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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: FTSE plunges 1.7% as investors take profits ahead of quarter-end Sharp falls from mining and tobacco stocks sent the FTSE 100 to its lowest close in two and a half weeks on Tuesday as investors used some weak economic data as an excuse to rebalance their books before the quarter-end.
After briefly trading in the green early on, the Footsie finished had plunged 1.7% to 6,773.04 by the end of the session. The index has not settled below this mark since 13 March.
"After such a bullish day's trading yesterday, the end of the first quarter looks to be triggering a little bit of profit-taking," said Alastair McCaig from IG.
Economic data from the UK mostly beat expectations on Tuesday, including an unexpected upwards revision to economic growth estimates for the fourth quarter and a jump in business confidence in March.
However, markets dropped sharply into the red by mid-morning after it was revealed that Eurozone core consumer prices increased at an annual rate of 0.6% in March, down from +0.7% the month before and below forecasts.
The unemployment rate for the single-currency region declined from 11.4% to 11.3% but missed the 11.2% estimate.
Uncertainty in Greece was also weighing on sentiment after leaders failed to agree on a package of reforms with lenders. According to the European Council president Donald Tusk, a deal is not likely before Easter.
Meanwhile, talks with Iran over a nuclear deal were also under the spotlight. There were reports that discussions could be extended until after Easter if no concrete agreement is signed on Tuesday, the official deadline.
Not even further stimulus measures in China could lift stocks in London's heavyweight mining sector as risk appetite took a hit. Beijing eased curbs on lending and tax policies in an effort to stop a downturn which has dampened economic growth.
Kingfisher a standout riser in a sea of red
DIY retailer Kingfisher was one of the few risers on Tuesday after impressing investors with plans to close 60 stores, as new chief executive V?ronique Laury announced full-year results and set out her plans for a "very different" company. The company announced a ?200m cash return for the coming financial year as it revealed adjusted annual profits fell 7.5% to ?675m last year.
Mining stocks were dominating the fallers list on the Footsie, including Anglo American, Randgold Resources, Fresnillo and Antofagasta. Antofagasta on Tuesday quashed rumours that it was looking to merge with copper producing peer Teck Resources.
Deutsche Bank also weighed on stocks after saying its calculations pointed to commodities being the worst performing asset class for the first quarter of 2015. Additionally, Bloomberg reported a $1.23bn net outflow from US commodities exchange-traded funds.
British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were lower on concerns that the Lorrillard-Reynolds merger will fall apart. Reynolds shareholder BAT had agreed to invest $4.7bn and was hoping to keep a 42% stake in the enlarged business, while Imperial was set to spend $7.1bn on a number of assets that the two US groups were selling.
Meggitt was out of favour after Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage of the stock with an 'underperform' rating, saying it sees downside at current prices despite ongoing bid speculation.
Outsourcing services group Mitie fell after warning that it expects full-year profits to be pushed slightly lower than forecast by margin pressures in the homecare and social housing businesses. |
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FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 380.60p +4.33%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 984.50p +2.23%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,663.00p +0.97%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,882.00p +0.80%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,498.00p +0.73%
Carnival (CCL) 3,296.00p +0.67%
G4S (GFS) 295.80p +0.58%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,950.00p +0.52%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 528.50p +0.48%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 412.70p +0.39%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,012.00p -4.53%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,963.00p -3.42%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,488.50p -2.95%
BG Group (BG.) 829.00p -2.70%
Meggitt (MGGT) 548.50p -2.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 682.50p -2.57%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,473.50p -2.55%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,693.00p -2.51%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,815.00p -2.49%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,546.00p -2.43%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Serco Group (SRP) 137.90p +4.47%
Greencore Group (GNC) 322.40p +3.23%
Redefine International (RDI) 58.75p +3.16%
SIG (SHI) 203.00p +2.84%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 398.00p +2.71%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 374.00p +2.47%
Pace (PIC) 345.00p +2.37%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,905.00p +2.25%
Senior (SNR) 325.20p +2.04%
Saga (SAGA) 184.20p +1.99%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Telecom Plus (TEP) 870.00p -5.64%
Mitie Group (MTO) 276.00p -5.61%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 500.00p -5.48%
Renishaw (RSW) 2,442.00p -5.13%
Premier Oil (PMO) 131.60p -4.29%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,330.00p -3.56%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 283.20p -3.44%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 134.80p -3.30%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 284.50p -3.17% |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Indices trim gains amid concerns over Greece European indices trimmed earlier gains as concerns over Greece continued to weigh on markets.
European Council president Donald Tusk has predicted that it could take until the end of April for Greece to come to a deal with lenders, dashing hopes of a breakthrough.
However, Greece is reportedly set to run out of cash by 20 April.
Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras appealed for an "honest compromise" with creditors after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece had a certain degree of flexibility on reforms but they must "add up".
The euro plunged 0.84% to $1.0742 amid worries about Greek debt.
