Stocks flat after Germany trims growth forecasts
Market Movers
techMARK 2,115.02 -0.10%
FTSE 100 5,897.74 -0.06%
FTSE 250 12,157.09 +0.06%
The FTSE 100
opened broadly flat on Friday following two consecutive days of gains
after Germany reduced its economic growth expectations for next year.
"Germany’s Bundesbank cutting the country’s 2013 GDP forecast […] has
taken the shine off the earlier support provided by firm sessions in
Asia and the US overnight," said market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from
ETX Capital. The Bundesbank now expects just 0.4% growth next year, down
from its previous prediction in June for a 1.6% expansion.
"After Thursday’s strong German factory orders, these growth forecast
downgrades refuel concerns about the prospects of Europe’s powerhouse,"
Siddiqi said.
Markets were also showing caution ahead of the crucial US employment report
due out at 08:30 in New York (13:30 London time). Consensus estimates
are for a 90,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in November, much worse than
the 171,000 increase seen in October. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate
is expected to remain at 7.9%.
However, many factors are
expected to have thrown up headwinds over the last month, including: an
early Thanksgiving which could have distorted hiring patterns for
retailers; the looming 'fiscal cliff' which could hold back recruitment
until the New Year; and by no means least, Hurricane Sandy.
As for this side of the Pond, UK industrial and manufacturing production figures are due out this morning.
Berkeley jumps after strong first half
House builder Berkeley Group
jumped early on after seeing revenue and profit surge in the first
half, as it declared an interim dividend of 15p per share, compared with
nil the year before. Revenue increased 69.4% and pre-tax profit rose
40.7% in the six months to October 31st.
Panmure Gordon hiked
its target price from 1,390p to 1,650p on the back of the results, but
retained its 'hold' recommendation, saying that the valuation "looks up
with events".
Sector peer Bellway edged higher after
reporting a 6% rise in reservations to around 100 per week in the 18
weeks ended November 30th, as a result of an improvement to customers'
ability to access higher loan-to-value mortgage finance.
Sweeteners and food products giant Tate & Lyle
was in demand after agreeing to a £347m partial pensioner buy-in which
covers nearly half of its total pensioner liabilities. The firm said
that the trustee of the its group pension scheme has made the agreement
with financial services giant Legal & General about the buy-in which
covers around 43% of its commitments, "which effectively hedges these
liabilities in full".
AIM-listed miner Orosur cheered
investors with the news that in the three months ended November 30th
production totalled 13,970 ounces meaning the company remains on track
to achieve its forecast production target of 63,000 to 68,000 ounces for
the full year.
Belgravium Technologies, which supplies
mobile data computing solutions and managed services to a variety of
industrial sectors, dropped after warning that delayed contract orders -
which were expected to be received by now - have been further delayed;
as a result the group's sales and profit levels for the year are likely
to be below market expectation.
Instant service equipment group Photo Me rose as it revealed a 17.4% increase in first-half pre-tax profit despite a decline in revenue.
| AIM/Small Cap Report |
FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 242.40p +1.21%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 769.50p +1.12%
Diageo (DGE) 1,874.50p +1.11%
Centrica (CNA) 334.30p +0.81%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,875.00p +0.59%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 350.50p +0.49%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,266.00p +0.43%
SABMiller (SAB) 2,807.50p +0.41%
Next (NXT) 3,727.00p +0.40%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,495.00p +0.40%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 390.30p -1.89%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 735.00p -1.01%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,485.50p -1.00%
Capita (CPI) 749.50p -0.99%
Hammerson (HMSO) 474.60p -0.67%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 639.70p -0.64%
Tesco (TSCO) 337.45p -0.63%
BAE Systems (BA.) 335.70p -0.62%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 281.60p -0.60%
Aggreko (AGK) 2,236.00p -0.58%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 1,751.00p +6.12%
Ruspetro (RPO) 86.65p +4.40%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 96.25p +3.38%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 51.40p +2.39%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 435.50p +2.11%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,283.00p +1.99%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,030.00p +1.98%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 638.83p +1.73%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 216.40p +1.55%
RPS Group (RPS) 208.70p +1.51%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Savills (SVS) 465.00p -2.19%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 78.25p -2.07%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 325.00p -1.96%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 412.60p -1.53%
Synergy Health (SYR) 1,000.00p -1.48%
Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,870.00p -1.32%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 460.60p -1.22%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 98.80p -1.20%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 73.25p -1.15%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 31.47p -1.10%
| UK Event Calendar |
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| FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |
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INTERIMS
Berkeley Group Holdings (The), Photo-Me International, Polar Capital Holdings
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Amati
VCT , Balfour Beatty, BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust, Elderstreet
VCT, London & Stamford Property , Marshalls, Maven Income &
Growth VCT, Metric Property Investments , Pace, Rotala, SThree, Stobart
Group Ltd., Walker Crips Group, William Hill
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Barclays
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)
Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)
ANNUAL REPORT
MedicX Fund Ltd.
