London open: Seeking direction
Market Movers
- techMARK 2,139.75 +0.14%
- FTSE 100 5,845.36 +0.11%
- FTSE 250 11,918.94 +0.13%
London opened little changed, with pundits citing an absence of big economic data to set the tone. RBS aiming to restart divis ... eventually
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the publically owned bank, says it is targeting the resumption of dividend payments after 2013.
The announcement came in a speech by RBS's Chief Executive, Stephen Hester, at Merrill Lynch's annual London conference for bank bosses.
In a presentation that accompanied the speech, a resumption of dividend payments is cited as a "milestone" in the recovery plan, along with the sale of Direct Line.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, finance house Close Bros reported a mixed set of full year results with strong growth in its banking division while difficult trading conditions hurt securities. The group said asset management has mostly completed its restructuring and is now positioned for future profitability. Overall, it believes it is well positioned for the current financial year.
Two companies making exhibitions of themselves are Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) and Euromoney.
Business publisher and exhibitions firm Euromoney Institutional Investor said trading has been in line with expectations since its last update in late July. As flagged in July, market conditions became noticeably tougher from June, particularly in Europe. As a result, revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be broadly in line with the same period last year, with growth in subscriptions offset by weakness in advertising and delegate revenues.
Meanwhile, DMGT, which owns a stake in Euromoney, confirmed full-year results will be in line with expectations. The regional newspaper business remains on a seemingly irreversible downward course but the business to business division is going gangbusters.
Mining giant Xstrata announced production had begun ahead of schedule at its Lady Loretta zinc mine in north-west Queensland, Australia. The mine was originally supposed to start production at the end of 2013, but first deliveries of zinc-lead-silver ore to the company's Mount Isa processing plant are now set to begin later this month.
FTSE 250 miner Bumi said its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) had resigned from his current role as non-executive director following the launch of a probe into 'irregularities' at its Indonesian business. The firm said Ari Hudaya, who was CEO until March and is also president director of PT Bumi Resources, the focus of the investigation, had resigned from the board with immediate effect.
The "urgent" probe into PT Bumi Resources, in which the company has a 29% interest, is focusing on the firm's development funds
Down among the tiddlers, Hornby, the train set and Scalextric slot-car racing firm, has crashed after issuing a profit warning. Sales of Olympics merchandise were lower than forecast, the group revealed.
Other markets
With equity markets becalmed, gilts are seeing a bit of action. The yield on the benchamrk 10-year gilt is down to 1.77% from around 1.82% overnight, as prices head higher.
On the futures market, the price of Brent crude is back on the rise. The main contract is up 75 cents at $110.56 a barrel.
The price of gold is up $6 to $1,770.60 an ounce.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,643.00p +2.18%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,774.00p +1.90%
Diageo (DGE) 1,749.50p +1.48%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 669.50p +1.44%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,316.00p +1.39%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,910.00p +1.19%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 821.50p +1.17%
Old Mutual (OML) 175.00p +1.10%
BP (BP.) 447.00p +0.90%
BG Group (BG.) 1,263.00p +0.76%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,444.00p -2.47%
Evraz (EVR) 255.80p -2.18%
GKN (GKN) 215.80p -1.42%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 156.40p -1.32%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,737.00p -0.98%
CRH (CRH) 1,220.00p -0.81%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 269.30p -0.81%
Schroders (SDR) 1,542.00p -0.71%
BAE Systems (BA.) 332.30p -0.69%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,960.00p -0.67%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Workspace Group (WKP) 268.10p +2.92%
Menzies(John) (MNZS) 648.50p +2.61%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 197.90p +2.49%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 120.90p +2.46%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 596.50p +2.23%
Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) 69.00p +2.22%
Bumi (BUMI) 150.50p +1.96%
Laird (LRD) 228.90p +1.60%
PayPoint (PAY) 746.50p +1.56%
Renishaw (RSW) 1,626.00p +1.56%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 89.15p -2.89%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 37.16p -1.95%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 836.00p -1.70%
SIG (SHI) 103.00p -1.62%
Betfair Group (BET) 736.00p -1.54%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 91.00p -1.46%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 281.30p -1.30%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 115.00p -1.29%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 42.48p -1.21%
UK Event Calendar Tuesday September 25
INTERIMS
Augean, Bond International Software, InternetQ, Judges Scientific, KBC Advanced Technologies, Photonstar LED Group, Silence Therapeutics, Totally
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Taylor Wimpey
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
BP
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)
House Price Index (US) (15:00)
FINALS
Albemarle & Bond Holdings, Close Brothers Group, CVS Group, Hargreaves Services, Netcall, Regenersis
EGMS
Eastern European Property Fund Ltd.
