London open: Footsie flat despite falls for BP, Weir and Fresnillo
Market Movers
- techMARK 2,086.11 -0.09%
- FTSE 100 5,691.29 -0.04%
- FTSE 250 11,229.40 -0.08%
- BP, Weir and Fresnillo provide some downward pressure
- UK consumer confidence remains subdued
- Markets await the Fed and ECB
Some disappointing results from BP, Weir Group and Fresnillo were preventing gains for the Footsie on Tuesday morning; meanwhile, consumer confidence data in the UK showed that sentiment remained subdued in July.
The GfK consumer confidence index was unchanged this month at -29, in line with consensus forecasts. Analysts at Barclays Capital said this morning: "Consumer confidence remains subdued and it has been at these low levels (between -29 and -33) for over a year now. Although inflation has fallen and the unemployment rate has edged down, we think the uncertainty about the economic outlook, the continued austerity measures and weak earnings growth are likely to keep consumer sentiment at subdued levels in the near term."
Investors were also showing caution following some strong gains the day before as markets hope for central bank action in the US and Europe this week. The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting today, while the European Central Bank (ECB) will reveal its decision on Thursday.
Many are expecting the ECB to resume bond-buying after its President Mario Draghi said last week that the bank will do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro…and believe me, it will be big enough".
FTSE 100: Heavy falls from BP, Weir and Fresnillo early on
Weaker oil and gas prices and a cut in output due to an extensive maintenance programme hit BP's profits hard in the second quarter. Shares dropped over 3% early on.
Scottish engineering firm Weir tumbled after advising that full-year profits are likely to come in below market expectations if there is no pick-up in the upstream Oil & Gas markets.
Mexico-focused precious metals miner Fresnillo dropped after being hit by the falling price of silver and reduced ore quality, leading to a significant fall in first-half profits.
UK banking groups Barclays and RBS were heavy fallers after earnings from their European counterparts UBS and Deutsche Bank came up short of forecasts.
Holiday Inns operator InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) fell after the findings of an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation criticised the hotel group's arrangements with two online booking agents.
UK engineering giant GKN was lower in spite of seeing profits jump in the first half as it benefitted from a broad exposure to global markets.
Heading the other way was precious metals miner Polymetal after its produced more than half a million ounces of gold equivalent in the first half of 2012, with production reaching a new high in the second quarter. Sector peer Randgold also made gains.
Xstrata was also on the up after seeing stronger second-quarter production in coal, nickel, zinc and lead compared with the first quarter.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 947.00p +2.05%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,890.00p +1.46%
Polymetal International (POLY) 898.00p +1.30%
Amec (AMEC) 1,130.00p +1.07%
Xstrata (XTA) 852.90p +1.01%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,934.00p +0.86%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,189.50p +0.83%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 183.95p +0.79%
Glencore International (GLEN) 320.90p +0.79%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,266.00p +0.78%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BP (BP.) 430.40p -3.16%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,651.00p -3.11%
ITV (ITV) 74.80p -2.60%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,426.00p -1.86%
Barclays (BARC) 167.65p -1.70%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,892.00p -1.61%
Wolseley (WOS) 2,334.00p -1.52%
CRH (CRH) 1,213.00p -1.46%
Schroders (SDR) 1,301.00p -1.44%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 160.40p -0.99%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Elementis (ELM) 212.90p +6.45%
Grainger (GRI) 91.35p +2.47%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 130.00p +2.36%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 273.40p +2.28%
Rank Group (RNK) 119.00p +2.15%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 115.60p +2.03%
Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 443.50p +1.72%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 557.50p +1.55%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 497.50p +1.47%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,288.00p +1.42%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Inchcape (INCH) 379.50p -2.39%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 371.80p -2.24%
Savills (SVS) 357.60p -2.21%
Perform Group (PER) 367.50p -2.00%
Diploma (DPLM) 411.70p -1.98%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 299.30p -1.87%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 484.44p -1.72%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 108.50p -1.63%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 76.90p -1.60%
UK Event Calendar Tuesday July 31
INTERIMS
BP, Brammer, Burford Capital Ltd., Capital & Counties, Devro, Dignity, Elementis, Erste Group Bank AG, Fresnillo, GKN, Hutchison China Meditech Ltd, Inchcape, Jcdecaux SA, LSL Property Services, Man SE, Rotork, Tullett Prebon, Weir group
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Aer Lingus Group, Chrysalis VCT
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
JP Morgan Chase & Co, Middlefield Canadian Income PCC, Schroder Income Growth Fund
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chicago PMI (US) (13:45)
Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)
GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)
International Reserves (EU) (11:00)
Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)
Personal Income (US) (13:30)
Personal Spending (US) (13:30)
Retail Sales (GER) (07:00)
Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00)
Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)
Q2
BP, Wolfson Microelectronics
GMS
Evolve Capital, Lighthouse Group
FINALS
Allocate Software, Games Workshop
ANNUAL REPORT
Dart Group
AGMS
Better Capital Pcc Ltd (2009), Better Capital Pcc Ltd (2012), Cazenove Absolute Equity Ltd, Creon Resources, e-Therapeutics, Hansa Trust, Metro Baltic Horizons, Schroder UK Growth Fund, Strategic Natural Resources, Water Intelligence
