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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 close: Footsie falls on economic uncertainty and political woes - Nato says Russia puts troops on ground in Ukraine
- ECB uncertainty and UK lending figures dampen sentiment
- CSR jumps on takeover hopes
- Xaar plummets on weak guidance
techMARK 2,846.33 +0.05%
FTSE 100 6,805.80 -0.36%
FTSE 250 15,910.86 -0.71%
The London market ended Thursday on a low note as investors faced with a relative lack of corporate news were left to mull over weak European economic data and renewed geopolitical tensions.
The FTSE 100 Index retreated from an eight-week high on Thursday to stand 24.86 points adrift at 6805.8.
Analysts said fears about no extra stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) in its upcoming meeting compounded weak German inflation and unemployment data.
But speculation that the ECB would still unleash quantitative easing (QE) - or printing money to buy assets - was kept alive by data showing a further slowing in lending to Eurozone households and companies in July.
There was a similar picture in the UK where fresh Bank of England data on its Funding for Lending (FLS) scheme showed a £435m fall in net lending to £4.8bn between April and June, coming after the first quarter's £719m fall.
Tensions in Ukraine escalated after Nato officials said more than a thousand Russian soldiers had entered the country. President Petro Poroshenko called for an emergency security meeting as pro-Russian rebels continued to take more ground in the south-east of the country.
"An invasion of Russian forces has taken place," he said.
In UK corporate news, miners were falling after gains yesterday, with Rio Tinto dropping 3.8% to 3209p, BHP Billiton backtracking 2.8% to 1891p, Antofagasta off 2.2% at 790p and Glencore losing 1.7% to 360.5p.
Precious metal producers Randgold Resources and Fresnillo, however, were bucking the trend with rises of 64p to 5005p and 12p to 940.5p respectively as gold and silver prices rose on the back of safe-haven demand.
Oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil gushed 1.4% to 731p as it announced several successful drilling results from a series of exploration, appraisal and testing activities conducted in blocks in Kenya.
The tills were also ringing at supermarket group William Morrison, which rose 2.5p to 186.9p after an upbeat report about August retail sales from the Confederation of British Industry.
Morrisons also got a boost from an upgrade by Deutsche Bank from 'sell' to 'hold'. Rival Tesco, however, reversed 3p to 246.3p after a downgrade from 'buy' to 'hold'.
Elsewhere, cigarette machinery maker Molins wafted 23.5p or 14.75 lower to 136p after the AIM-listed stock reported tough trading and order delays in core markets such as the Middle East and central and eastern Europe.
Wireless technology group CSR jumped 205p or 35.6% to 780p after it confirmed rumours that the firm is considering a sale. According to the Financial Times, the UK chipmaker has received takeover offers from a number of rival semiconductor manufacturers and could fetch a price of as much as $3bn, compared with Wednesday's closing price of $1.57bn.
Xaar, the inkjet printing technology firm, saw shares sink 121p or 21.6% to 439p after a weakening in third-quarter sales cast a further pall over already-disappointing interim results, with full-year expectations downgraded.
BP was trading lower after a fire broke out at its largest US refinery on Wednesday night. Nevertheless, the company said that operations at the Whiting refinery "were minimally impacted as a result of the incident and the refinery continues to produce products for customers".
