LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Hopes Of US-China Trade Resolution Sparks Rally

LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks racked up gains on Wednesday as investors took positive cues from US-China trade talks extending into a third day. Miners were benefiting from the prospect of improved trade relations between the world's two largest economies, while housebuilders were also among the FTSE 100's best performers on Wednesday after a robust update from Taylor Wimpey. The FTSE 100 at midday was up 64.99 points, or 1.0%, at 6,926.59, while the FTSE 250 was 230.36 points higher, or 1.3%, at 18,406.15. The AIM All-Share was up 1.0% at 900.67.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 11,759.12, while the Cboe UK 250 was 1.1% higher at 16,498.64 and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.4% at 11,140.13.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 1.0% higher.Sentiment was boosted as US and China extended trade talks by an extra day, though neither side released a statement on their efforts to end a months-long trade war. The negotiations were supposed to last two days but were extended into Wednesday. The US trade team, led by deputy trade representative Jeffrey Gerrish, arrived in Beijing on Monday. "Mining stocks feature prominently amongst the best performers in the [FTSE 100 index] with the positive news from China providing a clear bump, while housebuilders are gaining after a pleasing trading update from Taylor Wimpey and also on the possible belief that a no-deal Brexit is less likely after the government's Commons defeat yesterday evening," observed XTB chief market analyst David Cheetham.Taylor Wimpey was the best performer in the UK's headline stock index, up 6.5% after the house builder said it expects to report a set of in-line results for 2018. Total completions were up 2.8% year-on-year in 2018 to 14,947 from 14,541, including joint ventures. Moreover, average selling prices on private completions were up 1.7% to GBP301,000 from GBP296,000, while the overall average selling price stayed flat at GBP264,000.The robust update helped fellow homebuilders in a positive read-across, with Persimmon up 4.9%, Barratt Developments up 4.0%, and Berkeley up 3.4%. Miners were another group basking in the green on Wednesday, on hopes for a resolution to US-China trade tensions. Antofagasta gained 3.8%, Glencore was up 2.9% and Anglo American up 2.1%.Even BHP Group was managing to eke out some small gains, up 0.4%, despite Deutsche Bank cutting its rating on the miner to Sell from Hold. In New York, stocks are pointed to a higher open with the Dow Jones called up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%. At 1900 GMT, the US Federal Reserve releases the minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes."The FOMC minutes this evening will be an interesting read, given the clear reluctance within the committee to dramatically alter the course for interest rates at the meeting, followed a couple of weeks later by its Chair delivering a much more flexible and, one could argue, dovish message," said Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.In the UK, focus lies on Westminster as a parliamentary debate on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal resumes again. The Commons will begin five days of debate on Wednesday culminating in the "meaningful vote" next week which could determine the fate of her government. It comes after the prime minister dramatically pulled a vote before Christmas, admitting she was heading for defeat in the face of opposition from both pro-Leave and pro-Remain Tories.May said she is seeking assurances from the EU that a "backstop" arrangement to guarantee an open Irish border after Brexit cannot become permanent. The backstop - which May insists would only be a temporary, last-resort measure - could impose slightly different trade rules on Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.The Financial Times reported that her aides are attempting to persuade EU leaders to give written assurances before a second vote if, as expected, she loses the first one due to take place next Tuesday.Ahead of the debate, MPs opposed to a no-deal break were flexing their muscles on Tuesday evening to inflict another bruising defeat on the government. Twenty Conservative MPs joined opposition parties in backing a cross-party amendment to the Finance Bill intended to limit the government's powers to make tax changes in the event of no-deal.Back on the London Stock Exchange, the standout performer in the FTSE 250 was Softcat, the IT infrastructure firm rose 21% after saying trading is "materially" ahead of expectations as it approaches the end of the first half of its financial year. In second place was Ted Baker after the fashion retailer reported sales growth over Christmas. For the five week period to January 5, the upmarket fashion retailer reported retail sales up 12% against the same period a year ago. At constant currency, sales were up 11%. E-commerce sales were up 19%, representing just over a quarter of the company's total sales in the period, while average retail square footage was up 5.0% to 429,576 square feet.Greggs was the third best performer in the mid-cap index after lifting its profit guidance following a strong end to 218. For the year ended December 29, the baker said total sales were up 7.2% against the prior year, with company-managed shop like-for-like sales up 2.9%. The second half proved much stronger than the first, with like-for-like sales up 4.2% and 1.5% respectively.As a result of its strong performance, Greggs said it expects its annual underlying pretax profit to be at least GBP88 million, "slightly ahead of our previous guidance". In November, the baker guided to profit of at least GBP86.0 million.