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Confidence (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Edinburgh Inv Trust, Investec Structured Products Calculus VCT, Investec Structured Products Calculus VCT 'C' Shares, May Gurney Integrated Services, Norcros, Panther Securities, Rensburg AIM VCT, Restore
PRODUCTION UPDATE
Vedanta
| US Market Report | US close: Stocks drift lower as markets await the Fed
Dow Jones: 13,073 (-0.02%)
Nasdaq: 22,946 (-0.41%)
S&P 500: 1,385 (-0.05%) US stocks failed to follow their European counterparts higher on Monday as investors showed caution ahead of a domestic policy decision and monthly jobs report this week.
Meanwhile, optimism was driving gains on equity markets across the pond after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi pledged last week to do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro…and believe me, it will be big enough".
The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting begins tomorrow, and investors are hoping that the poor labour, manufacturing and GDP data as of late have added to expectations that the Fed will act.
"Both ECB and Fed announcements will be key drivers of price-action in the near term, so we can expect volatility to continue head of the central bank actions later this week," said Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital.
The US Government is also due to release an employment report this week that most observers expect to show a slowdown in recruitment in July.
COMPANIES
Drinks titan Coca-Cola gained as investors celebrated the company's plans to restructure the company's division. At the end of the year, the business will be divided into three units: Coca-Cola International, Coca-Cola Americas and Bottling Investments Group.
Investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co was among the worst performers on the Dow after analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded their rating on the stock from 'buy' to 'hold'.
Apple was gaining as the company begins a major court battle with rival Samsung over smartphone technology patents. Apple is demanding $2.5bn in damages from the South Korean firm.
S&P 500 - Risers
Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $2.24 +12.56%
Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $4.51 +4.64%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $34.27 +3.82%
QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $30.25 +3.03%
Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN) $115.39 +2.83%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $9.15 +2.81%
SAIC Inc. (SAI) $11.46 +2.69%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $64.29 +2.55%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $43.31 +2.29%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $42.99 +2.28%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $73.25 -5.86%
Loews Corp. (L) $39.54 -5.18%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $15.45 -4.45%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $125.87 -4.27%
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $1.82 -4.21%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $27.22 -4.12%
DeVry Inc. (DV) $19.04 -3.79%
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $35.39 -3.70%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $53.76 -3.67%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $49.96 -3.65%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $81.12 +1.39%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $15.87 +1.15%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $74.97 +0.93%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $63.21 +0.78%
AT&T Inc. (T) $37.43 +0.78%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $74.98 +0.62%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.82 +0.51%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $89.33 +0.16%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $196.68 +0.15%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.56 +0.13%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $36.14 -2.03%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $18.26 -1.64%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $44.48 -1.36%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.76 -1.00%
Boeing Co. (BA) $74.86 -0.86%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $53.25 -0.86%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.80 -0.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.69 -0.55%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $23.71 -0.48%
3M Co. (MMM) $91.28 -0.47%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $56.12 +2.22%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $12.74 +2.17%
Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.93 +1.71%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $595.03 +1.69%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $30.43 +1.40%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $33.36 +1.40%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $49.96 +1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $15.87 +1.15%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $17.92 +0.96%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $45.60 +0.85%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $73.25 -5.86%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $27.22 -4.12%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $48.32 -3.97%
Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $6.79 -3.96%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $49.96 -3.65%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $41.17 -2.99%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $15.47 -2.89%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $31.01 -2.77%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $11.33 -2.45%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $35.21 -2.30% |
| Newspaper Round Up | Tuesday newspaper round-up: BP, Yahoo, Lloyds
The US Treasury Secretary urged Europe's leaders to follow through on their promises to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro as he embarked on a whirlwind round of diplomacy in Germany. Tim Geithner stoked speculation about a co-ordinated transatlantic push to bolster the single currency as he met Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Finance Minister, at a holiday resort island in Schleswig-Holstein. In a joint statement, the pair "expressed confidence in euro area member states' efforts to reform and move towards greater integration", before Mr Geithner flew to Frankfurt to see Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank's President, The Times says.