Afren was also in the red after saying it has suspended two more directors in relation to further "unauthorised payments". The firm last month suspended its chief executive and chief operating officer. |
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FTSE 100 - Risers
CRH (CRH) 1,426.00p +2.00%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 731.00p +1.39%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 186.90p +1.36%
BT Group (BT.A) 388.00p +1.36%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,005.00p +1.30%
Fresnillo (FRES) 940.50p +1.29%
Hammerson (HMSO) 613.00p +1.07%
Rexam (REX) 506.00p +0.90%
National Grid (NG.) 896.50p +0.90%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,479.50p +0.69%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,117.00p -4.86%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,209.00p -3.79%
St James's Place (STJ) 704.00p -3.56%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,512.50p -3.54%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,891.00p -2.80%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,123.00p -2.26%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 790.00p -2.23%
Carnival (CCL) 2,235.00p -2.10%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 720.00p -2.04%
Glencore (GLEN) 360.50p -1.70%
FTSE 250 - Risers
CSR (CSR) 780.00p +35.65%
Playtech (PTEC) 712.00p +7.39%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 216.10p +6.04%
DCC (DCC) 3,552.00p +2.75%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 220.70p +2.13%
IP Group (IPO) 212.90p +2.11%
Hays (HAS) 131.90p +1.93%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 889.00p +1.83%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,939.00p +1.78%
Hunting (HTG) 910.00p +1.73%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Xaar (XAR) 439.00p -21.61%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 339.30p -15.93%
Afren (AFR) 99.50p -9.95%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 512.00p -6.31%
Spectris (SXS) 1,942.00p -5.27%
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 597.50p -4.86%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 181.40p -4.78%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 130.00p -4.69%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 982.50p -4.33%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 120.00p -4.15%
FTSE TechMARK - Risers
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,600.00p +2.56%
Anite (AIE) 94.00p +1.90%
DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 16.75p +1.52%
NCC Group (NCC) 217.25p +1.40%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 154.38p +1.40%
Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 92.25p +1.37%
Dialight (DIA) 926.00p +1.20%
Gresham Computing (GHT) 117.00p +0.86%
RM (RM.) 159.00p +0.63%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 99.00p +0.51%
FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 3.38p -10.00%
Skyepharma (SKP) 306.00p -2.86%
Optos (OPTS) 200.00p -2.08%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 472.00p -2.02%
CML Microsystems (CML) 330.00p -1.49%
Vectura Group (VEC) 133.00p -1.12%
SDL (SDL) 333.50p -1.11%
Innovation Group (TIG) 29.75p -0.83%
IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 197.00 -0.08% |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Stocks fall on German jobs and inflation, Ukraine conflict - German unemployment rises
- German inflation remains weak
- US GDP rises in Q2
- Fresh fighting between Russia and Ukraine
FTSE 100: -0.36%
DAX: -1.12%
CAC 40: -0.66%
FTSE MIB: -2.03%
IBEX 35: -1.06%
Stoxx 600: -0.66%
European stocks finished lower on Thursday as investors weighed worse-than-expected German unemployment data and the news regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
German unemployment increased 2,000 following a 12,000 gain a month earlier, missing analysts' forecasts for a 5,000 decrease.
The unemployment rate for August held at 6.7%, as expected.
Separately, German inflation rose 0.8% in August, unchanged from the previous month and in line with forecasts, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
Eurozone inflation figures for August are due on Friday and expected by economists to weaken to an annual rate 0.3% from 0.4% in July.
Another report out of Europe showed economic confidence dropped, with the index falling to 100.6 in August from a downwardly revised 102.1 in July. Economists had predicted a reading of 101.5.
The figures come after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi hinted last week at the possibility of introducing full-on quantitative easing to address weak inflation and a stagnant recovery.
Weighing on global stocks on Thursday was news of fresh fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency security meeting after pro-Russian insurgents widened their attacks, taking several towns outside their strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, including near the Sea of Azov.
Syria tensions were also high, with Islamic State (IS) militants releasing a YouTube video that shows them killing 250 Syrian soldiers.
US GDP, jobless claims
The second estimate for US gross domestic product (GDP) showed that the American economy grew by an annualised rate of 4.2% in the second quarter.
It was higher than the initial estimate of 4% growth in the advance report and surprised analysts who had expected a small downwards revision to 3.9%.
US initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 298,000 in the week to 23 August, under the 300,000 consensus forecast. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 299,000.
