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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