In economic data, euro-area deflation eased in March, as expected, Eurostat revealed, falling 0.1% this month compared to a drop of 0.3% in February.
However it remains well underneath the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of just under 2%.
The Eurozone unemployment rate fell to 11.3% in March from a revised 11.4% a month earlier. Analysts had been expecting the rate to remain at the previous estimate of 11.2%.
"The latest data on Eurozone inflation and unemployment did not lift the threat of a prolonged period of deflation in the currency union," Capital Economics analysts warned.
Meanwhile, the German unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped to 6.4% in March from 6.5% the prior month.
German retail sales rose 3.6% year-on-year in February, more than the 3.4% gain expected.
The data comes off the back of the ECB's quantitative easing programme which was launched at the beginning of March to help boost the economy and bring inflation back towards the monetary authority's target.
In the US, an index measuring consumer confidence rose to 101.3 in March from 98.8 the previous month, more than the reading of 96.4 expected.
Companies: Kingfisher, Antofagasta
Kingfisher jumped as the European home-improvement retailer said it will close stores, form a new leadership team and stock more products to lift sales.
Antofagasta slumped after denying reports the miner is in talks about a merger with Teck Resources.
Yoox SpA advanced after agreeing to buy Net-a-Porter business for stock valued at about €719m. Shares of the Swiss owner, Financiere Richemont, slipped. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Dow drops 50 points as stocks relinquish Monday's gains US stocks declined on Tuesday after two sessions of solid gains, as losses in the European and Asian markets weighed on sentiment.
Just after 09:30 in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 50 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq began the session nine and 18 points down, respectively.
European stocks slid after data showed Eurozone unemployment remained above expectations at 11.3% in February, after upward revisions to the prior month, while Asian stocks endured a choppy session, with the Nikkei 225 and the Shanghai Composite Index both falling 1%.
"Monday's recovery restores some of the optimistic outlook, but the US dollar is waking from its slumber once more and this will make life harder for indices on Wall Street to follow their European cousins higher," said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG.
The dollar jumped 0.74% against the euro and gained 0.11% against the pound but fell just over 0.1% against the yen, while gold futures edged 0.09% higher to $1,185.90.
US house prices remained steady in January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index released on Tuesday.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices grew 0.9%, while they rose 4.6% year-on-year.
There is more economic data on the way for US investors, with the US Conference Board set to report on consumer confidence for March, which is expected to be largely unchanged from the previous month, at 15:00 GMT.
Before that, the closely-monitored Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is released at 14:45 GMT.
Earlier on Tuesday, Richmond Fed head Jeffrey Lacker, said there was a "strong" case for the Fed to raise interest rates as early as June as he expects solid growth and increasing inflation.
"I expect that, unless incoming economic reports diverge substantially from projections, the case for raising rates will remain strong at the June meeting," he said.
In company news, fast food giant McDonald's slid 0.33% after announcing it would start testing all-day breakfasts in San Diego in April.
IT group IBM fell 0.68% after unveiling lans to invest $3bn in a new "Internet of Things" business, designed to help customers gather and analyse data from sensor-equipped devices and smartphones.
Property giant CBRE Group rose 3.30% after confirming it would buy Johnson Controls' workplace solutions business in a deal worth $1.47bn.
Oil prices fell sharply in the wake of last-minute talks between Iran and six global powers over Teheran's nuclear programme. |
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| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: Kingfisher, Antofagasta, Meggitt, Petrofac Analysts were largely very impressed by the strategic vision nailed to the wall by Kingfisher's new chief executive Vronique Laury as she lifted the lid on some less impressive full-year numbers.
Brewin Dolphin's Nicla Di Palma said the new strategy makes sense, with the new focus on capital discipline and costs spelling good news for margin expansion. Meanwhile, Richard Hunter of Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said the transformation plan "sounds promising" and the annual results underlined why it was necessary.
Citigroup said it sees no clear rationale for Antofagasta in its denied merger with Canadian mining peer Teck Resources, saying that it is unlikely that the UK group is 'in play' in M&A terms.
The US bank, which reiterated a 'sell' rating and 690p target on Antofagasta, said: "Strategically we see no benefits to Antofagasta's minority shareholders from diversification into coal and zinc (although this does hinge on long-term prices); plus risk of a major de-rating risk from losing the pureplay copper premium. The only good rationale would be if Los Pelambres really is at risk (in which case Teck would walk)."
Exane BNP Paribas has kicked off coverage of aerospace engineer Meggitt with an 'underperform' rating despite bid speculation and an active share buyback programme supporting the stock over the last year.
"Buoyed by bid-spec, the company has outperformed this past 12 months and trades close to its relative highs. However we don't believe that the group's earnings quality and increasing pressure on an already weak cash conversion support a takeout above the current price," Exane said.
Canaccord Genuity has cut its rating for oilfield services group Petrofac from 'buy' to 'hold' after an "impressive run" in the stock over recent months. | | |
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