| | | | | | | | | |
| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London close: Chinese data offsets IMF downgrade Stocks ended the session with modest gains on the heels of better-than-expected growth figures in China.
The FTSE 100 gained 34.57 points to finish the day at 6,629.
China's gross domestic product expanded at a 7.4% clip in 2014, markets seemed to draw comfort from the fact that the rate of expansion was just a shade below Beijing's official target of 7.5%.
In parallel, separate data revealed that industrial production and retail sales in the Asian giant accelerated slightly in December to expand by 7.9% and 11.9%, respectively.
To take note of as well, the latest figures on the state of the property market also pointed to some signs of stabilisation, although according to analysts at Danske Bank it "remains fragile". The rate of decline in new homes sales slowed to 4.1% year-on-year last month, from -13.3% in November.
The above helped to compensate for the International Monetary Fund's decision overnight to downgrade its forecast for the rate of global expansion in 2015.
Citing a weaker outlook for the Eurozone, Japan and China the Washington-based lender said it now sees the world's economy expanding at a 3.5% clip this year, down from the 3.8% pace it projected in October.
Significantly, its economists also cut their projection for global inflation this year by half, to 1%.
"The world economy is facing strong and complex cross currents," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said.
Curves ahead for car insurers, broker says
Admiral Group fared poorly after a research report from Morgan Stanley speculated that 2015 could be problematic for UK motor insurers. Analyst Marcus Rivaldi suggested that in the next 12 months, insurers could be at tipping point for top-line growth and margin expansion.
Full-year results from William Hill jumped ahead of forecasts even though the bookmaker fell at a fourth quarter hurdle as football and horse racing results favoured punters. The FTSE 250 group, was forced to officially distribute the figures at 20:00 on Monday after they were accidentally emailed to analysts, reported net revenue down 2% and operating profits down 7% in the fourth quarter as "unfavourable" sports results were exacerbated by a large high-roller hit in its on-line casino.
Fast-moving consumer goods giant Unilever saw slower growth than expected in 2014, with underlying sales up 2.9%, faster than the markets it operates in but lower than analyst forecasts, with volumes higher by 1% and prices advancing by 1.9%. The company's core operating margins improved by 40 basis points at current exchange rates, free cash-flow came in at €3.1bn following €0.8bn in taxes on the profits earned from disposals, while core earnings were up by 11%.
Rio Tinto finished the year with robust fourth quarter results, though the natural resources behemoth unearthed less copper than was forecasts. Iron ore production of 79.1m tons was 12% higher than the same period a year before but came in behind the 82.2m consensus forecast, though shipments of the metal were 17% higher year on year.
After the Swiss National Bank caused a wave of client losses that led to a £30m hit on the company, forex and spread-betting provider IG Group posted a strong set of interim results. The London-based group, which opened a Swiss office in October, recorded record revenue in the half year after a subdued first quarter, with trading revenue up 8% at £197.4m, profit before tax up 2.8% to £101.4m and diluted earnings per share up 5.4% at 21.44p.
The ongoing volatility in emerging market currencies continued to boost the price of gold and stocks like Fresnillo along with it.
Tullow Oil shares took a hit after its price target was lowered from £5.45 to £3.85 by analysts at Investec.
Glencore was boosted by better-than expected Chinese data was released on Tuesday. Gross domestic product rose 7.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, more than the 7.2% growth that was expected. Burberry Group also rose after Chinese retail sales in December grew 11.9% from the previous month, beating analysts' estimates for an 11.7% climb.
techMARK 3,030.46 +0.30%
FTSE 100 6,620.10 +0.52%
FTSE 250 16,126.56 +0.37% |
| | FREE ADVFN Seminar: Preparing To Invest for 2015 | | Tues 27 Jan, at the Phoenix Club, London. Professor Glen Arnold will be speaking on good value investing for 2015. Prof. Arnold is the best-selling author of the Financial Times guide to Investing, and author of the ADVFN Deep Value Shares Newsletter. Click Here find out more. |
|
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 911.00p +4.00%
Glencore (GLEN) 257.45p +3.94%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 760.50p +3.68%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 380.50p +3.12%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,121.50p +2.94%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 509.00p +2.83%
Kingfisher (KGF) 336.60p +2.68%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,654.00p +2.61%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,560.00p +2.49%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,065.00p +2.31%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,057.00p -5.79%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,416.00p -2.48%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,050.00p -2.02%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 427.30p -1.43%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,674.00p -1.30%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,468.00p -1.28%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,343.00p -1.21%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 442.20p -0.96%
Royal Mail (RMG) 426.20p -0.93%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,480.00p -0.91%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 430.00p +8.31%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 208.00p +6.67%
Allied Minds (ALM) 401.10p +5.55%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 476.20p +4.66%
Laird (LRD) 316.90p +4.24%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 158.00p +3.47%
Lonmin (LMI) 181.40p +3.36%
Poundland Group (PLND) 363.20p +3.21%
Synthomer (SYNT) 246.10p +3.19%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,377.00p +3.15%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 25.79p -6.73%
William Hill (WMH) 358.30p -4.86%
esure Group (ESUR) 225.70p -3.34%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 790.50p -2.95%
Playtech (PTEC) 645.50p -2.79%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,928.00p -2.72%
Premier Oil (PMO) 142.50p -2.60%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,285.00p -2.52%
Pace (PIC) 341.60p -2.29% |
| | 25% rise in capital from day 1 | | Earn passive income with this fantastic UK based car park investment opportunity. Over 6 years a single unit is projected to generate £12,000 net income
Click here to find out more |
| | US Market Report | | London close: Chinese data offsets IMF downgrade Stocks ended the session with modest gains on the heels of better-than-expected growth figures in China.
