LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks Reverse Early Losses As Oil Majors Gain

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks were climbed higher at midday on Wednesday, with gains for oil majors and easing fears over political uncertainty in Italy helping to reverse some early looses."Following the rout seen in many markets during Tuesday's session, there's been an attempted recovery this morning with stocks moving off their lows and the Euro edging back above the 1.16 handle against the US dollar. The FTSE 100 has made some some small, cautious gains but remains highly sensitive to the global risk backdrop and any further developments in Italy," said David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB.Italy's prime minister-designate Carlo Cottarelli has met with President Sergio Mattarella amid political wrangling over forming a new government, though details from the talks have not yet been released. Mattarella on Monday gave Cottarelli the mandate to form a caretaker government after Italy's anti-establishment parties failed to form a coalition at the weekend. However, the Five Star Movement and anti-immigrant League party have vowed to use their parliamentary majority to sabotage an interim government with Cottarelli at the helm.The FTSE 100 was up 0.3%, or 23.55 points, at 7,656.19 Wednesday midday. The large-cap index hit an intraday low of 7,618.12 earlier in the session.The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was also up 0.3%, or 56.86 points, at 20,803.62. The AIM All-Share index was flat at 1,079.80.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 12,976.04. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,001.79, and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.2% at 12,686.33."Italian political concerns appear to have eased for now," said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony, with markets looking towards data from the US in the afternoon.US ADP employment change is at 1315 BST with first quarter GDP at 1330 BST, and personal consumption expenditures due at the same time."Today's ADP payrolls data is certainly a poor man's version of Friday's non-farm payrolls release, but with markets seeking out data to help support the recent dollar recovery, there is a good chance that we will see significant volatility around this release," Mahony said.Stock prices in New York on Wednesday were pointed to a higher open, set to rebound from Tuesday's losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.3% - having closed 1.6% lower on Tuesday - with the S&P 500 also pointed 0.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite set to gain 0.2%.In Europe at midday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%.Data on Wednesday showed Germany's unemployment rate declined to a record low in May, falling to 5.2% the lowest since German reunification in 1990. The rate was expected to remain unchanged at 5.3%.To come, Germany's consumer price index is due at 1330 BST.Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has cut its global economic growth forecast for 2018 slightly, from 3.9% to 3.8%.However, in its six-monthly economic outlook, the organization of 35 mainly developed countries maintained its 2019 forecast of 3.9% growth in gross domestic product.The organization repeated its warning against any "escalation of trade tensions," an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump's decision to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminiim imports.Trump is expected to decide on Friday whether to give EU countries a permanent exemption from the tariffs of 10% on steel and 25% on aluminium products.In London's FTSE 100 on Wednesday, oil majors were among the best performers, with Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares up 1.9%, 'B' shares up 1.5% and BP 1.7%.Oil was quoted at USD75.77 a barrel at midday, up from USD74.61 late Tuesday as the commodity rebounded following recent fears that OPEC will ease production cuts in order to counter sanctions on producers Iran and Venezuela.Royal Bank of Scotland was 1.0% lower, the worst blue-chip performer, after it said Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson will step down from his role to take up an opportunity elsewhere. The date of his departure is yet to be confirmed, however, he will remain in his position to allow for a smooth handover process. WPP was down 0.7% after cash shell Derriston Capital confirmed the acquisition of an investment vehicle of former WPP boss Martin Sorrell, with Sorrell to be executive chairman of "a company that aims to build a multi-national communication services business focused on growth".Sorrell, who built WPP into an advertising and public relations giant over the course of 33 years, resigned as chief executive officer in mid-April following the conclusion of an investigation into what WPP called "an allegation of misconduct" which it said did not "involve amounts that are material" to the company.At the top of the FTSE 250 was Bodycote, 8.2% higher after as it expects full-year revenue to be higher than previously expected and headline operating profit to be "slightly ahead" of consensus.Centamin rose 2.8% after Berenberg raised its recommendation on the gold miner to Buy from Hold. At the bottom of the index was Stobart Group, down 6.4%. Cenkos Securities on Wednesday resigned as the support services firm's joint broker following Stobart's boardroom spat.Last Friday, Stobart said Andrew Tinkler - former chief executive and a current executive director - informed the company he intends vote against the re-election of Chairman Iain Ferguson at the company's annual general meeting, the date of which was unspecified. All other directors offered support to Ferguson, with non-executive directors Andrew Wood and John Coombs saying they would quit if Ferguson is not re-elected.