LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Lower Pound Propels FTSE; US Fed Decision Due

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was racing ahead of European peers on Wednesday as the pound continued to trundle following last night's parliamentary Brexit vote. In the US, stocks are called for an upbeat start ahead of the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve. "Jay Powell is likely to use today's press conference to drive on the Fed's new communication strategy and to confirm in view of the comfortable inflation environment the Fed can afford to wait and see patiently how the global and domestic economy develop before taking its next decisive monetary policy decision," said Commerzbank analyst Esther Reichelt.At midday on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 was up 90.07 points, or 1.3%, at 6,924.00.The FTSE 250 was 75.41 points higher, or 0.4%, at 18,778.02, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 910.07.The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.4% at 11,759.34, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 16,771.24 and the Cboe UK Small Companies also up 0.4% at 11,251.53."The FTSE is trading higher after another turbulent Brexit night when MPs voted against extending the deadline for Britain's exit from the EU and broadly supported Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit Plan B," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index."The pound's reaction was swift: dropping to USD1.30 against the dollar from USD1.319 earlier Tuesday and helping some FTSE constituents gather steam this morning," she added.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3098 Wednesday midday, down from USD1.3152 at the London equities close on Tuesday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May is looking to try to renegotiate her Brexit deal after members of Parliament gave their backing to proposals to replace the controversial backstop, but rejected an amendment to keep the UK in the EU for the rest of the year.At the same time, one of the prime minister's most important negotiating weapons was ripped from her hands, as the House of Commons also voted to block a no-deal Brexit.May secured the backing of the Commons to go back to Brussels, as MPs voted by 317 to 301 in favour of a proposal from Tory grandee Graham Brady for her to try to replace the backstop with "alternative arrangements" to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.European Council President Donald Tusk, in response to Tuesday's vote, insisted the withdrawal agreement struck last November is not open for renegotiation.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.6% and down 0.4% respectively.In the US, stocks are called for a higher open with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both seen 0.2% higher while the Nasdaq is set to gain 0.7%.After Tuesday's close, shares in Nasdaq constituent Apple rose 5% in post-market trade after the iPhone maker reported figures in line with the negative sales outlook issued earlier in January.Apple said second quarter iPhone revenue declined 15% on a year prior, while total revenue from all other products and services grew 19%. The company said services revenue reached an all-time high of USD10.9 billion, up 19% over the prior year.Apple posted revenue of USD84.3 billion in the three months ended December 29, a decline of 5% from the same quarter a year earlier. Earnings per diluted share were USD4.18, up 7.5%.The earnings report comes four weeks after Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook announced a slowdown in iPhone sales in China, marking the first decline in a over decade in sales there.In Wednesday's US earnings calendar are reports from telecommunications firm AT&T, aerospace firm Boeing, fast food chain McDonald's before the market opens. After the close are earnings from online payment services provider Paypal, software firm Microsoft, social media network Facebook, and luxury electric car maker Tesla.In the US economic calendar, private payroll processor ADP releases employment change figures for January, a precursor to Friday's monthly nonfarm payroll data, while the Federal Reserve announces its latest monetary policy decision at 1900 GMT. This will be followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.In London, miners continued to trade towards the top of the FTSE 100 on firmer commodity prices."Iron ore prices are on the rise following a second deadly collapse at a Brazilian tailings dam. Brazil's iron ore mining operations are hugely significant to global supply, with the country accounting for 20% of global output," explained IG market analyst Joshua Mahony."The mine in question may be small in size, but the potential for a wider investigation could halt production across a number of more significant operations in the country. It is therefore no surprise to see prices up 8% over three days to a 16-month high for the commodity."Glencore was up 2.3% while Anglo American was 1.7% higher and Rio Tinto up 1.6%. The top performer in the FTSE 250 was iron pellet producer Ferrexpo, up 6.6%.As well as industrial commodities, the price of gold rose as the dollar softened ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision.An ounce of the precious metal was quoted at USD1,313.07 at midday, up from USD1,310.47 late Tuesday as the safe haven asset traded around seven-month highs. Mexican gold miner Fresnillo tracked the price of the gleaming metal higher, shares up 2.2% at midday.Burberry was 2.3% higher after a strong set of annual results from French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.LVMH reported Tuesday organic revenue grew 11% in 2018. Profit from recurring operations was EUR10.00 billion, up 21% from EUR8.29 billion last year.Shares in London Stock Exchange Group rose 0.9% as it bought a minority stake in financial market infrastructure company Euroclear. The FTSE 100-listed stock exchange operator will pay EUR278.5 million for a 4.9% stake in Euroclear, which boasts EUR28.2 trillion in assets under custody.LSE said the minority investment will strengthen its existing operational and commercial relationship with Euroclear and provide "further opportunities for the companies to deliver benefits to their customers through commercial collaboration and product development". Elsewhere on the Main Market, shares in Ophir Energy were up 6.6% at 53.93 pence after agreeing to be taken over in a deal valuing the company at GBP390.6 million.Indonesian firm PT Medco will be paying 55 pence per share in cash to Ophir's shareholders. This is a 66% premium to Ophir's closing price on December 28, the last business day before a possible offer was announced.