Alpari UK analyst Craig Erlam said the US economy is looking strong with the only thing standing in the way of the first rate hike from the Federal Reserve being a delay in productivity and wage improvements.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen last Friday signalled that interest rates could rise sooner than previously thought. Most analysts expect the first US rate rise to come in mid-2015.
In the UK, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said it expected the economy to grow by 3.2% this year and by 2.8% in 2015, up one percentage point from forecasts of 3.1% and 2.7% three months earlier.
Ocado, Telecom
Ocado dropped after Redburn advised investors to sell shares in the online grocer.
Telecom Italia advanced after Vivendi chose Telefonica to discuss a sale of its GVT unit.
Gemalto declined after reporting first-half revenue that missed analysts' estimates.
Essilor International gained after posting an 11% increase in first-half adjusted profit.
The euro fell 0.11% to $1.3179.
Brent crude futures dipped 0.19% to $102.52 per barrel, according to ICE. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Stocks slide amid Ukraine tensions US stocks slumped as tensions in Ukraine flared and better-than-expected US reports on economic growth and weekly jobless claims fuelled speculation of an interest rate hike.
The second estimate for US gross domestic product (GDP) showed that the American economy grew by an annualised rate of 4.2% in the second quarter.
It was higher than the initial estimate of 4% growth in the advance report and surprised analysts who had expected a small downwards revision to 3.9%.
It also marked a strong-than-expected rebound from the 2.1% contraction registered in the first three months of the year.
According to the Commerce Department, Thursday's revision showed that the increase in business investment was larger than previously thought.
"These figures confirm the strength of the US economy, and judging by recent figures, it is not going to run out of momentum any time soon," said Nancy Curtin, the chief investment officer at Close Brothers Asset Management.
"While sluggish wage growth remains a key consideration for the Fed, the employment figures continue to show the strength of the labour market. [...] The prospect of a change in monetary tightening is one cloud on the horizon, but it should not be a cause for undue concern."
In other economic data on Thursday, US initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 298,000 in the week to 23 August, under the 300,000 consensus forecast. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 299,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average fell by 1,250 to 299,750.
Alpari UK analyst Craig Erlam said the US economy is looking strong with only thing standing in front of the first rate hike from the Federal Reserve being a delay in productivity and wage improvements.
"The country should be on for more than 2% growth this year which is far from great, but good enough under the circumstances."
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has called an emergency security meeting after pro-Russian insurgents widened their attacks, taking several towns outside their strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, including near the Sea of Azov.
In company news, Williams-Sonoma declined after its third-quarter earnings forecast missed analysts' estimates.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. dropped as second-quarter sales fell more than analysts had projected.
Guess? slumped after the retailer cut its annual earnings forecast. |
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| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: Morrisons, Tesco, IAG, Ryanair, Melrose Shares of rival supermarket chains Wm Morrison and Tesco were heading in opposite directions on Thursday after Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating for the former and downgraded the latter.
The bank lifted Morrisons from 'sell' to 'hold' and kept its 190p target after an 8% share-price underperformance against the wider market over the last three months. As for Tesco, the stock was lowered from 'buy' to 'hold' due to the "low visibility" from recent management changes.
"Sentiment [is] trumping fundamentals" in the UK airline sector, according to Jefferies, which recommended investors to see dips as an opportunity to revisit its two preferred names of IAG and Ryanair.
Stocks are being swayed by the Ebola outbreak, Icelandic volcano and ongoing geopolitical tensions, the broker said. "A lull in reporting means external factors, not fundamentals, will continue to be the bigger near-term share price driver," said analysts Mark Irvine-Fortescue and Ian Rennardson.
Melrose delivered "rock solid" interims, according to Canaccord Genuity which maintained a 'buy' rating and 400p target for the industrial investment group.
The broker said that Elster, the gas, electricity and water metering division, continued to outperform expectations and "put in a very strong performance" with margins up 2.9 percentage points over the year at 18.9%. | | |
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