Bankers found to have rigged Libor could face jail after the Serious Fraud Office said it will look to bring criminal charges against those who attempted to manipulate Libor, a key global borrowing rate. David Green QC, director of the SFO, said existing legislation could be used to bring criminal actions against banks implicated in the Libor rigging scandal. Mr Green did not specify the precise charges that could be brought but it is possible bankers found guilty of manipulation could receive prison sentences of up to 10 years, according to The Telegraph.
BP's oligarch partners in TNK-BP have piled pressure on the oil major ahead of its half-year results on Tuesday by refusing to approve the payment of a $1bn (£637m) dividend by the Russian joint venture. BP's oligarch partners in TNK-BP have piled pressure on the oil major ahead of its half-year results on Tuesday, by refusing to approve the payment of a $1bn (£637m) dividend by the Russian joint venture. BP proposed earlier this month that TNK-BP pay the special dividend, which would have provided a welcome boost to its coffers at a time when the venture's regular payouts are suspended amid disagreement between the partners. The proposal required the approval of the four oligarchs of the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) group who sit on the joint venture's board - and who yesterday announced they had voted against it, The Telegraph reports.
Ross Levinsohn, the interim chief executive of Yahoo! is leaving the company today, two weeks after the company announced that he had lost out on the top job to Google executive Marissa Mayer. He will leave with the payments outlined in his 2010 offer letter and 2011 severance agreement, plus an equity award of 67,000 restricted stock units and 250,000 stock options. The options have an exercise price of $15.80, the closing price on Friday, giving them a value of just over $5m. Mr Levinsohn took temporary control in May after Scott Thompson left unexpectedly over inaccuracies in his CV. He had been the principal internal candidate for the chief executive position. His sudden departure is regarded as a setback for Ms Mayer and many staff had apparently hoped that he would stay to run the company in tandem with his new boss, writes The Times.
It's time for investors in pub group Greene King to stop filling their glasses, according to Liberum Capital analyst Patrick Coffey, who called last orders on his stock recommendation and cut the company to "hold" from "buy". "Having rallied strongly over the last two months, we believe the shares are likely to pause for breath," Mr Coffey said, although he boosted his target to 593p from 575p. Indeed, the stock has had a good run, climbing 24% since the start of June. Greene King also reported a 7% increase in full-year pre-tax profit last month, bolstered by growth in food sales. However, Liberum's change of heart put pressure on the pub group and the stock slipped 3½ to 607½p, The Telegraph reports.
Lloyds Banking has pledged to lend £5bn to first-time buyers over the course of 2012, creating more than 140 new homeowners every day. This should mean more than 50,000 of them will be able to buy their own property this year. In the first six months of the year, the Group has already helped more than 25,000 people take their first steps onto the property ladder. It provides one in three mortgages on affordable housing schemes and new build properties in the UK and 25 per cent of the funding for the Government's NewBuy scheme, which is targeted at first-time buyers. Last week Lloyds cut rates by up to 0.2 percentage points on a range of loans, including some aimed at first-time buyers, The Times says. |
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