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| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London open: Stocks pause at four-week high ahead of data, BoE minutes - Markets at highest since January 22nd
- UK labour-market data due out, BoE minutes
- Sports Direct, M&S, BAE Systems lead the upside
- Ex-div stocks weigh
techMARK 2,878.02 -0.14%
FTSE 100 6,798.45 +0.03%
FTSE 250 16,340.79 -0.01%
UK stocks opened more or less flat on Wednesday morning after the FTSE 100 rose to four-week high the previous session, with investors awaiting UK economic data and minutes from the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest meeting.
The FTSE 100 was rangebound early on, little changed from Tuesday’s closing of 6,796.43, its highest close since January 22nd.
A number of key macro indicators are due out this morning, including average weekly earnings, jobless claims and the UK unemployment rate – the latter is expected to have remained stable at 7.1% in the three months to December.
Analysts at Danske Bank said that the unemployment data “has become less important” in the aftermath of the BoE’s revamped forward guidance plan set out last week, which weakened the link between monetary policy and the jobless rate.
The figures come after Tuesday’s revelation that the annual rate of consumer price inflation unexpectedly fell to 1.9% in January – this was the first time price rises were running below the BoE’s 2% target since November 2009.
Meanwhile, minutes from the February 5-6th BoE meeting are due out later on, at which the Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates at their current record-low level for the 59th month in a row.
Over in the States, markets will be focusing on a list of figures from the US housing market, including mortgage applications, building permits and housing starts.
Sports Direct jumps after Q3 update
Sports retailer Sports Direct International rose strongly this morning after reporting that group sales in the third quarter to January 26th rose 11.2% year-on-year to £655.4m. Gross profit gained 14.6% to £280.7m during the period with growth across all its divisions including Sports Retail, Brands and Premium Lifestyle.
High Street peer Marks & Spencer was also higher after analysts at Jefferies upgraded their rating on the stock from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ and hiked their target from 480p to 600p. They said that M&S is “one of the cheapest stocks in our sector, yet offers one of the highest total shareholder returns”.
Defence company BAE systems advanced after saying it has finally signed a price escalation agreement with the Saudi Arabia government over the supply of Typhoon fighter jets to the country.
Leading the downside were a number of stocks that went ex-dividend, including Barclays, AstraZeneca, Reckitt Benckiser, Carnival and GlaxoSmithKline.
International paper and packaging group Mondi edged higher after saying it expects underlying profits for 2013 to be above the €574m reported in 2012. |
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| | FTSE 100 - Risers
Sports Direct International (SPD) 752.00p +5.03%
Fresnillo (FRES) 991.50p +2.43%
BAE Systems (BA) 446.00p +1.92%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 505.00p +1.75%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 992.00p +1.59%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,848.00p +1.42%
Tesco (TSCO) 334.25p +1.38%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,049.00p +1.35%
Diageo (DGE) 1,894.50p +1.26%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,417.00p +1.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,975.50p -2.86%
Carnival (CCL) 2,474.00p -1.90%
Barclays (BARC) 257.40p -1.49%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 81.39p -1.35%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,921.00p -1.28%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,735.00p -1.03%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 445.50p -0.98%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,574.50p -0.79%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,678.00p -0.74%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,175.00p -0.52%
FTSE 250 - Risers
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 274.80p +2.31%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 377.30p +2.28%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 423.70p +2.10%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,189.00p +1.89%
Pace (PIC) 426.60p +1.74%
Alent (ALNT) 329.90p +1.51%
Henderson Group (HGG) 241.90p +1.43%
Perform Group (PER) 220.00p +1.38%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 226.20p +1.34%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 334.10p +1.24%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 533.00p -4.05%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,876.00p -2.48%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,325.00p -2.21%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,120.00p -2.18%
Rank Group (RNK) 147.20p -1.87%
Wetherspoon (JD) (JDW) 841.00p -1.75%
Evraz (EVR) 84.35p -1.63%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 678.00p -1.60%
Xaar (XAR) 1,073.00p -1.56%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 544.00p -1.45% |
| | INTERIMS
A&J Mucklow Group, Galliford Try, Monitise, Pan African Resources
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Baronsmead VCT, Baronsmead VCT 2, Baronsmead VCT 3, Baronsmead VCT 4, British Smaller Companies VCT, Downing One VCT , Hargreaves Services, Mid Wynd International Inv Trust, Mountview Estate, PZ Cussons, Rank Group, The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Barclays, Blackrock North American Income Trust , Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., Carnival, Duet Real Estate Finance Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, M Winkworth
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Building Permits (US) (13:30)
FOMC Interest Rate Minutes (US) (19:00)
Housing Starts (US) (13:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)
Speech Atlanta Fed President
Speech St.Louis Fed President
Speech San Francisco Fed President
All Industry Activity Index (JP) (08:50)
FINALS
One Media IP Group, Plus500 Ltd (DI)
SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
NewRiver Retail Ltd. (Reg S)
AGMS
Sunrise Resources , Tertiary Minerals, Titon Holdings
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BBA Mortgage Lending Figures (09:30)
BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30)
Claimant Count Rate (09:30)
Unemployment Rate (09:30)
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Avon Rubber, Blackrock Throgmorton Trust, Catlin Group Ltd., Income & Growth VCT , Jersey Electricity 'A' Shares, Reckitt Benckiser Group |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe open: Stocks little changed before BoE, FOMC minutes - BoE and Fed release meeting minutes
- UK jobs data to be published
- US housing starts out later
- Weidmann says OMT threatens ECB independence
FTSE 100: 0.12%
DAX: 0.07%
CAC 40: 0.11%
FTSE MIB: -0.04%
IBEX 35: -0.09%
Stoxx 600: 0.09%
European stocks were little changed ahead of the release of meeting minutes from the Bank of England (BoE) and the Federal Reserve.