The FTSE 100 gained 34.57 points to finish the day at 6,629.
China's gross domestic product expanded at a 7.4% clip in 2014, markets seemed to draw comfort from the fact that the rate of expansion was just a shade below Beijing's official target of 7.5%.
In parallel, separate data revealed that industrial production and retail sales accelerated slightly in December to expand by 7.9% and 11.9%, respectively.
To take note of as well, the latest figures on the state of the property market also pointed to some signs of stabilisation, although according to analysts at Danske Bank it "remains fragile". The rate of decline in new homes sales slowed to 4.1% year-on-year last month, from -13.3% in November.
The above helped to compensate for the International Monetary Fund's decision overnight decision to downgrade its forecast for the rate of global expansion in 2015.
Citing a weaker outlook for the Eurozone, Japan and China the Washington-based lender said it now sees the world's economy expanding at a 3.5% clip this year, down from the 3.8% pace it projected in October.
Significantly, its economists also cut their projection for global inflation this year by half, to 1%.
"The world economy is facing strong and complex cross currents," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said.
Curves ahead for car insurers, broker says
Admiral Group was also fared poorly after a research report from Morgan Stanley speculated that 2015 could be problematic for UK motor insurers. Analyst Marcus Rivaldi suggested that in the next 12 months, insurers could be at tipping point for top-line growth and margin expansion.
Full year results from William Hill jumped ahead of forecasts even though the bookmaker fell at a fourth quarter hurdle as football and horse racing results favoured punters. The FTSE 250 group, was forced to officially distribute the figures at 20:00 on Monday after they were accidentally emailed to analysts, reported net revenue down 2% and operating profits down 7% in the fourth quarter as "unfavourable" sports results were exacerbated by a large high-roller hit in its online casino.
Fast-moving consumer goods giant Unilever saw slower growth than expected in 2014, with underlying sales up 2.9%, faster than the markets it operates in but lower than analyst forecasts, with volumes higher by 1% and prices advancing by 1.9%. The company's core operating margins improved by 40 basis points at current exchange rates, free cash-flow came in at €3.1bn following €0.8bn in taxes on the profits earned from disposals, while core earnings were up by 11%.
Rio Tinto finished the year with robust fourth quarter results, though the natural resources behemoth unearthed less copper than was forecasts. Iron ore production of 79.1m tons was 12% higher than the same period a year before but came in behind the 82.2m consensus forecast, though shipments of the metal were 17% higher year on year.
After the Swiss National Bank caused a wave of client losses that led to a £30m hit on the company, forex and spread-betting provider IG Group posted a strong set of interim results. The London-based group, which opened a Swiss office in October, recorded record revenue in the half year after a subdued first quarter, with trading revenue up 8% at £197.4m, profit before tax up 2.8% to £101.4m and diluted earnings per share up 5.4% at 21.44p.
The ongoing volatility in emerging market currencies continued to boost the price of gold and stocks like Fresnillo along with it.
Tullow Oil shares took a hit after its price target was lowered from £5.45 to £3.85 by analysts at Investec. |
| | Swissquote offers CFD Trading, an efficient mean of trading indices, commodities and currencies. | | You can trade on the market whether you think it will go UP or Down! Think the DAX will go Down? Short the DAX… Try CFD Trading with a Free Practice Account losses can exceed your deposit.
|
| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Stocks rise as QE speculation grows ahead of ECB meeting Speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) will announce a programme of quantitative easing (QE) this week boosted stocks in the euro-area on Tuesday.
