LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Mixed Indexes As Weak Data Crimps Upbeat WPP

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed midday Friday following weaker-than-forecast economic growth figures, despite WPP leading a number of blue chip and mid caps firms higher on well-received results. The FTSE 100 index was down 0.1% at 7,280.76 midday Friday. The midcap FTSE 250 index was up 0.1% at 19,152.51. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.3% at 887.15.The CBOE UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 12,338.74. The CBOE 250 was up 0.1% at 17,038.80, and the CBOE Small Companies was 0.2% up at 10,957.13.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2098 early Friday, lower than USD1.2145 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was quoted at USD1.1206 at midday Friday, up from USD1.1215 late Thursday. First estimate data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK gross domestic product for the second quarter fell 0.2% on the three months prior, weaker than the flat print forecast by economists and the 0.5% quarter-on-quarter growth reported in the first three months of 2019."The small contraction in GDP in the second quarter throws up the spectre of recession," Capital Economics UK Economist Thomas Pugh said. Despite this, Pugh emphasised household consumption held up "pretty well" in the quarter. "The bigger point, though, is that almost all of the weakness was down to large swings in stockbuilding and net trade, triggered by the shifts in activity to ahead of the original 29th March Brexit deadline," Pugh said. "We think the economy will grow in the third quarter, which would mean that the UK economy avoids a recession," Pugh added. "But how the fourth quarter turns out is entirely dependent on whether there's a Brexit deal or no deal."In other UK economic news, manufacturing production in June fell at a worst-than-expected 0.2% on May. Economists had forecast a 0.1% monthly fall, following a 1.4% jump in May. Meanwhile, industrial production in June came in slightly stronger than anticipated with a 0.1% decline on May. The consensus forecast was for a 0.2% fall, after a 1.2% rise in May. Amongst the stocks moving in London, FTSE 100-listed advertising agency WPP surged 6.9% after its second quarter results were "slightly ahead" of its expectations although interim profit suffered amid rising costs and one-off changes. For the six months ended June, pretax profit dived 44% to GBP478.2 million despite revenue rising 1.6% to GBP7.61 billion. Profit performance was hurt by a 28% surged in general & administrative costs to GBP552.8 million amid restructuring costs as well as the non-recurrence of a GBP114.0 million gain the year prior on the sale of an investment. Headline operating profit - which excludes sale gains and restructuring costs - fell 6.8% to GBP730 million. "The clear positive from these results is the improvement in North America," Hargreaves Lansdown Equity Analyst George Salmon said. "Not so long ago WPP was losing important contracts like the long-running Ford partnership, but these indicate WPP has at least stopped the rot. The balance sheet looks better too.""However, investors shouldn't get carried away," Salmon added. "It's early days in the turnaround, and transforming a business as complex as WPP will take time." "Cost savings are helping minimise the impact on underlying profits for now, but in the longer-term WPP will need to get the top line motoring again if earnings are to grow sustainably," Salmon continued. "With client budgets under pressure and tech groups like Amazon, Facebook and Google disrupting the advertising status quo, Mark Read still has plenty to do."Blue chip drugmaker AstraZeneca was up 2.4% after blockbuster cancer treatment Tagrisso significantly improved overall survival during its phase three Flaura trial in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The data was the secondary endpoint of the trial, after the primary endpoint was met in July. The fresh data showed Tagrisso delivered "statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement" in overall survival compared to previous standard-of-care treatments. In the FTSE 250, Hikma Pharmaceuticals rose 6.2% after profit over the first six months of 2019 soared 60% on the year prior to USD226 million as revenue rose 7.3% to USD1.05 billion following a strong performance from its generics and injectables units, resulting in a boost to full year expectations.Bookmaker William Hill was 5.3% higher after its half year pretax loss narrowed markedly to GBP63.5 million from GBP819.6 million the year prior, with revenue rising 1.1% to GBP811.7 million. The performance improvement was helped by the non-recurrence of a GBP883 million impairment the year prior related to the UK government move to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odd betting terminals. Security outsourcer G4S jumped 4.6% after announcing plans to separate its cash management division in the first half of 2020 following a business review. The company's first half revenue rose while profit suffered at the hands of one-off charges.For the six months ended June, pretax profit fell 21% to GBP108 million despite revenue rising 3.8% to GBP3.81 billion. Profit suffered on charges associated with disposals, onerous contracts, exchange rate movements and restructuring costs.Elsewhere in London, AIM-listed Rambler Metals surged 23% after the gold and copper producer reported output rose sharply in the second quarter of 2019 due to its mining process improvement programme. For the three months ended June, ore production rose 20% to 1,239 dry tonnes from 1,036 dry tonnes per day the year prior. Moreover, copper contained in ore produced in the second quarter was 17.2 dry tonnes per day versus 11.7 dry tonnes per day, up 47% year-on-year.Pennant International was down 28% as the training solutions provider predicted annual results to come in "materially" below market expectations, due to the timeline for the award of certain potential contracts moving into 2020. For 2019, Pennant forecasts report earnings before interest, taxes & amortization around GBP1.8 million. In 2018, the firm reported Ebita of GBP3.3 million. Pennant explained its costs reduction exercise in response to the delay to the award of the major programme is ongoing, although the benefits of this exercise will have limited impact on the second half.Spot gold was quoted at USD1,502.74 an ounce, up from USD1,497.06 at the London equities market close on Thursday.Brent oil was quoted at USD58.26 a barrel midday Thursday, up from USD57.58 at the London close on Thursday. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.8% down and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 1.0% lower.In Germany, the largest economy in the eurozone reported another weak set of data with the trade surplus in June narrowing to EUR16.8 billion from EUR22.0 billion the year prior. Exports were down 8.0% in June on an annual basis, while imports fell 4.4%. Germany exported EUR106.1 billion worth of goods in June, marking a 0.1% fall on a monthly basis. The value of imports in June was EUR89.3 billion, up 0.5% on the month prior.On Wall Street, stocks are pointed towards a lower session Friday. The Dow Jones seen down 0.5%, S&P 500 down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite seen down 0.8%.Still to come in the economic calendar on Friday, US producer price index are expected at 1330 BST and US oil rig counts figures are released at 1800 BST.