First up, the BoE will unveil further details of its meeting earlier this month when the Bank decided to keep interest rates at the record low of 0.5% and asset purchases at £375bn.
The central bank had vowed to maintain its benchmark rate at least until unemployment falls to 7% but a faster than expected pick up in the labour market prompted the BoE to change its forward guidance.
The jobless rate for the three months to December will be released this morning and is expected to hold at 7.1%. UK employers may have added 350,000 jobs during the period, up from 280,000 in the prior three months, according to economists’ forecasts.
Jobless claims are tipped to fall by 20,000 in January, compared to a drop of 24,000 in December.
Later in the session the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes will be out.
The Federal Open Market Committee last month decided to scale back monthly bond purchases for the second time by $10bn to $65bn.
New Chair Janet Yellen subsequently indicated that the Fed was likely to continue reducing its monetary stimulus after each meeting until ending it all together later this year.
The FOMC interest rate minutes will shed further light behind the Fed’s decision to taper and possibly provide clues as to its next policy move.
Also in the US today is the release of reports including MBA mortgage applications for the week to February 14th and US housing starts for January.
Several Fed officials are also scheduled to speak.
OMT threatens ECB independence, says Weidmann
German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has warned that the European Central Bank's outright monetary transactions programme could threaten the Eurozone monetary authority's independence.
The programme allows unlimited purchases of government bonds under certain conditions.
In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Weidmann claimed that a central bank becomes a “political prisoner” when it purchases government bonds and that the OMT would make it difficult to conduct monetary policy.
Lafarge, Carlsberg gain
Lafarge and Carlsberg advanced after they both posted fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates.
Vodafone edged lower after saying shareholders will receive 0.026 Verizon Communications shares for every Vodafone share from the sale of the telecom giant's stake in its joint-venture Verizon Wireless.
TF1 declined as the French TV channel reported full-year revenue that fell short of market expectations.
Credit Agricole rallied after swinging to a fourth-quarter profit from a record loss a year earlier.
The euro fell 0.02% to $1.3756.
Brent crude futures dropped $0.291 to $110.140 per barrel, according to data from the ICE. |
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| | US Market Report | | US close: Stocks end mixed but Nasdaq rally continues - Nasdaq winning streak continues
- S&P 500 within eight points of record
- Economic data disappoints
- Actavis launches takeover of Forest Labs
Dow Jones: -0.15%
Nasdaq: 0.68%
S&P 500: 0.13%
US equity benchmarks finished Tuesday’s session in a mixed fashion as traders returned to their desks after the Presidents’ Day holiday the previous session.
Disappointing economic data also prompted investors to show caution after a strong showing by stocks last week with Wall Street benchmark indices putting in their best weekly performances of the year so far.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was making small losses of 0.15% by the closing bell on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq rose 0.68% to register its eighth straight day in positive territory – this represents the index’s longest winning streak since July 2013.
The S&P 500, meanwhile, edged 0.13% higher to finish at 1,840.76, within eight points of its record closing high set in January.
Economic data disappoints
The Empire State manufacturing index, which gauges manufacturing activity in New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut, plunged to 4.48 from 12.5 in January. Economists had predicted a smaller drop to 9.
The National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index, which asks survey respondents to rate market conditions for new home sales, dropped to a reading of 46 points (consensus: 56).
According to the NAHB, the softness was driven in part by “unusually severe weather conditions across much of the nation”.
