London open: Stocks flat on US budget uncertainty
Market Movers
- techMARK 2,106.96 -0.14%
- FTSE 100 5,871.37 0.00%
- FTSE 250 12,030.18 +0.02%
UK stock markets opened tentatively on Tuesday morning with concerns
over the US economy back in the spotlight following yesterday's
disappointing manufacturing data and increasing worries about the
'fiscal cliff'.
The FTSE 100 finished broadly flat yesterday after the US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) purchasing managers' index fell from 51.7 to 49.5 in November, well below the 51.4 forecast.
"Not only did the US ISM manufacturing fall below the important 50 mark
but also reignited worries similar as mentioned also in the Beige Book a
few days ago that the current uncertainty concerning the Fiscal Cliff
might already is having a bigger negative impact on the economy than
previously thought," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading
at ETX Capital.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner
presented a deficit-reduction proposal that included $1.4tn in spending
cuts and $800bn in new revenue. However, the plan was rejected by the
Obama administration as it didn't include higher tax rates for top
earners.
FTSE 100: Wolseley declines after first-quarter results
Like-for-like (LFL) revenue growth at plumbing merchant Wolseley
continues to be polarised across its geographic regions, with growth in
the US and Central Europe accelerating and declines in France and the
Nordic markets worsening. Shares fell early on.
Mining giant Rio Tinto
gained after Credit Suisse increased its target from 3,500p to 3,700p
and reiterated its 'outperform' rating on the shares, adding the stock
to its 'European Focus list'.
Engineering and project management group AMEC was
wanted after winning a contract worth over half a billion dollars to
build a new oil refinery in Kuwait, expected to be the largest in the
Middle East.
British Gas owner Centrica rose after partner EDF Energy announced that it has extended the life of two UK power stations by seven years.
FTSE 250: Greene King cheers with solid interims
Pub operator Greene King
was higher after delivering solid interim results driven by a good
performance from its retail division, although it warned that trading
conditions are likely to remain challenging for the rest of the year.
Package tour operator TUI Travel
gained after saying that the winter 2012/13 season has got off to a
"very encouraging" start, though trading in France remains challenging.
Conference and exhibition organiser ITE Group rose after full-year revenue rose 11% to £172m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Schroders (SDR) 1,643.00p +1.36%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 295.50p +0.99%
Aviva (AV.) 354.00p +0.91%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.13p +0.86%
Centrica (CNA) 331.30p +0.85%
Barclays (BARC) 246.25p +0.76%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 742.00p +0.75%
BG Group (BG.) 1,078.50p +0.75%
Prudential (PRU) 904.00p +0.72%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,824.00p +0.72%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,953.00p -1.81%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,570.00p -1.43%
Wolseley (WOS) 2,829.00p -1.22%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 762.50p -1.04%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 159.45p -0.90%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,026.50p -0.68%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 765.00p -0.65%
Carnival (CCL) 2,506.00p -0.63%
Kingfisher (KGF) 273.80p -0.54%
Aggreko (AGK) 2,238.00p -0.53%
FTSE 250 - Risers
ITE Group (ITE) 202.90p +2.89%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 96.75p +2.49%
TUI Travel (TT.) 275.20p +2.30%
TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 83.55p +2.01%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 280.90p +1.74%
Rank Group (RNK) 141.40p +1.73%
Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 378.00p +1.64%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 69.30p +1.54%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 35.63p +1.51%
Soco International (SIA) 363.10p +1.45%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 55.30p -2.98%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 403.00p -2.18%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 30.35p -2.10%
Diploma (DPLM) 478.30p -1.42%
JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 366.90p -1.40%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 577.00p -1.28%
FirstGroup (FGP) 181.60p -1.25%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 406.70p -1.17%
AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 366.20p -1.03%
UK Event Calendar
Tuesday December 04
INTERIMS
Anite, Greene King, May Gurney Integrated Services, Northgate
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Auto Sales (US) (15:00)
Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)
GMS
Cenkos Securities
FINALS
Character Group, Datong, ITE Group, TUI Travel
AGMS
AI Claims Solutions, Northamber
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dolphin Capital Investors Ltd
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRC Sales Monitor (00:01)
PMI Construction (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, NWF Group
| Europe Market Report |
 |
| FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |
 |  |  |  |
|
Europe open: EADS said to be planning shareholder shake-up
-Markets waiting on results of ECOFIN meeting
-Banks deposited 239bn euros overnight at ECB
FTSE-100: 0.05%
Dax-30: 0.12%
Cac-40: 0.59%
FTSE Mibtel 30: 0.96%
Ibex 35: 0.24%
Stoxx 600: 0.23%
Markets have turned around and are now registering slight gains in
early trading. That as investors look to the result of tonight's meeting
of European Union finance ministers.
Tonight's meeting is
supposed to reach a final agreement on the roadmap for the single
supervisory mechanism, ahead of next week's European summit, which
should endorse this agreement.