The ECB has been under mounting pressure to introduce full-blown QE to revive the stagnant economy and address deflation.
Capital Economics said: "The ECB will seek to tackle deflation with additional monetary stimulus in the form of quantitative easing. But it is far from clear that it can prevent a Japanese-style prolonged period of weak activity and flat or falling prices."
Ahead of the ECB's policy meeting on Thursday, a report showed economic confidence in the Eurozone improved.
ZEW's sentiment index for the Eurozone rose to 45.2 in January from 31.8 in the previous month. In Germany, the index increased to 48.4 from 34.9 in December.
On another positive note for markets, China's gross domestic product rose 7.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, more than the 7.2% growth that was expected.
Separately, industrial production in China gained 8.3% year-on-year in December, compared to forecasts for a 8.2% increase.
Chinese retail sales in December grew 11.9% last month, beating analysts' estimates for an 11.7% climb.
On a negative note, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global inflation and growth forecasts for this year, indicating that growth in the US economy and the drop in oil prices will not suffice to cure the weaknesses evident in other economic blocks.
The IMF now expects growth of 3.5% this year, compared with the previous estimate of 3.8% which it made last October.
Brent crude dropped 0.22% to $48.73 per barrel, according to the ICE, following the IMF downgrade.
SAP, Novozymes
SAP SE declined after the maker of business-management software lowered its 2017 profit target.
Novozymes A/S advanced after posting fourth-quarter profit that surpassed market forecasts.
Royal Philips NV edged up following reports that private equity firms KKR & Co. and CVC Capital Partners have expressed interest in the company's lighting unit.
Unilever tumbled after the consumer products company said full-year performance will be similar to last year.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG jumped as Barclays recommended buying the shares.
The euro fell 0.32% to $1.1569. |
| | FREE ADVFN Seminar: Preparing To Invest for 2015 | | Tues 27 Jan, at the Phoenix Club, London. Professor Glen Arnold will be speaking on good value investing for 2015. Prof. Arnold is the best-selling author of the Financial Times guide to Investing, and author of the ADVFN Deep Value Shares Newsletter. Click Here find out more. |
| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: William Hill, Rio Tinto, IG Group Prospects for bookie William Hill are looking up thanks to the company's proprietary, differentiated products and technology, analysts said.
On 19 January the bookmaker reported full-year results where operating profits on an EBITA basis were 2% ahead of the consensus forecast at £371m despite customer-friendly sports results. However, fourth quarter headwinds in terms of gross margin win persisted into the new year.
Even so, the company's underlying performance "remains strong", Credit Suisse analysts told clients in a research note.
Credit Suisse reiterated its 'outperform' recommendation and 455p target on the stock.
Shares of Rio Tinto are undervalued given the prospects for commodity prices and the stock's current valuation, analysts at Canaccord Genuity said on the heels of the company's fourth quarter production report.
The broker pointed out how the stock was trading at a multiple of enterprise value to operating profits (EV/EBITDA) of 7.2 on the basis of estimates for the company's earnings in 2015, but on a multiple of just 5.2 for 2016.
That compared favourably to a historical valuation, since 2001, of seven times the firm's enterprise value over operating profits, especially when most commodity prices were offering upside to the analysts' mid-cycle estimates.
The conditions facing the mining outfit are more those which are seen near the bottom of a cycle instead of at the top. So therefore the shares ought to be changing hands at a price closer to the peak of their historic trading band of between four to 10 times EV/EBITDA rather than in the middle of it, analysts
Peter Mallin-Jones and Nick Hatchwrote in a research note e-mailed to clients.
Cannacord Genuity maintained its buy recommendation and 3,750p target on the shares.
The Swiss central bank last week shocked markets by announcing its decision to remove its three-year old cap on further strengthening in the Swiss franc.
That event on 15 January led stockbroker IG Group to incur in £30m of losses which when the company published its latest half-year results, on 20 January, management attributed to client credit losses (£18m) and market losses (£12m).
The firm's executives said they would seek to learn the appropriate lessons from that episode. Analysts Arun Melmane and Robin Savage at Canaccord Genuity want to know just what exactly those will be, they explained in research sent to clients following the release of IG's latest results.
In particular, they point out how IG's numbers seem to indicate that a certain level of leverage was allowed for its client positions. | | |
New ADVFN Service - FREE Reports Get your free report on Isa's, Investment Trusts, Funds,
Sipps Travel and Cars - FREE and Easy service CLICK HERE
To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact patrick@advfn.co.uk |
| | | | | | | To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click here. Registered Office/Accounts Dept: Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre, The Gable, Fyfield Road, Ongar, CM5 0GA. Customer Support +44 (0) 207 0700 961. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment