LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks Mixed As Focus Shifts To US Jobs Data

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 gave back gains from earlier in the session on Friday, with investors digesting the ramifications of the US-China trade spat, as focus quickly shifts to the release of key US economic data. The FTSE 100 index was down 0.2%, or 16.97 points at 7,586.25. The FTSE 250 was flat at 20,622.29, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 1,085.50.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 12,868.54, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 18,847.00, and the Cboe UK Small Companies flat at 12,570.79."Having bravely soldiered on in the face of Donald Trump firing the first proper shot in a US-China trade war, news that Beijing had responded in kind and caused the markets to shed their early growth," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.China slapped retaliatory tariffs on US goods after Washington imposed duties on Chinese imports, the first shots fired in a trade war between the two giants that could disrupt the global economy.The US tariffs, which took effect right after midnight Friday on the East Coast, constitute "bullying" and the beginning of the "biggest trade war in history," the Chinese Commerce Ministry said.Beijing then placed 25% tariffs on USD34 billion worth of US goods - the same value as the Chinese imports affected by Washington's tariffs. The Chinese tariffs started its roll-out at 0501 BST, the Xinhua news agency quoted the customs administration as saying.US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened he would escalate the conflict if Beijing retaliated. Trump's threat adds up to USD550 billion dollars, which exceeds the totality of Chinese exports to the US last year, which clocked in at USD505 billion dollars."The question now is how far Trump scales it up towards the USD500 billion figure he has been throwing around and what the fallout is as he tries to punish China to prove himself a US protectionist," said Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.On the London Stock Exchange, ITV was the best blue chip performer at midday up 5.0% after Societe Generale double upgraded the broadcaster to Buy from Sell. At the other end of the large cap index, Direct Line Insurance Group was the worst performer down 3.5% after Barclays cut the insurer to Equal Weight from Overweight.Rightmove was down 2.5% after UBS cut the property listings company to Sell from Neutral. In the FTSE 250, Stobart Group was the among the best performers up 3.3% after the support services firm said it remains on track to deliver medium-term objectives.The company said it is doing well on growing London Southend airport in order to bring in 5 million passengers annually by 2022. Meanwhile, Stobart said its Infrastructure unit generated cash of GBP25.5 million in the year to-date from March. The result was achieved after the sale & leaseback of properties and land at its Widnes site north-west England.At the other end of the midcap index, Inmarsat was the worst performer down 6.2% at 493.30 pence after the satellite communications company rejected a second takeover proposal from US rival EchoStar Corp, which it believed "significantly" undervalued the firm. Inmarsat also said the offer failed to recognise its standalone prospects, and the firm is "highly confident" in its strategy and future. EchoStar made a first proposal in early June, which Inmarsat rebuffed. The new proposal, rejected on Wednesday, would have seen Inmarsat shareholders get 265 pence in cash and 0.777 new EchoStar shares per Inmarsat share. This would have amounted to a total value of 532p per share. Inmarsat shares closed at 526p on Thursday, giving it an approximate market capitalisation of GBP2.43 billion.The pound was firm against the dollar quoted at USD1.3225 at midday, compared to USD1.3214 at the London equities close on Thursday.On the economic front, UK house prices increased at a slower pace in June, as data from the Lloyds bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed.House prices grew only 0.3% on month in June, following May's 1.7% increase. Prices were expected to gain 0.2%. In three months to June, house prices advanced 1.8% annually, slower than the 1.9% rise seen in three months to May. The annual growth was forecast to ease to 1.6%."At the half way stage of the year the annual rate is within our forecast range of 0-3% for 2018," Russell Galley, Managing Director of Halifax said.In Paris the CAC 40 was up 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was also up 0.1%. The euro was flat at USD1.1706 at the European equities close, against USD1.1700 at the European equities close Thursday. In economic news from the continent, Germany's industrial production recovered at a faster than expected pace in May, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial output grew 2.6% month-on-month in May, reversing a revised 1.3% drop in April. Output was forecast to grow marginally by 0.3%.Stocks in New York were called for a lower open on Friday as investors look ahead to the US jobs report for June at 1330 BST. Specifically, wage growth and the all-important nonfarm payrolls data will be closely watched by investors with economists expecting the figure to slip to 195,000 jobs in June, from the 223,000 jobs added in the previous month. The unemployment rate is expected to be steady at the 18-year low of 3.8%."Inflation has come a long way from its low and the rising oil price is only adding pressure for consumers. It is about time that we see the wage number showing some serious strength. Last month we have seen the reading of 2.7% and if today's number prints anything bigger than 2.8%, that would seriously move the needle for the dollar index," said Think Markets analyst Naeem Aslam.The DJIA was called down 0.3%, the S&P 500 index down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%.