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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: Stocks drop 0.9% in volatile session amid Greek worries UK stocks dropped sharply on Friday with the FTSE 100 finishing below the 7,000 level for the first time in seven sessions, after a terminal blackout and changes in Chinese trading regulations.
After a positive start, the Footsie ended 65.82 points lower (-0.93%) at 6,994.63, its lowest finish since 8 April. The index fell for the second straight day after settling at a new all-time closing high of 7,096.78 on Wednesday.
Bloomberg's trading and information units suffered an outage during the session, delaying a UK Treasury auction and mostly likely other deals. The terminals are heavily relied upon by roughly 320,000 people around the world and were thought to have affected trading volumes.
"The modern way of getting a trade done is through Bloomberg chat, so without it, traders were a bit at a loss. Of course there is always a telephone if the deal is urgent," explained CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
Meanwhile, regulators in China allowed fund managers to lend stocks for short-selling to boost the supply of shares, sending futures in Hong Kong down over 5%.
Uncertainty in Greece was also prompting investors to tread lightly on Friday as the debt crisis dominates talks at the International Monetary Fund-World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
That comes ahead of the Eurogroup meeting scheduled for 24 April. On Friday evening analysts at Credit Suisse wrote: "We believe the chances for a deal to be reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 24 April have significantly lowered in the past few days."
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde denied speculation that the IMF was willing to grant a delay on the repayment of loans due next month. Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis responded by saying that Athens will "compromise, compromise, compromise without 'being' compromised".
UK jobless rate falls
In economic data on Friday, the UK unemployment rate fell from 5.7% to 5.6% for the three months to February, its lowest since July 2008 and in line with expectations. Weekly annual earnings growth picked up by more than expected from 1.6% to 1.8%.
The final estimate of the Eurozone consumer price index (CPI) confirmed that prices fell at a year-on-year rate of 0.1% in March, in line with initial readings but easing from a 0.3% drop in February.
US CPI figures showed consumer prices Stateside rose 0.2% again in March, missing the 0.3% forecast.
The US consumer sentiment index, as measured by the University of Michigan, jumped from 93 to 95.9 in March, ahead of the 94 forecast from economists.
Financial stocks drop
Volatility across global markets on Friday was having an effect on financial stocks with St James's Place, Schroders, Barclays and Hargreaves Lansdown falling sharply.
Mining stocks suffered from a reduction in risk appetite, with Anglo American and Antofagasta among the worst performers on the Footsie.
Even engine maker Rolls-Royce fell despite winning its largest-ever order, worth $9.2bn, to provide Trent 900 engines and TotalCare service support to Emirates.
Engineering giant GKN was trading in the red after Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to 'neutral'.
Among the small-cap stocks, shares in Applied Graphene Materials jumped after the graphene products group reported positive results from independent coatings trials.
Market Movers
techMARK 3,194.84 -0.81%
FTSE 100 6,994.63 -0.93%
FTSE 250 17,572.43 -0.89% |
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FTSE 100 - Risers
BP (BP.) 479.35p +1.25%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,134.00p +0.61%
Sky (SKY) 1,052.00p +0.48%
Whitbread (WTB) 5,240.00p +0.29%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 531.00p +0.28%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,722.00p +0.22%
BG Group (BG.) 1,192.50p +0.21%
Experian (EXPN) 1,181.00p +0.08%
Centrica (CNA) 260.10p +0.04%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
St James's Place (STJ) 927.50p -3.23%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,010.50p -2.74%
GKN (GKN) 361.30p -2.51%
Schroders (SDR) 3,259.00p -2.48%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,209.00p -2.26%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,081.00p -2.12%
Sage Group (SGE) 469.30p -2.09%
3i Group (III) 495.10p -2.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 728.50p -2.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 732.00p -2.01%
FTSE 250 - Risers
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 202.50p +3.79%
Debenhams (DEB) 87.60p +3.18%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,419.00p +2.45%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 803.50p +2.36%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 623.00p +2.30%
Hunting (HTG) 615.00p +2.24%
Lonmin (LMI) 140.10p +1.97%
Laird (LRD) 352.50p +1.73%
Unite Group (UTG) 590.00p +1.46%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,331.00p +1.35%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 191.70p -6.67%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 227.80p -5.75%
NMC Health (NMC) 689.00p -5.10%
Allied Minds (ALM) 664.50p -4.73%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 348.90p -4.67%
Rotork (ROR) 2,534.00p -4.12%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 551.50p -3.92%
Henderson Group (HGG) 284.00p -3.89%
Genus (GNS) 1,377.00p -3.44% |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Greek uncertainty drags on stocks Uncertainty surrounding the future of Greece's financial situation sent European equities lower on Friday.
