LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Shares Lower In Cautious Trade After Sell-Off

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London started the week on a lacklustre note following Friday's sell-off, with Ashtead and United Utilities weighing on the FTSE 100 index. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, was kept back by losses for John Wood Group and Genus. The FTSE 100 index was down 30.96 points, or 0.4%, at 7,176.63 on Monday at midday. The headline UK stock index had tumbled 2.0% on Friday.The FTSE 250 was down 172.47 points or 0.9%, at 18,825.99 Monday midday, while the AIM All-Share index was 0.9% lower at 901.96.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.5% at 12,176.5. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.8% at 16,901.10, and the Cboe UK Small Companies 0.3% lower at 11,162.89.In mainland Europe at midday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both down 0.2%.Though European equities were largely lower at the start of the week, IG noted that the losses were less severe than the sell-off seen on Friday."Despite a miserable session for Asia, European markets are managing to avoid heavy losses, with only a small drop for the FTSE 100 and, remarkably, some gains for beaten-down European equities," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. He added: "The risk-off mood at the end of last week seemed dramatic, and was perhaps justified given the sudden shift in the economic outlook, but a better reading from the German Ifo index has provided some reason for optimism, even though it comes off the back of months of declines."Last week, the US central bank cut its outlook for the country's economic growth in 2019 to 2%, below the White House's rosier estimate of about 3%, and showed it is unlikely to hike interest rates this year.However, in more upbeat economic data, a survey by Munich-based Ifo Institute on Monday showed Germany's business confidence strengthened in March, after weakening in the previous six months.The Ifo business confidence index rose to 99.6, while economists' had expected the reading to remain unchanged at February's score of 98.5. This marked the index's first improvement since August 2018 . Following sharp falls on Friday, Wall Street is on course to post modest declines on Monday with the Dow Jones pointed down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq down 0.4%.On Friday, the Dow Jones had dropped 1.8%, the S&P 500 1.9% and the Nasdaq 2.5%.Meanwhile, the pound was quoted at USD1.3174 at midday, down from USD1.3207 late Friday, as investors continue to watch the latest twists and turns in the Brexit saga. UK Prime Minister Theresa May is battling to stay in power as members of Parliament seek to seize control of legislative business in a bid to secure a softer Brexit.At the start of another crunch week in Westminster, the Commons is due to vote on an amendment which would force a series of indicative votes on alternatives to the prime minister's Withdrawal Agreement.Defeat for the government on Monday night on the plan - tabled by former ministers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labour MP Hilary Benn - would be a further humiliation for May.The proposal seeks to pave the way for a series of indicative votes in the Commons on Wednesday, effectively taking control of the Brexit process out of the hands of the government.After a weekend which saw two senior ministers dismiss reports of a "coup" to oust the PM, May convened her Cabinet in the morning as she prepared to update the Commons on the Brexit process following last week's European Council summit where she agreed to delay Britain's departure beyond March 29.A no-deal Brexit on April 12 is becoming "increasingly likely", the EU has warned. In a statement Monday, the European Commission said it had completed its preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, but warned it would nonetheless cause "significant disruption for citizens and businesses".Among the worst performers in the FTSE 100 was equipment rental firm Ashtead, down 2.6% over fears of a slowdown in the US following the Fed's downbeat update last week. Ashtead generates the majority of its revenue from the US, over 80% in its most recent financial year.Water firm United Utilities sank 2.0% after Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to Hold from Buy.Meanwhile, emerging markets-focused lender Standard Chartered was benefiting from a ratings upgrade, rising 0.8% after Investec lifted the FTSE 100 constituent to Buy from Hold.FTSE 250-listed oilfield services firm John Wood Group slipped 8.1% on Monday, the worst performer in the index. The company said it has sold Terra Nova, a conveying and material handling systems business, to Cementation Americas, part of Johannesburg-listed Murray & Roberts Holdings, for USD38 million. In addition, Jefferies cut recommendation on John Wood shares to Underperform from Hold. Animal genetics firm Genus was down 5.2% on news its chief executive, Karim Bitar, will be leaving to join wound dressing maker ConvaTec in the same role. ConvaTec shares were higher on news of the hire, up 4.9% at midday. The best performer in the FTSE 250, however, was satellite operator Inmarsat, up 8.6% at 549.60 pence after agreeing to be taken over. Last week, Inmarsat had said it had received a non-binding offer at USD7.21 per share from a consortium, led by Apax, also consisting of Warburg Pincus International, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.The USD7.21 price has now been agreed and is worth about 546 pence. It is a 46% premium to Inmarsat's closing price on January 30, when the proposal was first made, with shares closing at 535p on Friday last week. Domino's Pizza shares rose 3.4%. The Sunday Telegraph reported a US fund that sits on the board of Restaurant Brands International, the parent of chains such as Burger King and Tim Hortons, is building a stake in the London-listed takeaway franchiser.