LONDON MARKET OPEN: Fresnillo Sinks After Warning On Challenging 2019

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were lower on Tuesday, with an appreciating pound and declines by Fresnillo and Croda International hindering the FTSE 100.The large-cap index was down 78.42 points, or 1.1%, at 7,105.32.The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 58.99, or 0.3% at 19,187.99, and the AIM All-Share index was down 0.4% at 909.42.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 1.0% at 12,073.54, while the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at 17,111.22 and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,176.92.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.4% lower early on Tuesday. "With the latest bout of US-China trade war optimism petering out already - after all, a deadline-delay isn't the same as a signed deal (something sterling should perhaps keep in mind) - and the pound getting a Brexit boost, the FTSE foundered its way through Tuesday's open," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended off 0.7%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 0.6%.In the FTSE 100, Persimmon was the best performer, up 2.5% after the housebuilder reported double-digit growth in profit in 2018, exceeding GBP1 billion for the first time, boosted by higher average selling prices.Persimmon reported pretax profit of GBP1.09 billion for 2018, up 13% from GBP966.1 million in 2017, on revenue that rose by 3.9% to GBP3.74 billion from GBP3.60 billion.During the year, Persimmon delivered 16,449 homes to customers, up from 16,043 in 2017, and sold those houses at an average selling price of GBP215,563, reflecting a 1.1% increase from GBP213,321 the prior year.Persimmon will pay a final dividend of 110 pence per share, on top of 125p per share as an interim dividend, for 235p in total, unchanged from a year earlier.In addition, Persimmon said it has appointed David Jenkinson as permanent chief executive with immediate effect. Jenkinson was serving as interim CEO since November last year and has been with the company for 22 years. Fellow housebuilders, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group were up 1.5%, 1.3% and 0.9% respectively. At the other end of the large cap index, Fresnillo was the worst performer, down 9.5% after the Mexican gold miner said it expects 2019 to be challenging.For 2018, revenue was up 0.5% to USD2.10 billion, but pretax profit fell 35% to USD483.9 million. The company attributed the drop in profit to a higher stripping ratio at its Herradura mine and cost inflation. Stripping ratio is a measure of how much waste material must be processed to extract a set amount of ore."In the short term, we are likely to experience a lower rate of growth, as we consolidate the progress made and implement the necessary investments and initiatives that will advance our pipeline and underpin our future long-term growth," Chair Alberto Bailleres said. Croda International was down 3.5% after the speciality chemicals company's annual operating profit missed consensus estimates and said its new US plant is off line after a gasket issue.For 2018, Croda reported annual pretax profit rose 1.2% to GBP317.8 million from GBP314.1 million in 2017, and revenue increased 1.0% to GBP1.39 billion from GBP1.37 billion the year before. However, the company's adjusted operating profit of GBP342.5 million, came in just below consensus of GBP345.6 million. Croda raised its final dividend by 7.4% to 87.0p alongside a special dividend of 115.0p. BT Group was down 2.5% after Berenberg cut the telecommunications firm to Hold from Buy. Standard Chartered slipped 0.7% after the Asia-focused bank said annual profit came in below the market's expectations, while it also announced further strategic plans for the next three years, including the sale of its Indonesia joint venture PT Bank Permata. Pretax profit on a statutory basis rose to USD2.55 billion in 2018 from USD2.42 billion, but this is short of consensus of USD2.98 billion. StanChart's operating income for 2018 was USD14.79 billion, higher from USD14.43 billion a year before but short of consensus of USD15.02 billion.On an underlying basis, pretax profit was USD3.88 billion from USD3.01 billion.The pound was quoted at USD1.3156, higher than USD1.3065 at the London equities close Monday.The UK Labour Party announced it will back a second referendum to prevent a "damaging Tory Brexit" if its withdrawal plan is rejected by members of Parliament this week.Jeremy Corbyn said he would put forward or support an amendment in favour of a public vote to stop UK Prime Minister Theresa May's deal being "forced on the country" if his Brexit demands are not met.The move came as pressure mounted on May to rule out a no-deal Brexit after three ministers threatened to support a fresh attempt to extend Article 50 and stop Britain being "swept over the precipice on March 29".May will address MPs on Tuesday afternoon ahead of another series of Brexit votes on Wednesday.The government is expected to publish previously unseen Cabinet papers setting out the dangers of a no-deal Brexit before the debate.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, S&P 500 up 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.US stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Monday after an early boost from President Donald Trump announcing on Sunday he intends to postpone a planned increase in US tariffs on Chinese imports.House Democrats plan to vote Tuesday on a resolution to cut off the US national emergency declared by Trump over the situation on the US-Mexico border. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the emergency declaration is "a presidential power grab" that violates the US constitution.On the US earnings front, retail giants Home Depot and Macy's are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the market open in New York.In the economic calendar on Tuesday are BBA mortgage approvals numbers for the UK at 0930 GMT. US housing starts are at 1330 GMT, with the US Redbook index at 1355 GMT.