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London midday: Miners and banks lead retreat
12-02-2010 12:13
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A move by the Chinese authorities to lift the reserve requirements for banks by half a percentage point in order to cool down the Chinese economy prompted an abrupt change of mood in equity markets, including London.
After making a bright start, largely on the back of buoyant mining stocks, the blue-chip index turned south as traders quickly reversed positions on the miners.
Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Vedanta are the biggest fallers in the mining sector. Rio Tinto's fall is cushioned by reports that it is pushing for a hefty hike in the price of iron ore.
Banks are also out of favour with the results season about to get underway next week starting with Barclays. Lloyds Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are the worst performers, as uncertainty over the Greek bail-out takes its toll.
On the company front, Micro Focus, the enterprise application modernisation and testing software company, said it is on track to meet full year expectations after a solid third quarter. The group said it experienced an improvement in organic revenue growth in the quarter ended 31 January compared to the first six months of the year.
Buoyant conditions over Christmas sparked healthy tenant demand for Shaftesbury's properties in the West End of London, especially for shops and restaurants and now offices. The property group says it continues to secure lettings at or above its valuers' last estimated rental value, with the number of vacant outlets dropping to 55,000 square feet at end January from 70,000 at end September.
Sticking with the property sector, Helical Bar is seeing signs that the London office market is recovering and, while still cautious, is confident of growth in the 'foreseeable future'. Chief executive Michael Slade also says good progress is being made at its mixed use schemes at Fulham Wharf, King Street Hammersmith and White City.
Petropavlovsk, formerly Peter Hambro Mining, has made Blackrock's former star fund manager Graham Birch a non-executive director with immediate effect. Birch announced his departure from Blackrock, where he was responsible for around $40bn of assets, in January following a nine-month sabbatical.
Durex condoms and Scholl footcare products maker SSL has exercised an option to increase its stake in the holding company for its CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) business BLBV to 75%. SSL said it has agreed a further option to take its shareholding in BLBV to 100% which is exercisable in 2011.
Theatre production promoter First Artist has sold its agent's business for a net £175,000 as part of its plan to focus solely on its media promotion business. Trading in these ongoing media businesses, however, remains mixed with results for the 15 months to end November now forecast to come in lower than previous expectations.
Packaging maker Robinson has slowed the decline in revenues with sales down just 2% in the second half following a 15% slump in the first six months of the financial year. The group, which publishes figures for the year ended 31 December on 26 March, says annual revenue of £23.8m is down 8% but in line with management's expectations.
Christmas went well for card, crackers and stationery group International Greetings, with sales for the last 10 months on track. "Customer sell-through was strong and we maintained high levels of customer service. We were pleased to further strengthen our business in the growing discount and value retail market," it said.
FTSE 100 - Risers
National Grid (NG.) 640.50p +2.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,355.00p +2.60%
Diageo (DGE) 1,041.00p +2.26%
Man Group (EMG) 222.90p +2.20%
TUI Travel (TT.) 264.60p +1.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.01p -4.44%
British Airways (BAY) 196.50p -3.63%
Barclays (BARC) 259.00p -3.48%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,359.00p -2.68%
Fresnillo (FRES) 712.00p -2.53%
After making a bright start, largely on the back of buoyant mining stocks, the blue-chip index turned south as traders quickly reversed positions on the miners.
Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Vedanta are the biggest fallers in the mining sector. Rio Tinto's fall is cushioned by reports that it is pushing for a hefty hike in the price of iron ore.
Banks are also out of favour with the results season about to get underway next week starting with Barclays. Lloyds Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are the worst performers, as uncertainty over the Greek bail-out takes its toll.
On the company front, Micro Focus, the enterprise application modernisation and testing software company, said it is on track to meet full year expectations after a solid third quarter. The group said it experienced an improvement in organic revenue growth in the quarter ended 31 January compared to the first six months of the year.
Buoyant conditions over Christmas sparked healthy tenant demand for Shaftesbury's properties in the West End of London, especially for shops and restaurants and now offices. The property group says it continues to secure lettings at or above its valuers' last estimated rental value, with the number of vacant outlets dropping to 55,000 square feet at end January from 70,000 at end September.
Sticking with the property sector, Helical Bar is seeing signs that the London office market is recovering and, while still cautious, is confident of growth in the 'foreseeable future'. Chief executive Michael Slade also says good progress is being made at its mixed use schemes at Fulham Wharf, King Street Hammersmith and White City.
Petropavlovsk, formerly Peter Hambro Mining, has made Blackrock's former star fund manager Graham Birch a non-executive director with immediate effect. Birch announced his departure from Blackrock, where he was responsible for around $40bn of assets, in January following a nine-month sabbatical.
Durex condoms and Scholl footcare products maker SSL has exercised an option to increase its stake in the holding company for its CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) business BLBV to 75%. SSL said it has agreed a further option to take its shareholding in BLBV to 100% which is exercisable in 2011.
Theatre production promoter First Artist has sold its agent's business for a net £175,000 as part of its plan to focus solely on its media promotion business. Trading in these ongoing media businesses, however, remains mixed with results for the 15 months to end November now forecast to come in lower than previous expectations.
Packaging maker Robinson has slowed the decline in revenues with sales down just 2% in the second half following a 15% slump in the first six months of the financial year. The group, which publishes figures for the year ended 31 December on 26 March, says annual revenue of £23.8m is down 8% but in line with management's expectations.
Christmas went well for card, crackers and stationery group International Greetings, with sales for the last 10 months on track. "Customer sell-through was strong and we maintained high levels of customer service. We were pleased to further strengthen our business in the growing discount and value retail market," it said.
FTSE 100 - Risers
National Grid (NG.) 640.50p +2.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,355.00p +2.60%
Diageo (DGE) 1,041.00p +2.26%
Man Group (EMG) 222.90p +2.20%
TUI Travel (TT.) 264.60p +1.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.01p -4.44%
British Airways (BAY) 196.50p -3.63%
Barclays (BARC) 259.00p -3.48%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,359.00p -2.68%
Fresnillo (FRES) 712.00p -2.53%
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