LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks Rebound; Ocado Up As It Goes Down Under

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were marginally higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 buoyed by a rise in Ocado as it ventured into pastures new, while Ferguson weighed on the large-cap index after cutting its annual guidance. In addition, an uptick in US 10-year Treasury yields helped ease fears over a possible US recession, which has plagued markets over the past week.The FTSE 100 index was up 13.71 points, or 0.2%, at 7,191.29. The blue chip index closed down 30.01 points, or 0.4%, at 7,177.58 on Monday.The FTSE 250 was up 15.17 points, or 0.1%, at 18,814.73, while the AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 897.39.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 12,168.62. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 16,887.97, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,141.09.In Paris the CAC 40 was flat, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.2%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended up 0.2%.US Treasury yields edged up after a two-day tumble. US economic growth is slowing but is still robust, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Monday. He put the chances of a recession at no more than 25%.In the FTSE 100, Ocado Group was the best performer, up 4.9% after the online grocer struck a deal with Coles Group to provider online grocery shopping services to Australian customers.Under the deal, Australia's second-largest retailer will gain access to Ocado's smart platform technology. No financial details were announced. Coles trades from 818 supermarkets, 911 liquor stores, and 712 Coles Express petrol stations across the country, generating sales in 2018 of AUD39.4 billion, about GBP22 billion. In addition, the partners plan to construct two robotic customer fulfilment centres in Melbourne and Sydney, which are expected to be operational by 2023. Each of the centres has an estimated sales capacity of USD500 million to USD750 million per year.Ocado will be responsible for the installation of the material handling equipment in the centres, including the provision of ongoing maintenance of the equipment. In turn, Coles will pay Ocado fees for the installation and maintenance of the equipment within the centres and licensing of the platform.Peel Hunt resumed coverage on Ocado with a Buy rating. Persimmon was up 3.8% after HSBC upgraded the housebuilder to Buy from Hold. Fresnillo was up 2.2% after Morgan Stanley raised the Mexican gold miner to Equal Weight from Underweight. United Utilities was up 1.2% after the water company said current trading is in line with the group's expectations.However, United Utilities said the dry summer of 2018, coupled with pension and restructuring costs, will have a slight impact on its annual profit. The company will report annual results on May 23. The "exceptional" period of dry weather during the summer of 2018, alongside guaranteed minimum pension equalisation and restructuring costs, mean United Utilities will book exceptional items of GBP52 million for its financial year ending March 31.On an underlying basis, United Utilities said it expects operating growth, while revenue is also guided to grow, but no exact guidance was given for either. At the other end of the large cap index, Ferguson was the worst performer, down 6.5% after the plumbing and heating products supplier said it expects annual profit at the bottom line of market forecasts due to weakness in plumbing and heating markets. The company reported revenue of USD10.85 billion for the six months to the end of January, up 8.2% from USD10.03 billion reported a year earlier, pushing pretax profit up by 14% to USD679 million from USD598 million.Looking ahead, Ferguson said it still expects to generate further revenue growth in the second half of its current financial year. The company has also revised its estimates of organic revenue growth to between 3% and 5%.Consequently, Ferguson said it anticipates trading profit for the full year to be towards the lower end of the range of analysts' expectations of USD1.59 billion. For the year to the end of July 2018, the company reported trading profit of USD1.50 billion.Kingfisher was down 1.8% after HSBC downgraded the home improvement retailer to Reduce from Hold. In the FTSE 250, Crest Nicholson was up 6.5% after it poached Galliford Try Chief Executive Peter Truscott to be its own chief. As well, Peel Hunt raised the housebuilder to Hold from Reduce. Galliford, down 3.0%, the second worst FTSE 250 performer, said it has appointed its Finance Director Graham Prothero as its new CEO, while Linden Homes Finance Director Andrew Duxbury has replaced Prothero.At the bottom of the midcap index, Spectris was down 4.0% after Goldman Sachs cut the precision instruments maker to Sell from Neutral. The pound was quoted at USD1.3190, higher than USD1.3168 at the London equities close Monday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy is in disarray after MPs dramatically voted late Monday to wrest control of the process from the hands of ministers.Three pro-EU ministers quit the government to back a Commons amendment enabling MPs to take control of Commons business to stage a series of "indicative votes" on alternatives to the prime minister's deal.They were among 30 Conservative MPs to defy the whips and support the cross-party amendment which was passed by 392 to 302 - a majority of 27 - in another humiliating reverse for May.In the economic calendar on Tuesday is UK BBA mortgage approvals at 0930 GMT, and US housing starts at 1230 GMT. Later, the Redbook index is at 1255 GMT and the S&P/Case-Shiller house price index at 1300 GMT.