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London midday: Equities rise as PBoC defends yuan devaluation, Greek GDP grows

Renae Dyer

LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - UK equities were on the front foot as China's central bank defended its devaluation of the yuan and as Greece delivered surprise economic growth in the second quarter. The People's Bank of China (HKSE: 3988-OL.HK - news) devalued the yuan for the third consecutive day on Thursday. The Bank set the parity rate at 6.4010 yuan for $1, down 1.11% from the previous day's 6.3306, in an effort to boost exports to feed the slowing economy.

The move has sparked concerns of a "currency war" but the central bank dismissed the claims. PBoC economist Ma Jun said on Wednesday that there was no need for a currency war as exports were expected to pick up in the second half of the year.

"It is also entirely probable that in these attempts to try and stem the tide of deflation afflicting the Chinese economy that we could well see further Yuan weakness, and as a result see China export further deflation into the global economy, and in all likelihood delay the lift off in rates widely expected from the Federal Reserve later next month," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"The recent US jobs report has certainly raised expectations of just such a rate move, but nagging doubts still remain about the wisdom of acting next month, given the low levels of inflation, as well as Deputy Fed chief Fischer's comments earlier this week." Meanwhile, the Greek economy expanded 0.8% in the second quarter compared the previous three-month period, an official estimate said. With the financial sector and government shutdowns during the period, economists have estimated there would be a 0.5% contraction.

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Athens' parliamentary committees are expected to discuss a new bailout programme on Thursday, ahead of a parliamentary vote in the early hours of Friday morning.

Looking ahead, a report on US retail sales at 1330 BST is expected show an improvement in July as the Fed looks for signs of economic growth before raising interest rates. The report from the Commerce Department is forecast to reveal retail sales climbed 0.6% last month, compared to a 0.3% fall in June.

The US will also see the release of weekly jobless claims at 1330 BST. Analysts predict initial jobless claims remained at 270,000 in the week to 8 August.

Companies Michael Page rallied after the British recruiter said it would pay a special dividend after posting an increase in half-year pre-tax profit on the back of a rise in revenue.

Coca-Cola HBC jumped after posting a 31.7% rise in first-half net profits to €125.2m, although sales fell by 1% to €3.15bn due to an adverse impact from currencies.

TUI (LSE: TUI.L - news) advanced as the travel giant grew revenues and underlying operating profits impressively in the third quarter.

Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) ticked up as the miner said it will cut capital expenditure as a result of falling oil prices, as it reported mixed first-half production.

Grainger (LSE: GRI.L - news) gained after the residential property group announced plans to sell its assets in German as part of a strategy to simplify the business and increase its focus on the UK market, as it said trading in the first ten months of this year was strong.

G4S (Copenhagen: G4S.CO - news) was a top faller after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) downgraded the stock to 'sell', citing pressure from data management services and slower-than-expected growth across its emerging market exposure.

Market Movers techMARK 3,181.87 +0.60% FTSE 100 6,623.51 +0.80% FTSE 250 17,591.53 +0.88% FTSE 100 - Risers Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,437.00p +8.62% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI (KSE: 003160.KS - news) ) (TUI) 1,120.00p +7.18% London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,596.00p +2.89% 3i Group (III) 531.50p +2.71% ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 939.50p +2.57% Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT.L - news) (ISAT) 1,000.00p +2.56% ITV (ITV (LSE: ITV.L - news) ) 260.90p +2.56% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE: HIK.L - news) (HIK) 2,345.00p +2.54% Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) (ADM) 1,469.00p +2.51% Burberry Group (Other OTC: BBRYF - news) (BRBY) 1,517.00p +2.36% FTSE 100 - Fallers G4S (Amsterdam: GF6.AS - news) (GFS (Taiwan OTC: 6026.TWO - news) ) 258.40p -4.26% Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) (RIO) 2,493.50p -2.39% Royal Mail (LSE: RMG.L - news) (RMG) 481.70p -1.99% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,087.00p -1.90% BT Group (LSE: BT-A.L - news) (BT.A) 454.85p -1.42% Ashtead Group (LSE: AHT.L - news) (AHT) 965.00p -1.33% Pearson (Amsterdam: PR8.AS - news) (PSON) 1,151.00p -1.29% Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) 'A' (RDSA) 1,865.50p -0.64% Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,878.50p -0.63% Diageo (Amsterdam: DO8.AS - news) (DGE) 1,767.00p -0.45% FTSE 250 - Risers Playtech (PTEC) 914.50p +4.99% Allied Minds (Other OTC: ALLWF - news) (ALM) 491.40p +4.73% Ashmore Group (Other OTC: AJMPF - news) (ASHM) 263.90p +4.23% Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L - news) (CINE) 569.50p +3.83% Rightmove (RMV) 3,758.00p +3.81% Michael Page International (Other OTC: MPGPY - news) (MPI (Other OTC: MNIGF - news) ) 545.00p +3.42% Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 116.00p +3.20% Just Eat (Other OTC: JSTLF - news) (JE.) 406.70p +3.09% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 854.50p +2.95% Morgan Advanced Materials (Other OTC: MCRUF - news) (MGAM) 349.30p +2.67% FTSE 250 - Fallers Ophir Energy (Other OTC: OPGYF - news) (OPHR) 109.20p -3.62% WH Smith (LSE: SMWH.L - news) (SMWH) 1,512.00p -3.20% Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,051.00p -2.95% Greene King (Other OTC: GKNGY - news) (GNK) 842.00p -2.83% Lonmin (LMI) 39.86p -2.06% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,405.00p -2.04% Vedanta Resources (Other OTC: VDNRF - news) (VED) 460.90p -1.94% Telecom Plus (LSE: TEP.L - news) (TEP) 1,100.00p -1.79% Premier Oil (LSE: PMO.L - news) (PMO) 114.80p -1.63% Card Factory (LSE: CARD.L - news) (CARD) 351.60p -1.51% FTSE TechMARK - Risers SDL (SDL (LSE: SDL.L - news) ) 386.00p +2.59% Sepura (SEPU) 160.00p +2.24% Oxford Instruments (Other OTC: OXGGY - news) (OXIG) 944.50p +2.11% E2V Technologies (LSE: E2V.L - news) (E2V) 228.00p +1.33% XP Power Ltd (LSE: XPP.L - news) . (DI) (XPP) 1,698.00p +0.89% KCOM Group (LSE: KCOM.L - news) (KCOM) 95.25p +0.79% Innovation Group (Other OTC: INVGF - news) (TIG) 33.25p +0.76% Dialight (DIA (Amsterdam: DI6.AS - news) ) 557.50p +0.45% Consort Medical (Other OTC: CSRMF - news) (CSRT) 937.00p +0.43% NCC Group (LSE: NCC.L - news) (NCC (BSE: NCC6.BO - news) ) 239.00p +0.21% FTSE TechMARK - Fallers BATM Advanced Communications Ltd (Other OTC: BTAVF - news) . (BVC) 17.75p -2.74% RM (RM (LSE: RM.L - news) .) 181.00p -0.55% Skyepharma (SKP) 274.25p -0.45% IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 201.57 -0.11%