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Narborough Plantations
AGMS
Air
Partner, Associated British Foods, Bezant Resources, Frontier Mining
Ltd (DI), LP Hill, Minco, Renewable Energy Generation Ltd.
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Industrial Production (09:30)
Manufacturing Production (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Ashmore
Group, BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, Centaur Media, Craneware,
James Halstead, JPMorgan Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Matchtech Group
|
| US Market Report |
Stocks make decent gains
Dow 13,074 +40
Nasdaq 2,989 +15
S&P 500 1,414 +5
US stocks closed higher on Thursday as investors attempt to withstand the threat of the looming so-called 'fiscal cliff' following upbeat remarks overnight from President Obama.
Attentions will now turn to Friday's jobs report,
which is expected to show a 90,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in
November, significantly lower than the 171,000 seen the previous month.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 7.9%, according to the consensus.
However, Barclays Research specifically gave its prediction as follows:
"For [Friday’s] November employment report, we look for a 50k increase
in headline payrolls, a 55k increase in private payrolls, and a
one-tenth rise in the unemployment rate to 8.0%.
Company News
Apple
was a strong riser on Thursday, rebounding after a poor performance
earlier in the week after the technology company's Chief Executive, Tim
Cook, said Apple will begin to $100m invest in US manufacturing of Macs
next year.
Other tech stocks followed Apple's lead (although
shares lost their strenth towards to the close), resulting in a strong
performance from the sector as a whole.
Shares in Yelp dropped on the back of reports which claimed a judge has ordered one of the site's reviewers to remove some of her content.
Putting in a welcome strong performance was Netflix,
which streams movies and TV programmes, after coming to an exclusive
agreement with Walk Disney to deliver features films from the fairytale
company.
Coffee chain Starbucks was also making gains,
boosted by the news it is to open another 1,500 stores across America
and revealed that turnover at its Channel Development business is set to
reach $1.3bn in the 2012 financial year.
Lockheed Martin
is reportedly close to winning Pentagon backing to build all 29 F-35
fighters planned for the coming fiscal year after three years of
cutbacks in orders for the nation’s costliest weapon, US officials told Bloomberg. The US Defence Department is apparently interested in providing some stability to the companies charged with building it.
Sirius XM announced a two billion share repurchase programme.
Other Markets
The
ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six
other major currencies, climbed from 79.774 to 80.250 over the 24-hour
period.
The euro declined to $1.2968 on Thursday evening,
compared to $1.3078 the previous evening, when it reached levels close
to those seen in October.
Crude futures dropped 1.84% to $86.26 per barrel on the NYMEX.
S&P 500 - Risers
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $39.06 +10.03%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $53.70 +5.73%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $6.41 +5.43%
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $19.10 +3.97%
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $18.26 +3.93%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $41.32 +3.82%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $6.41 +3.72%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $18.14 +3.48%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $99.33 +3.43%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $28.53 +3.37%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $98.47 -7.06%
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) $30.81 -4.20%
SAIC Inc. (SAI) $11.26 -3.51%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $15.78 -2.65%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $40.25 -2.34%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $31.56 -2.23%
Scripps Network Interactive Inc. (SNI) $56.50 -2.08%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $60.64 -2.05%
Perrigo Company (PRGO) $102.71 -2.00%
E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $8.37 -1.99%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.16 +1.56%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.48 +1.41%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $88.09 +1.29%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.45 +1.22%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $80.87 +0.80%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.45 +0.79%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $69.95 +0.78%
General Electric Co. (GE) $21.37 +0.66%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $41.47 +0.66%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $42.87 +0.59%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $73.15 -1.15%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $49.06 -1.07%
AT&T Inc. (T) $33.65 -0.77%
American Express Co. (AXP) $56.12 -0.50%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $25.61 -0.12%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.95 -0.12%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.59 -0.08%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $10.45 -0.05%
|
| Friday newspaper round-up |
Starbucks, Barclays, Citigroup...