AGMS
Braveheart Investment Group, Daisy Group, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'B' Shares, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'D' Shares, Fulcrum Utility Services Ltd. (DI), Private Equity Investor, Terra Catalyst Fund (DI), Zoo Digital Group
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Daily Mail and General Trust A (Non.V)
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BBA Mortgage Lending Figures (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Bloomsbury Publishing
Q1 Immofinanz AG
| Europe Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Europe mid-morning: Spanish bond auction weighs on stocks
-Merkel rejects Eurobonds
-Spain wants to know how far ECB will go in purchases
-IMF´s Lagarde admits Greece mist do more
-Spanish bond auction results worse than expected
FTSE-100: 0.01%
Dax-30: -0.41%
Cac-40: -0.42%
FTSE-Mibtel 30: -0.39%
Ibex 35: 0.20%
Stoxx 600: -0.03%
European equities began the day on a mixed footing but have since turned lower, following the results of the latest Spanish Treasury note auction this morning, which have come in a tad worse than the last time around. That as the markets wait for a decision by Spain on whether it believes it needs aid or not.
Not by coincidence, in remarks to Spanish broadcaster SER Spain´s Vice-President has said today that first –amongst other things- the country wants to know how far the European Central Bank (ECB) will go in its bond purchases before asking for any sort of aid.
Also worth mentioning, in a speech last night International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Christene Lagarde indicated that Spain´s labour market reforms will take until 2015 to have an effect. This, in part, as company´s wait to see it there are legal challenges to those reforms. Incidentally, that is precisely the case at the moment.
In a similar vein, the IMF´s Director admitted last night that the measures announced so far by Greece will not suffice to reign in its public deficit.
Meanwhile, and on the corporate front, the worst performing sectors at the moment on the DJ Stoxx 600 are: Automobiles (-2.25%), Banks (-0.20%) and Utilities (-0.16%). German consumer confidence steady
| US Market Report | US close: Tech stocks lead retreat
Dow Jones -20 to 13,559
Nasdaq -19 to 3,161
S&P 500 -3 to 1,457 US stocks closed firmly down on Monday, hit by ongoing concerns over the Eurozone and global growth, with tech stocks leading the way lower.
The Nasdaq saw its biggest percentage decline of a single session in two weeks, while the S&P 500 fell for a third session - its longest decline in seven weeks.
Denting confidence further was data out from Germany's IFO business climate indicator, which fell to 101.4 points in September, down from 102.3 in the previous month and the 102.5 expected by the market consensus. The business climate gauge has declined for a fifth consecutive month according to data from the IFO Institute in Munich.
This was in addition to France and Germany's failure to agree a schedule for initiating shared oversight of the region's banking sector.
A further negative impact came from China over the weekend, after Chinese central-bank advisor Song Guoqing conceded that there are precious few signs of the Chinese economy recovering its mojo in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, income at oil and gas producers will fall by 24% in the three months ending in September, the largest decline in three years, according to more than 1,200 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Excluding the retreat, earnings in the benchmark gauge for US stocks would climb 2.5%, the 12th straight increase, amid gains for banks and computer makers, the data shows.
COMPANY NEWS
On the company front, Apple closed down almost 2% after saying that it sold more than five million of its iPhone 5 in three days. That number is approximately half of what was expected by some analysts.
Tivo shares rose 4% after it announced that it had settled a pending patent dispute with Verizon Comms. The two have reached a patent-licensing agreement.
Shares in Peregrine Pharmaceuticals plunged 78% after Californian company Tustin said the firm's investors should not rely on data from a lung-cancer drug trial because there had been a number of discrepancies discovered in the data.
Micron Technologies was downgraded by analysts at Pacific Crest Securities to sector perform.
Analysts at Citi today revised their price target for shares of Google upwards, to $850 from $740 before. Despite this the company's shares hit an all-time high.
Red Hat´s Chief Executive Officer is said to be looking to make acquisitions in the "cloud space," according to reports out on Monday.
CHICAGO FED INDEX LOSES MORE GROUND
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago´s national activity index for the month of August fell to -0.87, after -0.13 in the month before. The three month moving average retreated to -0.47 from -0.26 in July.
OTHER MARKETS
Front month West Texas crude futures are now down by 1.03% to the $91.93 per barrel level on the NYMEX.
10-year US Treasuries are now gaining by 12/32 dollars, with yields at 1.71%. Deutsche Bank has revised its year-end forecast for 10-year bond yields upwards, to 2%.
