London midday: Stocks push higher as Sino-US trade worries ease
London stocks had pushed firmly into the green by midday on Thursday amid signs that trade tensions between the US and China were easing.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 7,198.43. Meanwhile, sterling was steady against both the dollar and the euro, having tumbled on Wednesday on news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had decided to suspend Parliament.
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said: "The simple fact remains that the threat of a no-deal remains large and is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future."
"Recent developments don’t really materially change the chances of this scenario playing out, but they have certainly focused minds and applied pressure on the opposition to get their act together pretty swiftly if they want to be anything more than interested observers going forward."
"It is perhaps telling that after the knee-jerk move lower as the news dropped there was a lack of follow through to the downside for the pound and it’s becoming ever more apparent that a fair bit of bad news is already priced-in to the currency."
Away from Brexit, sentiment got a boost after a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said that an escalation in the trade war with the US would not be good for China or the rest of the world.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The unfortunate reality is that these comments are likely more hot air but with everything that's happening at the moment, they do provide rays of hope."
In equity markets, Smiths Group was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 thanks to an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs.
AstraZeneca gained after saying that its drug to treat moderate-to-severe lupus met the main goal in a late-stage study.
Imperial Leather maker PZ Cussons ticked higher as it agreed to sell its Greek food subsidiary Minerva and its Polish personal care brand Luksja.
Energy services company Hunting rose as it posted a jump in first-half profit thanks to solid performances in its Asia Pacific, US and EMEA segments.
On the downside, Micro Focus shares tumbled after it said weak sales had forced it to revise its revenue forecasts even lower and accelerate a review of the company. The software maker said revenue on a constant currency basis for the year ending to October 31 would be 6% - 8% lower compared with previous guidance of a fall of 4% - 6%.
Amigo Holdings also suffered heavy losses as its first-quarter results disappointed due to higher impairments and costs and after the lender warned that annual loan book growth would be flat.
Recruiter Hays was in the red after it posted a rise in full-year net fees but a drop in pre-tax profit on the back of restructuring and pension costs, and highlighted tough conditions in the UK and Germany.
Ex-dividends weighed, as is usually the case on a Thursday, with St James’s Place, Hammerson, Auto Trader, Capital & Counties, Centamin, Charter Court Financial, Hochschild Mining, InterContinental Hotels, John Wood Group, LondonMetric Property, National Express, OneSavings Bank, Plus500, Polypipe, Quilter, Rotork, Tullow Oil and Ultra Electronics all in the frame.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,198.43 1.18%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,252.85 0.26%
techMARK (TASX) 3,820.98 0.38%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,626.00p 4.33%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 176.05p 3.26%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,192.00p 2.77%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 843.75p 2.72%
Glencore (GLEN) 231.23p 2.68%
Fresnillo (FRES) 745.80p 2.45%
Carnival (CCL) 3,447.00p 2.41%
ITV (ITV) 117.60p 2.39%
CRH (CRH) 2,709.00p 2.38%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,863.00p 2.33%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,209.00p -22.27%
St James's Place (STJ) 912.00p -1.98%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,113.00p -0.52%
Experian (EXPN) 2,496.00p -0.48%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,082.00p -0.20%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,368.00p -0.13%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 184.00p -0.11%
Kingfisher (KGF) 193.95p -0.10%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 188.60p -0.08%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 520.40p 0.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hunting (HTG) 451.80p 5.12%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,128.78p 3.75%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,494.00p 3.74%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 337.20p 3.72%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 4,335.00p 2.92%
William Hill (WMH) 172.63p 2.76%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,004.00p 2.72%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,422.50p 2.60%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 213.60p 2.59%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 185.80p 2.54%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 85.31p -41.65%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 259.84p -3.76%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 209.70p -3.50%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 373.70p -3.26%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,691.25p -3.19%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 317.60p -3.17%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 271.18p -3.15%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 147.89p -2.93%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 587.00p -2.65%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 115.00p -2.54%