Starbucks
has taken the 'unprecedented' step of pledging to pay 20m pounds
corporation tax, even if it makes no profit – only for the move to
appear to backfire and fuel the fiasco surrounding its UK operation. In a
bid to end the pressure on the coffee chain, the US giant dramatically
broke off talks with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to offer to “pay or
pre-pay somewhere in the range of £10m in each of the next two years”.
Starbucks has paid just 8.5m pounds corporation tax in 14 years, despite
UK sales of 3bn pounds – a tax rate of less than 1pc. [The Telegraph]
Britain’s former top financial watchdog is in talks about taking a senior role at Barclays,
raising fresh questions about the revolving door between regulators and
the big banks. Hector Sants is understood to be considering accepting a
senior compliance and regulatory job at the bank he once believed was
too aggressive. The former investment banker stepped down as chief
executive of the Financial Services Authority in June, after guiding it
through five years of turmoil in the wake of the banking crisis. One of
the FSA’s last acts under his leadership was to impose a record £59.5
million fine against Barclays for rigging Libor, the key inter-bank
interest rate. [The Times]
One of the banks being
investigated over the Libor lending rate scandal was behind some of the
unusual deals that triggered a separate inquiry into suspected attempts
to manipulate the wholesale gas price. US investment bank Citigroup
has confirmed that traders in its London office made two of a series of
six gas deals that prompted inquiries by the Financial Services
Authority and the energy watchdog, Ofgem. The sales were made around the
"window" in which so-called price reporting agencies set the benchmark
price for gas. In both deals, late in the afternoon of 28 September,
Citigroup sold gas at 58.00p per therm – substantially below the price
of other deals earlier in the day and later. [The Guardian]
Netflix has said securities regulators plan to take action against the company because of a Facebook
post by chief executive Reed Hastings that allegedly violated public
disclosure rules. "We remain optimistic this can be cleared up quickly
through the SEC's review process," said Hastings, in the letter the
company submitted alongside a regulatory filing announcing the receipt
of a "Wells Notice" from US Securities and Exchange Commission staff.
The notice informed Netflix that the SEC intends to bring a civil action
against the company because of comments Hastings made on Facebook in
July announcing that members of the online video streaming service were
watching more than one billion hours of video a month. Hastings said on
Thursday that he did not believe the Facebook posting was "material"
information, Reuters reported. [The Telegraph]
Better Capital, the private equity firm run by veteran investor John Moulton, is in rescue talks to salvage the coal mining operations of ATH Resources.
Doncaster-based ATH, which operates all four of its open cast pits in
Scotland, fell into administration on Wednesday night, although its
subsidiary, Aardvark TMC, continues to trade. But Better Capital
yesterday revealed that it is in talks with all the company’s
“stakeholders” – including customers, local councils and staff – to find
a way to keep Aardvark trading. [The Scotsman]
Asian shares rose to an eight-month high, encouraged by a bigger-than-expected fall in weekly US jobless claims ahead of non-farm payrolls data
later on Friday. The MSCI Asia Pacific index gained 0.1 per cent with
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average up 0.2 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi
Composite index 0.6 per cent higher and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
index rising 0.8 per cent to a six-week high. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
index and the Shanghai Composite index each added 0.3 per cent.
Investors are awaiting the key monthly US jobs report for further clues
on the US economic outlook. Non-farm payrolls in November are expected
to have risen just 93,000, compared with October’s 171,000 job gain, due
to the impact of superstorm Sandy on US economic activity. [Financial Times]
Fresh curbs on welfare spending
for those hit hardest by George Osborne's autumn statement will be
needed to spare Whitehall departments from the full impact of £27bn in
savings needed in the next phase of the government's eight-year
austerity programme, Britain's leading experts on the public finances
have warned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that without further
savings – either from benefits or tax increases – some areas of the
public sector would be faced with "inconceivable cuts" in the next
parliament. [The Guardian]
A US electronics company is creating 130 jobs after announcing plans for a second Scottish factory in a £9 million expansion. Plexus
is moving its Livingston design centre to larger premises at Bathgate
where it will also open a manufacturing facility to complement an
existing one in Kelso. Work is expected to begin later this year and the
site is expected to be operational by February. [The Scotsman]
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