S&P 500 - Risers
International Paper Co. (IP) $36.79 +3.60%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $29.07 +2.25%
Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) $36.49 +2.24%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $749.50 +2.11%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $6.31 +2.10%
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) $66.28 +1.97%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $40.32 +1.82%
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $27.51 +1.78%
Northeast Utilities (NU) $38.08 +1.74%
Roper Industries Inc. (ROP) $111.07 +1.70%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $77.01 -5.15%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $6.84 -5.13%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $24.65 -4.79%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $22.95 -4.49%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $11.04 -3.92%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $3.46 -3.89%
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $35.53 -3.66%
Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN) $74.79 -3.58%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $16.79 -3.28%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $30.14 -3.21%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $24.75 +0.96%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $41.23 +0.86%
3M Co. (MMM) $93.73 +0.56%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $45.14 +0.51%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $69.76 +0.49%
AT&T Inc. (T) $38.26 +0.47%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $74.77 +0.43%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $52.93 +0.36%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.11 +0.21%
Boeing Co. (BA) $70.05 +0.11%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $17.21 -2.16%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.79 -1.45%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $30.75 -1.41%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $51.20 -1.16%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $90.84 -0.96%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $80.03 -0.89%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.06 -0.77%
General Electric Co. (GE) $22.36 -0.74%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $18.78 -0.63%
American Express Co. (AXP) $57.67 -0.33%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Google Inc. (GOOG) $749.50 +2.11%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $13.30 +2.07%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $113.21 +1.89%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $16.00 +1.68%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $55.21 +1.65%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $58.56 +1.63%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $31.38 +1.37%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $47.32 +1.37%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $82.94 +1.11%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $109.03 +1.07%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $77.01 -5.15%
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $25.84 -3.44%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $9.48 -3.41%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $120.65 -2.59%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $34.61 -2.53%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $35.40 -2.37%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $56.43 -2.35%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $6.31 -2.25%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $26.46 -2.14%
Fossil Inc. (FOSL) $87.91 -2.01% |
German consumer confidence index for the month of September has remained unchanged for October, at 5.9 points, as expected.
France´s business confidence index for the month of September has come in at 90, the same as last month´s reading (Consensus: 89).
Italy´s consumer confidence index for the month of September has come in at 86.2, versus 86 for the previous month (Consensus: 86.0).
Slight bounce in the single currency
The euro/dollar is now down by 0.21% to the 1.2904 dollar level.
Front month Brent crude futures are now rising by 0.588 dollars to the 110.47 dollar level on the ICE.
| FX and Commodities round-up | FX round-up: Dollar drives ahead on Europe worries
Fresh concern about when Spain will ask for a bailout, a weak German business confidence report and Greece's budget shortfall sparked safe haven flows on Monday.
The dollar rose to a one-week high against the euro amid continued uncertainty over whether Spain will become the latest Eurozone member to seek a bailout and as markets mulled a weaker-than-expected German sentiment survey.
German think tank Ifo said business sentiment in the Eurozone's biggest economy declined in September for a fifth straight month.
Fears about the debt crisis also flared up after Spain's finance minister Luis de Guindos says the country is in no rush to ask for financial aid. The Spanish government is expected to give a budget plan later this week and a report on its banking system.
Greece was also in focus after weekend press report said the nation's budget shortfall is almost double initial estimates. The shortfall needs to be paid in order to meet international conditions for financial aid.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six other currencies, advanced to 79.574 from 79.324 on Friday.
The euro dropped to $1.2924 from $1.2988 the previous session and against the yen the single currency fell to ¥100.54 from ¥101.43 before.
The dollar lost ground against the yen on Monday, to trade at ¥77.86 from ¥78.11 as concern about Europe eroded risk appetite.
Sterling firmed against the euro at the start of the week, touching its highest level in over two weeks. The single currency bought 79.69p after trading at a low of 79.55p earlier in the session.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $1.0422 from $1.0453 previously. Commodities: Crude skids on global growth fears
A string of reports highlighting sluggish growth in some of the world's biggest economies drove oil prices lower on Monday.
Crude for November delivery settled down 96 cents or 1% to $91.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
German think tank Ifo said business sentiment in the Eurozone's biggest economy fell in September for a fifth straight month. A separate report said China's manufacturers and retailers are less optimistic about sales than they were three months ago.
Markets also reacted to comments from Song Guoquing, an adviser to China's central bank, that the nation's economy is failing to show signs of recovery in the third quarter. China is the world's second largest oil consumer.
Fears about Europe's debt crisis were also rekindled after Spain's finance minister Luis de Guindos says the country is in no hurry to ask for financial aid.
Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled down $1.61 or 1.4% to $109.81 a barrel.
US economic data failed to provide any cheer after the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity index, which is seen as measure of the broader US economy, fell in August. The report, from the world's largest oil consumer, raised fresh concern over oil demand.
Among precious metals gold retreated 0.8% on Monday as the stronger dollar chipped away demand for the yellow metal.
Gold for December delivery lost $13.40 to settle at $1,764.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Losses were seen across the board with palladium for December delivery eduring a steep sell-off, down $26.05 at $645.50 an ounce. |
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