Nevertheless, economists at Barclays wrote this morning that, "we think this is probably too ambitious given the disagreements between member states."
Banks lead gains
Banks are doing best now Continent-wide, with shares of Spanish lender Bankia shooting up by 10% this morning.
EADS is rumoured to be planning the announcement of a shareholder shake-up after the close of today's session.
From a sector stand-point the best performers now on the DJ Stoxx 600
are: Banks (0.58%), Insurance (0.54%) and Financial services (0.42%). Better than expected economic data
Spain's unemployment worsened by 76,000 in November (Consensus: 90,000).
Data on Eurozone producer prices will be released at 10:00 am Small moves in other asset classes
The euro/dollar is now rising by 0.12% to the 1.3070 dollar mark.
Front month Brent crude futures were down by 0,126 dollars to the 110,78 dollar mark on the ICE. |
| US Market Report |
US close: Stocks begin the month lower
-Rosengren (Fed) and Bullard (Fed) support further QE to varying degrees
-Dudley (Fed) says spread in mortgage rates limiting stimulus
-Fitch: US fiscal ratings stable for 2013
-Hurricane Sandy did not affect ISM data
-House Republicans make new deficit proposal to White House -WSJ
-Oracle announces accelerated dividends
Dow Jones Industrials: -0.46%
Nasdaq Comp.: -0.27%
S&P 500: -0.51%
The main US equity benchmarks registered slight falls following the
release of weak economic data and after the rather negative rhetoric
that was to be heard out of Capitol Hill over the weekend.
Late in the afternoon Republicans offered the White House $800bn in new
tax revenues, half of what Obama had asked for and only through the
closing off of certain tax loop-holes.
On that same note,
December is often the best month of the year for stocks and losses on
the first day of any given month tend to be a rather weak signal. Hence,
Monday's retreat maybe came as a bit of a surprise to some.
Fed speakers study their options ahead of the next FOMC
Of
interest, and with slightly negative implications as well, were the
remarks out earlier today from the President of the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York, William Dudley, who said a wider gap between yields on
mortgage-backed securities and home loans is reducing the effectiveness
of the central bank's monetary stimulus. Even so, he did add that,
"(...) our policy has been and continues to be effective."
That 'spread' is now about the same as when the Fed announced additional buying back in September.
His peers at the Federal Reserve banks of Boston (Rosengren) and
St.Louis (Bullard) on the other hand argued this afternoon in favour of
further policy easing, albeit to different degrees.
The former
believes there is a strong case for the US monetary authority to stay
the course. Bullard believes much the same but not that the central bank
ought to replace its so-called Operation Twist dollar for dollar.
Dell paces gains
Chrysler's US vehicle sales grew by 14% in November, below the 16% expected by some.
PC maker Dell rose by 4% after an upgrade out of analysts at Goldman Sachs.
Early goings-on today saw a bevy of merger and acquisition activity. Equifax will pay $1bn for Computer Science's credit unit, Archer Daniels Midland will fork out 2.8bn Australian dollars for Grain Corp., Soporta will purchase one of Dean Food's units for $1.45bn.
For its part, hospital operator HCA will pay out a special dividend of $2 per share.
From a sector stand-point the worst performance was to be seen in the
following industrial groups: Gold mining (-2.19%), Recreational products
(-2.03%) and Airlines (-2.02%). ISM goes into reverse, shows contraction
The US Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) purchasing managers'
index for the month of November has come in at 49.5 versus 51.7 for the
month before (Consensus: 51.4). The new orders sub-index dropped to 50.3
after 54.2 and the employment gauge fell back to 48.4 after 52.1. Only
one sector - primary metals - cited the impact from Sandy as a factor
behind the slowdown. On the other hand, respondents indicated that the
fiscal cliff was a major source of concern and in general expected the
slowdown in demand seen so far during the second half of 2012 to
persist.
This is what Barclays Research has to say on
the possible impact of hurricane Sandy on today's ISM data: "Some
respondents mentioned that storms along the East Coast delayed
shipments, and we expect that the lingering hurricane effects provided a
slight drag. That said, even without the Sandy effect, the print would
likely have remained close to the break-even level of 50."
Construction spending grew by 1.4% month-on-month in October (Consensus: 0.5%). Crude and Treasuries more or less flat
Front month West Texas crude futures edged higher by 0.08% to the $88.98/barrel level on the NYMEX.
10 year US Treasury yields rose by 1 basis point, to the 1.62% level.
