LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks Higher As Investors Await Brexit Vote

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened higher on Tuesday after China's latest economic stimulus measure provided investors with some relief.The main event of the day sees UK lawmakers voting on UK government's Brexit deal for leaving the European Union at Westminster.The FTSE 100 was up 28.38 points, or 0.4%, at 6,883.40, while the FTSE 250 was up 7.77 points at 18,425.35. The AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 905.01.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.8% at 11,726.42, while the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% higher at 16,497.85 and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.1% at 11,152.46.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was up 1.0%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was 0.9% higher.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.0%, resuming trading after being closed on Monday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 1.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 2.0%.Markets in Asia were higher after Beijing said it would cut taxes "on a larger scale" to stabilize a slowing economy amid ongoing US-China trade war."The country's finance ministry announced it intends to cut VAT rates for certain industries, including manufacturers, while giving tax rebates to others. At the same time, the People's Bank of China claimed it would keep liquidity 'reasonably ample', a pincer attack of reassurances that, looking at the markets, seems, for now, to have worked," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.On the London Stock Exchange, miners were among the blue chip risers following the latest China economic stimulus measures.Rio Tinto was up 1.9%, Anglo American up 1.7% Antofagasta, up 1.4% and Glencore up 1.3%. At the other end of the large cap index, Paddy Power Betfair was the worst performer, down 2.4%, adding to losses from Monday after the bookmaker was hit by a broker downgrade. The stock closed down 4.1% on Monday.Persimmon was down 1.0% despite the housebuilder stating that it expects annual profit to be modestly ahead of consensus. Persimmon expects total revenue for 2018 to come in at GBP3.74 billion, up from GBP3.60 billion a year ago.New housing revenue was predicted to rise by 4% to GBP3.55 billion from GBP3.24 billion, with the company's legal completions increasing by 406 new homes, or 3%, to 16,449 from 16.043. Average selling price per unit increased by 1% year-on-year to GBP215,560. Fellow housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group were down 1.0%, 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. "Unfortunately, the [housebuilding] sector is squarely in the firing line because of Brexit and the potential damage it could wreak on the UK economy. Quite apart from the possibility of the country spinning into an immediate economic downturn, any ongoing weakness in sterling could well lead to a further increase in the cost of materials. This comes in addition to a housing market which is slowly starting to come off the boil," said Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter. In the FTSE 250, Hays was the best performer, up 3.6% after the recruiter reported growth in net fees for the second quarter.For the quarter to December-end, net fees increased 8% on a headline basis and 9% on a like-for-like basis versus the prior year.At the other end of the midcap index, Provident Financial was the worst performer, down 19% after the doorstep lender said it expects 2018 profit to come in towards the lower end of market expectations, despite making "further good progress" in the last quarter.Currently, the market forecasts the lender's pretax profit to be between GBP151 million and GBP166 million. A year ago, the company reported a GBP123.0 million pretax loss.The group expects to report exceptional costs of GBP55 million in 2018 representing costs associated with the implementation of the home credit recovery plan, comprising intangible and tangible asset write offs, redundancy and consultancy costs, non-cash pension charges and others costs. The pound was flat, quoted at USD1.2885 against USD1.2890 at the London equities close Monday, ahead of the key vote in the House of Commons.UK Prime Minister Theresa May will make her final efforts Tuesday to persuade lawmakers to back the deal she has agreed for the UK to withdraw from the EU, as she faces widespread dissent from her own Conservatives and opposition parties.May has promised parliament a "meaningful vote" on the agreement, but she postponed it at the last minute in mid-December after admitting she faced a heavy defeat.Speculation has mounted over what could happen to the deal, to the Brexit process and to May's political career if, as seems likely, she loses the vote."The consensus view is that the agreement is likely to be rejected by the House of Commons, with some media sources reporting that the defeat could be in the order of two hundred votes. The government has indicated a willingness to make some further concessions to firm up support. Few observers seem to think that this will do anything more than reduce the scale of the loss. However, a relatively narrow defeat may still leave room for a slightly amended deal to pass on a second vote," analysts at Lloyds said. May conceded that the deal "is not perfect" and reflects compromise.Addressing lawmakers in Monday's debate, she rejected calls to delay the date of the UK leaving the EU, scheduled for March 29, to allow more time to build consensus or allow a second referendum."The number of members of parliament who vote against the Brexit deal is likely to be seen as an acid test of how hard it will be for Theresa May to get a revised deal through parliament on a second attempt. A number above 100 MPs would set an extremely high bar to get a modified version of the deal approved in the next 2 to 3 weeks," analysts at ING said.Should May lose the vote she is required to find an alternate solution and report back within three parliamentary sitting days.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, S&P 500 down 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite down 0.9%.Ahead in the US earnings calendar on Tuesday, banks JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo report earnings before the market open in New York.