LONDON MARKETS: Miners Weigh On London As Broker Calls Top For Iron Ore
July 24 2019 - 9:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Two brokers lower rating of Rio Tinto
Miners dragged down the top British stock market index on
Wednesday as a broker downgraded three of the giants after calling
a top on iron ore.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.8% to 7,595.45, the worst performer of the
major Europe markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deutsche-bank-shares-slide-as-europe-stocks-drift-before-ecb-meeting-2019-07-24).
The mid-cap FTSE 250 meanwhile rose 0.3% to 19,810.70.
What's moving markets
The mood in markets was hurt after the U.S. Justice Department
announced late Tuesday it was probing the American technology
giants
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-finally-admits-it-is-investigating-big-tech-for-antitrust-2019-07-23)
that have carried stock markets higher. U.S. stock futures were
pointing to a weaker start Wednesday.
Focus stocks
U.K.-listed miners struggled, with Rio Tinto (RIO.LN) (RIO.LN)
shares losing 4.7%, BHP Group (BHP.LN) (BHP.AU) shedding 4% and
Anglo American (AAL.LN) losing 3.5%. Liberum downgraded all three
from buy to hold, citing rising inventories of steel, stalled iron
ore port deliveries, declining Chinese steel mill profits and
accelerated scrap steel supply.
Credit Suisse separately downgraded Rio Tinto to underperform
from neutral. "We now focus on our expectation that iron ore
pricing is approaching a turning point with momentum in China port
inventory drawdowns slowing and supply continuing to recover," the
downgrade from Credit Suisse said.
Battered U.K. broadcaster ITV (ITV.LN) enjoyed some relief, with
the stock jumping 8%. The country's largest commercial broadcaster
reported a 16% drop in first-half pretax profit and announced new
cost savings. The stock is still down 34% over the last 12
months.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML.LN) shares plunged 24%
as the luxury automaker cut its guidance, seeing volumes between
6,300 and 6,500, vs. previous guidance between 7,100 and 7,300.
"The challenging external environment highlighted in May has
worsened, as have macro-economic uncertainties," the company
said.
Informa (INF.LN) shares climbed 6% as the events and publishing
company reported a near doubling of its first-half pretax profit as
it sees a benefit from buying rival UBM last year.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 24, 2019 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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