S&P 500 - Risers
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $2.36 +7.27%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $35.88 +5.07%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.06 +4.36%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $53.38 +4.18%
Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) $11.64 +4.02%
International Game Technology (IGT) $14.32 +3.24%
Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) $39.27 +3.18%
Dean Foods Co. (DF) $17.53 +2.28%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $48.10 +2.12%
Kroger Co. (KR) $26.78 +2.06%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $76.00 -6.99%
Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS) $7.87 -4.02%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $19.34 -3.44%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $17.36 -3.23%
Exelon Corp. (EXC) $29.31 -3.01%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $45.68 -2.99%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $29.30 -2.95%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $53.89 -2.83%
DeVry Inc. (DV) $25.34 -2.80%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $19.84 -2.75%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.03 +0.64%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $44.44 +0.32%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $25.09 +0.28%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $70.95 +0.18%
American Express Co. (AXP) $55.99 +0.16%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.14 +0.03%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $87.06 +0.02%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.41 +0.00%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $42.39 -1.74%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.82 -1.47%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.38 -1.42%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $104.66 -0.97%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.34 -0.94%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $12.87 -0.92%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $84.49 -0.88%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $25.67 -0.85%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $49.29 -0.75%
3M Co. (MMM) $90.30 -0.71%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $35.88 +5.07%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.06 +4.36%
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $37.81 +3.11%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $39.88 +2.55%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $32.14 +1.35%
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) $2.80 +1.27%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $39.53 +1.10%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $25.36 +1.04%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $150.55 +0.98%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $113.40 +0.89%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $76.00 -6.99%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.43 -2.31%
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $21.77 -2.11%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.63 -1.92%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $14.53 -1.89%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $11.75 -1.84%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $105.43 -1.80%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $39.08 -1.78%
CA Inc. (CA) $21.77 -1.76% |
| FX and Commodities round-up |
FX round-up: China, Greece optimism erodes safe haven flows
The
dollar pulled back against major currencies on Monday as upbeat
comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and encouraging Chinese
manufacturing undercut safe haven flows.
The dollar index,
which measures the US currency against a basket of six others, slipped
below 80 to trade at 79.908 compared to 80.132 on Friday.
Risk
appetite was bolstered after Merkel said the Eurozone might consider
writing off Greek debt once the country has a budget surplus. Focus also
turned to the start of Greece's bond buyback as it tries to reduce
debt.
The euro rallied to an intra-day high of $1.3075
compared to $1.3008 the previous session before later changing hands at
around $1.3055.
Sentiment was also lifted by cheered upbeat
Chinese manufacturing data. The final reading for the HSBC China
purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in November from 49.5 the
previous month. A separate report from the National Bureau of Statistics
said its PMI rose to a seven-month high of 50.6 compared to 50.2 in
October.
US manufacturing put a damper on an otherwise
encouraging day for economic data with weaker than expected figures for
November. The US Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) purchasing
managers' index came in at surprisingly weak 49.5 compared to 51.7 the
month before.
Against the yen, the greenback eased to ¥82.18
from ¥82.43 on Friday while the euro changed hands at ¥107.28 compared
to ¥107.26.
The pound traded at $1.6092 from $1.6023 as the
spotlight turns to UK Chancellor George Osborne's autumn speech to
parliament on Wednesday and the Bank of England's policy meeting on
Thursday.
Commodities: Crude gains dwindle after US manufacturing
Crude
oil futures surrendered much of the day's gains after a weaker than
than expected US manufacturing report triggered fresh concern about
demand.
Crude oil futures for January delivery had reached a high of $90.33 as investors cheered upbeat Chinese manufacturing data.
The final reading for the HSBC China purchasing managers' index (PMI)
rose to 50.5 in November from 49.5 the previous month, in line with
preliminary estimates. Meanwhile a separate report from the National
Bureau of Statistics mirrored HSBC's report with its PMI rising to a
seven-month high of 50.6 compared to 50.2 in October.
Sentiment was also boosted early in the session after German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said the Eurozone might consider writing off Greek debt
once the country has a budget surplus.
However oil price
momentum was cut short by poor US manufacturing, which took prices down
to settle at $89.09, up 18 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors took fright at the US Institute for Supply Management's (ISM)
purchasing managers' index for the month of November which came in at
surprisingly weak 49.5 compared to 51.7 the month before.
Analysts had pencilled in a figure of 51.4 but instead November's
reading was the lowest in nearly three years. A figure above 50
indicates expansion and a figure below 50 indicates a contraction.
Meanwhile unrelenting jitters about US 'fiscal cliff' negotiations also
weighed on buyer appetite on Monday. Markets are concerned about a lack
of progress between US policy makers to avert automatic tax increase
and spending cuts known as the 'fiscal cliff.'
Among precious metals gold's progress was back on track after its recent sell-off as dollar weakness bolstered its allure.
Gold for February delivery climbed $8.40 to settle at $1,721.10 an
ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Silver for March added 48 cents to settle at $33.76 an ounce after
futures prices for the metal suffered a fall of 2.5% last week.
March palladium rose $3.05 to $691.25 an ounce while January platinum increased $9.20 to $1,613.80 an ounce.
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment