratings pushed energy services firm John Wood Group and exploration company Tullow Oil 3.9% and 1.5% higher, respectively. Berenberg raised John Wood rating to Buy from Hold, while Jefferies upped Tullow Oil also to Buy from Hold. Acacia Mining was 1.7% higher in midday trade as successful drilling at the Gokona mine in Tanzania allowed the gold miner to upgrade reserves.As of the end of May, the Gokona mine had 1.3 million ounces of gold reserves at a grade of 5.5 grams of gold per tonne of ore, 13% higher than before, though at a marginally lower grade. This, Acacia said, is due to drilling on the east and west extensions of Gokona in late 2018 and early 2019.This upgraded reserve estimate comes after, in mid-June, Acacia refuting Barrick Gold's criticism of Acacia's mining plans in Tanzania. Barrick owns 64% of Acacia and has offered USD285 million for the rest, though the two continue to bicker. On the other side of FTSE 250 index was SIG, down 4.8%. The supplier of building materials reported a 3.8% decline in its like-for-like revenue for the six months to the end of June.SIG saw a 13% fall in like-for-like revenue in the UK & Ireland, due to reduced level of construction activity. In Mainland Europe, however, SIG's like-for-like revenue in the first half was 3.3% higher year-on-year.In addition, SIG said it sold WeGo FloorTec in Germany to fellow London-listed building materials firm Kingspan Group. The transaction follows a review of SIG's peripheral businesses. There remains one further peripheral business under review in SIG's portfolio, it said.The WeGo FloorTec sale is expected to complete "shortly", the company said, and the proceeds of about GBP12 million from Kingspan are expected to be used to reduce headline financial leverage.Kingspan shares were down 2.2% on Friday midday. Spectris shares were trading 4.8% lower as Bank of America chopped its rating to Underperform from Buy. Victrex was also in the red, sinking 4.0% after Peel Hunt downgraded the polymers supplier to Hold from Add, reflecting the weaker macro-economic backdrop, particularly in Germany."For now, the near term risks outweigh the long-term growth potential," explained Peel Hunt analyst Dominic Convey.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively, in midday trade.The EU28's current account surplus grew marginally in the first quarter of 2019, Eurostat reported.The surplus was EUR40.5 billion, some 1.0% of gross domestic product, after EUR40.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, which was also 1.0% of GDP.The first quarter 2019 figure of EUR40.5 billion compares to EUR58.3 billion year-on-year, which was 1.5% of GDP.Having closed at record highs on Wednesday, New York stocks were pointed towards a lower open, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both called down 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrials 0.1% lower. Financial markets in the US were closed for Independence Day on Thursday.In the US economic calendar, there is jobs report for June at 1330 BST. "The main focus for today will be the June payrolls report which has the potential to bake in even further the prospect of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the end of the month. Wages as well as the headline number will be the key arbiters, though in terms of expectation the markets have already got a rate cut priced in which means that a good number could prompt a sharp sell off if investors perceive that a rate cut has become less likely," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.