LONDON MARKET OPEN: JD Sports And Galliford Try Bookend FTSE 250

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Tuesday, with JD Sports Fashion leading the FTSE 250 after strong annual results, while Galliford Try weighed on the midcaps following a profit warning. The FTSE 100 was up 21.76 points, or 0.3%, at 7,458.63. The FTSE 250 was up 53.04 points, or 0.3%, at 19,859.79, while the AIM All-Share was flat at 947.59.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 12,655.81. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.% at 17,786.62, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 11,327.30.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.1% in early dealings.On the London Stock Exchange, InterContinental Hotels Group was the best blue chip performer, up 1.0% after MainFirst started coverage on the hotel chain owner with an Outperform rating. Rio Tinto was up 0.2% despite the Anglo-Australian miner lowering its annual iron ore production guidance, as its operations were hit by cyclone Veronica.The company's Pilbara mine located in western Australia recorded a 9% year-on-year decline in iron ore production to 76.0 million tonnes for the three months to March-end, 64.1 million of which was net to Rio Tinto. As a result, iron ore shipments decreased by 14% to 69.1 million tonnes, with 58.2 million tonnes net to Rio Tinto.The FTSE 100-listed miner explained that the production was impacted by a fire at Cape Lambert A in January and significant disruptions caused primarily by tropical cyclone Veronica in March.Looking ahead, Rio Tinto now expects its Pilbara shipments in 2019 to be between 333 million and 343 million tonnes as the damage to the port from tropical cyclone Veronica is expected to result in ongoing disruption to shipments. Previously, the company guided its annual production at the lower end of the range of 338 million and 350 million tonnes, on a 100% basis.At the other end of the large cap index, airline operators International Consolidated Airlines Group and easyJet were down 1.0% and 0.5% respectively after German peer Deutsche Lufthansa reported a loss for first three months of the year, hurt by rising fuel costs and overcapacity.Germany's biggest airline said adjusted EBIT declined to EUR336 million in the first quarter 2019, from EUR52 million the year before. Lufthansa shares were down 3.5% in Frankfurt. BP was down 0.9% after RBC Capital downgraded the oil major to Outperform from Top Pick among its sector coverage. In the FTSE 250, JD Sports Fashion was up 4.7% after the sportswear retailer said that encouraging same store sales growth and contributions from recent acquisitions led to doubling of revenue and 15% jump in annual profit.For the year ended February 2, the FTSE 250 listed sports fashion retailer posted pretax profit of GBP339.9 million, up 15% from GBP294.5 million a year ago. Revenue jumped 49% year-on-year to GBP4.72 billion from GBP3.16 billion, helped by contribution of Finish Line acquisition in the US.Total like-for-like sales across JD's global Sports Fashion fascias, including online, grew by 6% with double digit growth in both Europe and Asia Pacific, the company said.As a result of the strong set of results, the retailer increased its total dividend by 5% to 1.71 pence per share from 1.63p a year ago. It proposed a final dividend of 1.44p, up from 1.37p in the comparative year ago period. Ashmore Group was up 3.5% after the emerging markets-focused asset manager said pick-up in client activity levels led to an increase in inflows and assets under management.Ashmore's assets under management at March 31 stood at USD85.3 billion, 11% higher than the USD76.7 billion reported at December 31.In the three months to March 31, the emerging markets asset manager saw USD5.0 billion of net inflows and a USD3.6 billion positive investment performance. At the other end of the midcap index, Galliford Try was the worst performer, down 17% after the housebuilding and construction company said it is undertaking a strategic review of its Construction business. Galliford said the review will reduce the size of the Construction business, focusing on its key strengths in markets and sectors with sustainable prospects for profitability and growth. However, the company expects the review to reduce profitability in the current year reflecting a "reassessment of positions" in legacy and current contracts and the effect of some recent adverse settlements alongside restructuring costs. As such, the company expects that the outcome will reduce the group's full year post-exceptional pretax profit by GBP30 million to GBP40 million below the current consensus analysts' forecasts.For the year ending June 30, analysts forecast pretax profit of GBP156 million. Last year, the company posted pretax profit of GBP143.7 million.In addition, Peel Hunt cut the stock to Hold from Buy. The pound was quoted at USD1.3093 Tuesday, against USD1.3109 at the London close Monday, ahead of the UK jobs report at 0930 BST. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.9%, average weekly earnings excluding bonus payment are anticipated to have risen by 3.4% on an annual basis. Average earnings that includes bonuses is expected to have picked up to 3.5%, from 3.4% in January.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 2.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.9%.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing down 0.1%. In US earnings calendar on Tuesday financial services companies Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will report their respective earnings before the market open in New York.