Forest Labs jumps on Actavis takeover
Pharmaceuticals group Forest Laboratories surged after Actavis launched a $25bn takeover of the maker of Alzheimer’s drug Namenda.
Smartphone group BlackBerry jumped after hedge fund manager Dan Loeb was reported to have bought a stake in the company.
Netflix edged higher despite reports that the company suspended a plan to secure a place for its video-subscription service on Time Warner Cable set-top boxes.
Drinks giant Coca-Cola dropped sharply as investors were underwhelmed with the company’s restructuring plan, which will see it generate $1bn in savings by 2016.
S&P 500 - Risers
Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) $91.04 +27.52%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $56.86 +6.94%
Actavis plc (ACT) $201.47 +5.00%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $48.30 +4.77%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $26.33 +4.61%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $156.14 +4.60%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $95.31 +3.81%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $15.08 +3.64%
E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $22.53 +3.30%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $83.81 +3.20%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $91.67 -4.47%
Waste Management Inc. (WM) $41.72 -4.47%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.47 -3.75%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $35.47 -3.22%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $20.69 -3.09%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $39.76 -2.45%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $58.59 -2.45%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $226.19 -2.36%
International Game Technology (IGT) $14.63 -2.27%
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) $31.39 -2.00%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $58.49 +0.58%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $164.65 +0.57%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.69 +0.45%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $79.58 +0.44%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $73.83 +0.42%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $84.37 +0.42%
Boeing Co. (BA) $130.63 +0.36%
E I du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $64.71 +0.33%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $96.02 +0.25%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $75.21 +0.19%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.47 -3.75%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $77.97 -1.80%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.98 -1.14%
AT&T Inc. (T) $32.82 -1.00%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $112.71 -0.68%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $22.41 -0.66%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $92.17 -0.64%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $75.33 -0.61%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $37.42 -0.53%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $77.57 -0.46%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $48.30 +4.77%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $87.51 +4.68%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $173.79 +3.77%
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $120.36 +3.73%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $170.40 +3.69%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $83.81 +3.20%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $203.70 +2.76%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $332.78 +2.71%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $47.17 +2.37%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $93.35 +2.30%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $35.47 -3.22%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $20.69 -3.09%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $68.32 -1.58%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $73.97 -1.41%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $64.49 -1.21%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $31.11 -1.21%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $45.69 -1.19%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $51.70 -1.05%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $353.65 -1.04%
Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (SIAL) $95.62 -1.02% |
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| | Wednesday Newspaper Round-up | | Ukraine, Floats, M&S Violent clashes in Kiev continued for a second day on Wednesday as Ukrainian riot police battled anti-government protesters occupying a central square in the capital amid the worst crisis the country has faced since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. More than 20 people were reported killed and hundreds injured in Tuesday’s violence – the deadliest clashes in three months of anti-government protests. – Financial Times
Hopes that stock markets have finally reopened as a conduit for corporate cash have lifted after banks announced plans to float companies with a combined value of more than $10bn. In one of the busiest days for financial markets since the credit crunch Poundland, the discount retailer, ISS the cleaning company, and King, the maker of Candy Crush Saga, all announced their intention to become public companies. – The Times
Marks & Spencer, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, has launched a new website platform, a key plank of its strategy to reverse nearly a decade of market share decline in its most profitable business. The 130-year old group, which has reported 10 straight quarters of declining underlying sales in its general merchandise division including clothing, said on Tuesday its new site had gone live after more than three years of development. – The Daily Telegraph
The Government has granted Scotland permission to issue its own bonds - but with a warning that it is “unlikely to be a cost effective form of borrowing”. The Treasury said Scotland will be able to issue up to £2.2bn on the international bond markets for capital investment in road, hospitals, schools and flood defences. The bonds will not be guaranteed by the UK Government. – The Daily Telegraph
Power giant Drax wants compensation if the Treasury freezes the carbon tax, arguing it would lose out on expected earnings from burning biomass. Dorothy Thompson, chief executive, said a freeze of the UK's unilateral, rising levy - widely expected to be announced at the Budget next month - would help keep the lights on and offer consumers cheaper energy. – The Daily Telegraph
The three airports are owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH), previously BAA, in which Ferrovial holds a 25% share although its HAH partners are keen to move their sole focus to Heathrow airport. Ferrovial wants to diversify its business away from Spain’s struggling construction sector and the three airports would be better placed than Heathrow to benefit from aviation traffic growth because they have more spare capacity. The Spanish firm has held talks over its bid with at least two Australian funds, Industry Funds Management and Macquarie. – Daily Express | | |
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