(Alliance News) - Traders were in wait-and-watch mode on Monday as the G20 summit in Japan looms with a highly-anticipated meeting between the US and China.London's headline stock index was broadly flat at midday, with rating changes for Admiral and Carnival leaving the stocks bookending the FTSE 100.The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 5.0 points, or 0.1%, at 7,412.50 Monday midday. The FTSE 250 down 6.57 points at 19,318.03, while the AIM All-Share was down 0.2% at 931.56.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.4% at 12,573.41. The Cboe UK 250 was flat at 17,290.95 while the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.4% at 11,483.29.Trade was cautious at the start of the week ahead of the G20 summit in Japanese city of Osaka, where US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold a much-anticipated meeting. "Guessing and second-guessing the potential outcome of the Trump-Xi talks will keep the markets on their toes between now and the end of the week," said Fiona Cincotta at City Index.Chinese and US trade teams are both preparing for negotiations following a phone call last Tuesday between Xi and Trump, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen told a press briefing."The agreement should work for both sides," Wang said.At the last G20, towards the end of last year in Argentina, the leaders of the world's two largest economies pressed pause on their tit-for-tat escalation, but the lull was broken again just months later when they failed to agree to a full trade deal and resumed protectionist measures.The US has already slapped tariffs on USD250 billion in Chinese imports, to which Beijing has retaliated with duties on USD110 billion worth of US goods. Further, the US has threatened to impose tariffs on USD325 billion worth of Chinese goods, which means virtually all Chinese imports to the US would be affected by duties."The rhetoric ahead of meetings which start on Friday could become more forceful partially because President Trump is already in the throes of his re-election campaign and some of the comments could be directed more at his domestic audience rather than the Chinese delegation," said Cincotta.In New York, stocks are pointed to a slightly higher start, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both called up 0.5% while the Nasdaq is on course to gain 0.3%.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.2% and 0.5% lower, respectively, in early afternoon trade.The German DAX was suffering more than its European counterparts as shares in car maker Daimler dipped 4.3% on a profit warning. The Mercedes owner said its second-quarter results will be hit by "governmental proceedings and measures" around diesel vehicles and its earnings are no longer expected to exceed those of 2018.In the UK, Conservative party leadership hopeful Boris Johnson has repeated his determination to deliver Brexit by Halloween, in what will be seen as an attempt to refocus attention away from his private life.The Tory leadership candidate appeared to deliver a retort to his rival to be prime minister as he vowed "we are not going to bottle it" on the EU exit date of October 31. But Jeremy Hunt called on Johnson not to be a "coward" by avoiding a live TV debate with him this week, as he suggested otherwise he would be "slinking through the back door" of Number 10.Johnson remains under pressure to explain why police were called to the home he shares with partner Carrie Symonds, but in his column for the Daily Telegraph he attempted to switch attention back to political rather than personal issues.He wrote: "We must leave the EU on Oct 31 come what may. It will honour the referendum result, it will focus the minds of EU negotiators."The pound was quoted at USD1.2751 at midday, up from USD1.2694 late Friday.In London, ratings changes from Barclays saw insurer Admiral and cruise operator Carnival top and tail the FTSE 100. Admiral was up 3.4% as Barclays double-upgraded the stock to Overweight from Underweight, while Carnival slipped 3.6% after the bank cut the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. BT also suffered after a downgrade, slipping 2.0% after being reduced to Sell from Hold by Deutsche Bank.In the FTSE 250, Dixons Carphone was down 6.0% as it resumed last week's slide. Last week, the phone and electronics retailer warned an increasingly changing UK mobile market will further hurt results in the new 2020 financial year after sinking to an annual loss for 2019.Compared to this time a year ago, the stock is down 47%.Another retailer facing a tough session was online retailer MySale, the stock halving as the firm put itself up for sale. MySale said a strategic review will assess "all types of corporate activity", such as reducing debt, raising further capital and de-listing from AIM. Among these, MySale is considering selling all or part of the company.Any discussions for a takeover will occur under a formal sale process, and MySale is now in an offer period, it said. It has not yet entered any discussions for a possible offer.In May, Sports Direct International sold its entire 4.8% holding in MySale. Sports Direct had taken this stake in 2014."Given Mike Ashley's appetite to own even the most beaten-up retail vehicles, think Debenhams or House of Frazer, the fact the Sports Direct owner put his holding on the scrapheap last month should have been a clear warning sign that MySale was in trouble," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould."Fellow retail tycoon Philip Green continues to hold a large stake in the company but probably has enough on his plate rescuing Arcadia to come to MySale's rescue," Mould added.
Admiral (ADM)
Carnival (CCL)
BT (BT.A)