LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks Climb Amid Pause In Trade-War Sell-Off

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks climbed steadily higher on Thursday, clawing back some of the losses experienced earlier in the week on ever-increasing global trade concerns. The FTSE 100 was up 37.55 points, or 0.5%, at 7,222.85 on Thursday at midday. The FTSE 250 was up 148.99 points, or 0.8%, at 19,095.10. The AIM All-Share was up 0.5% at 961.75.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.6% at 12,248.91. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.8% at 17,183.72 with the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.1% at 11,809.04.Stocks on Thursday are "taking a breather" from recent falls, said Craig Erlam at Oanda. "The sell-off we've seen this month may not be too extreme - just shy of 6% at the close yesterday - but as we saw in the fourth quarter of last year, it could get much worse. The impact recent events are having on the yield curve both highlights the risks investors associate with events and further feed into the doom loop as investors become increasingly wary about the risk of a recession," cautioned Erlam.A steep sell-off occurred on Wednesday after China threatened to restrict rare earths exports to the US.The news saw the FTSE 100 shed 1.2% on Wednesday, while in Europe the CAC 40 lost 1.7% and the DAX 30 finished down 1.6%.Rare earths - which are not actually all that rare, but difficult to mine - include elements such as cerium, neodymium and gadolinium, and are used for activities such as petrol refining and the production of LCD screens, as well as for medical applications. "At present, the US completely overestimates its ability to manipulate the global supply chain," Chinese government mouthpiece People's Daily said. "In the future, don't say that we didn't warn you beforehand!" the newspaper ominously warned.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.4% and 0.6% respectively. In New York, stocks are similarly on course for a better session, with the Dow Jones pointed up 0.3%, the S&P up 0.4% and the Nasdaq on course to gain 0.4%, having ended down 0.7% to 0.9% on Wednesday.After the US market closes are earnings from ride hailing app Uber, which has seen its share price slide 11% since floating at USD45 a share earlier in May.The economic events calendar on Thursday has US first-quarter GDP figures at 1330 BST.In the UK, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders showed UK car production suffered a sharp contraction in April, as factory shutdowns due to Brexit uncertainty took place across the country. Car manufacturing in the UK for the month of April plunged 45% year-on-year with a mere 70,971 vehicles produced compared to 127,970 in the same month of 2018, the industry group reported.Addressing the issue of Brexit, Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden warned that UK interest rates could move either way in the case of a disorderly departure from the EU. Speaking at the Inverness Chamber of Commerce on Thursday morning, Ramsden said a disorderly no-deal Brexit would "certainly be a major negative supply shock" - the biggest since the 1970s, he added. It is "impossible" to predict precisely what would happen under this scenario in advance, and Ramsden said he would be inclined to wait and see how the situation unfolded. There are cases where a looser monetary policy may be appropriate, and other scenarios when tightening would be needed."In other words the response would not be automatic and could go either way: rates could go up or down as the situation demands," he said.The pound was quoted at USD1.2629 Thursday midday, firm versus USD1.2616 late Wednesday.The FTSE 100 was making headway on Thursday despite selling pressure on Johnson Matthey and on ex-dividend stocks. Johnson Matthey slipped 4.2% after the speciality chemicals firm's annual profit came short of analyst expectations.Johnson Matthey reported 53% growth in pretax profit to GBP488 million in the financial year that ended on March 31 compared to GBP320 million reported the year earlier, as revenue rose 4.6% to GBP10.75 billion from GBP10.27 billion.Profit came in below market forecasts, however. According to company-compiled consensus figures for financial 2019, pretax profit was expected to jump 56% to GBP500.7 million. Meanwhile, National Grid and Marks & Spencer dipped 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively, as both stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.In the FTSE 250, FirstGroup shares were boosted 4.5% as the transport firm said it will be selling its North American coach operation. Going forward, North America will be FirstGroup's core market, however centred on First Student and First Transit which together generated 60% of group operating profit in 2019.In order to focus on this market, FirstGroup will be separating two of its divisions, one of which will be its UK Bus operator, First Bus."First Bus has limited synergies with our other operations and, having set the business on the path to increased profitability, we believe now is the right time to pursue structural alternatives," the company explained.The other is North American intercity coach operation Greyhound."Greyhound has limited synergies with our other, predominantly contract-based, North American businesses and we believe that value for shareholders can best be delivered by seeking new owners," said Stagecoach, adding that a formal sale process for the unit has now begun.AJ Bell said the strategic re-vamp shows the firm has caved into pressure from activist investor Coast Capital, which holds a 10% stake in the group."It remains to be seen if this will be enough to deflect calls from Coast Capital for a change in management," AJ Bell's Mould added. "Chief Executive Matthew Gregory could at least argue the case for more time, given he has only been in the driver's seat since November."Towards the bottom of the index, defence firm Babcock International slid 1.6% after Goldman Sachs lowered the firm to a Neutral rating, having been on the bank's Conviction Buy list previously.Elsewhere in London, De La Rue dived 29% as the banknote printer proposed a restructure amid a fall in annual profit and the departure of its chief executive officer. Martin Sutherland has agreed to step down as chief executive as soon as his successor is in place. The company has commenced a recruitment process to find his replacement.For the year ended March 30, the company's pretax profit plummeted to GBP25.5 million from GBP113.6 million a year earlier on the back of increased costs, the absence of exceptional gains and an exceptional charge relating to Venezuelan sanctions.Daily Mail & General Trust bounced 9.7% as it guided to a better-than-expected outturn for its newspaper arm. Consumer Media - the unit which houses the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline - reported a 1% rise in revenue for the first half to March-end on an underlying basis. MailOnline's underlying revenue growth of 16% offset a 3% decrease in print advertising revenue and a 2% decrease in circulation revenue.First half revenue at the Metro grew 12% to GBP41 million, which DMGT dubbed a "good achievement" given the declining print advertising market.Further to the interim performance, Consumer Media is expected to now post a low-single digit underlying revenue decline for the full-year, revised from a mid-single digit decline.On a group level, pretax profit fell 56% to GBP50.4 million for the six months to the end of March, with revenue down 2.9% to GBP723.9 million.