LONDON MARKET OPEN: House Of Fraser Woes Continue For Sports Direct

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Monday with heavyweight miners among the blue-chip risers, while among mid-caps Sports Direct fell sharply after delaying the release of its annual results. The FTSE 100 was up 19.07 points, or 0.2%, at 7,525.04. The FTSE 250 was up 67.12 points, or 0.3%, at 19,618.95. The AIM All-Share was up 1.21 points at 918.40.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 12,755.06. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 17,446.62, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,158.61.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.5% and 0.8% respectively. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.1%. Financial markets in Japan are closed for the Marine Day public holiday.On the London Stock Exchange, Antofagasta was the best large-cap performer, up 4.2% after the Pakistani government was ordered to pay damages of USD5.8 billion to Tethyan Copper, a joint venture between the Chilean copper miner and Canada's Barrick Gold.The award comes after arbitration claims were filed against Pakistan following the unlawful denial of a mining lease for the Reko Diq project in Pakistan in 2011.Fellow miners, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Anglo American were up 1.6%, 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. In China, the second largest economy in the world posted its slowest economic growth in almost three decades during the second quarter.Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed gross domestic product grew 6.2% in the second quarter on the year prior. This was lower than the 6.4% reported in the first quarter of 2019, and the 6.6% printed in 2018 as a whole."GDP growth moderated to 6.2% in the second quarter from 6.4% in the first quarter, with momentum in industrial value added, consumption and investment easing in the quarter," Oxford Economics Senior Economist Tommy Wu said. "We estimate real export growth fell, amid the flare-up of US-China trade tensions, over May-June.""But positively, monthly data suggest that domestic growth momentum picked up in June, providing some tentative evidence that the easing in macro policies is starting to filter through to the domestic economy," Wu added.At the other end of the FTSE 100, Micro Focus International was the worst performer, down 3.0%, extending losses after the software firm said last week its high-profile acquisition of Hewlett Packard's software business was still proving difficult to integrate into its existing operations. The stock is down 20% since last Tuesday.The Newbury-based software firm said on Monday that Chair Kevin Loosemore sold 650,000 shares at 1,777 pence each, in a deal worth around GBP11.6 million in a series of transactions last Wednesday and Thursday. In the FTSE 250, Sports Direct International was the worst performer, down 10% after the sportswear retailer said it will postpone its annual results, scheduled for Thursday, to late July or August, due to complications with its integration of department store chain House of Fraser. Sports Direct said there are some "key areas to conclude" which could further hurt the guidance given in December. The company now expects its audited results to be published between July 26 and August 23. In December, Sports Direct had warned its acquisition House of Fraser would dent its earnings for the full year. The Mike Ashley-founded firm had said turning around House of Fraser would present "significant challenges", and see its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation coming in "behind last year's results".The pound was quoted at USD1.2562 Monday, firm against USD1.2554 at the London equities close Friday.There are no major events remaining in the economic calendar on Monday after the release of the Chinese data.