Concerns over Greece's debt grew following a Reuters report that the government will need to use all its remaining cash reserves across its public sector to pay civil service wages and pensions at the end of the month.
The news came as the deadline for Greece's next debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMG) loomed. The next payment of €195m is due on 1 May and another for €744.9m is due 11 days later.
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on Thursday said the IMF would not allow Greece to delay a scheduled bailout payment.
Greece and its creditors are meeting in Brussels on Saturday for a new round of negotiations before a critical Eurozone finance ministers' meeting in Riga on 24 April.
"We believe the chances for a deal to be reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 24 April have significantly lowered in the past few days," Credit Suisse said.
Elsewhere in Europe, consumer prices fell 0.1% year-on-year in March, easing from a 0.3% drop a month earlier, Eurostat confirmed.
The rate of deflation was as expected and the improvement backs the European Central Bank's (ECB) argument that its quantitative easing programme is having a positive effect on the economy. The euro was up 0.48% to $1.0813 after the CPI report.
The euro gained 0.17% to $1.0779.
In the UK, unemployment fell to 1.84m between December and February, the Office for National Statistics said, while the jobless rate declined from 5.7% to 5.6%.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in March fell by 20,700 to 772,400.
Employment hit a new record high of 31.04m, growing by 248,000 from the previous quarter and registering the biggest increase in a three-month since April 2014.
Weekly earnings rose 1.8% in the three-month period, better than the 1.7% gain expected.
Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The Bank of England has previously said that it wants to see a marked increase in pay before judging that sufficient labour market slack has been eroded for interest rates to rise. If pay growth continues to improve, this removes a key barrier to higher interest rates."
In the US, the CPI slipped by 0.1% year-on-year in March, dragged down by lower electricity and gas prices. Analysts had predicted zero growth.
A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer confidence rose more than forecast in April. The index for sentiment climbed to 95.9 this month from 93 the previous month, compared to estimates of 94.
Nestle, Syngeta decline
Nestle was slightly lower as the food maker said that currency headwinds reduced first-quarter reported sales by approximately 4.5%.
Syngenta AG slumped after reporting first-quarter sales that missed estimates.
Accor SA rallied after it reported an increase in first-quarter sales that beat analysts' estimates.
Abertis Infraestructuras SA dropped as an investor sold a 1.3% stake. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Dow Jones plunges 240 points on China regulatory news US stocks slid on Friday, after Chinese regulators said they will allow fund managers to lend stocks for short selling.
Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 240 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost 19 and 51 points respectively.
Futures on the Chinese indices were down more than 5% in pre-open trading at 12:20 BST, with US stock futures and European equities also suffering.
"What we're seeing right now is a combination of panic and technical levels being wiped out and exacerbating the move lower," said Oanda's senior market analyst Craig Erlam.
The US consumer price index (CPI) slipped by 0.1% year-on-year in March, dragged down by lower electricity and gas price, though it registered a 0.2% increase from the previous month.
Economists had been calling for increases of 0.3% month-on-month and 0.1% year-on-year.
Figures released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the core rate of inflation, which strips out the oft-volatile food and energy categories, rose by 0.2%.
Analysts said the latest CPI figures showed that the stronger dollar is doing little to support prices.
"What is puzzling is that core commodities prices have been rising for the past two months, suggesting that the stronger dollar is not helping," said Capital Economics' chief US economist Paul Ashworth.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey for April is scheduled for release at 14:55 BST.
In company news, the earnings season continues with General Electric set to report after the opening bell, while Reynolds American and Honeywell International are also due to publish results on Friday.
American Express slid 3.46%, after saying late on Thursday that its results were hurt by strong currency headwinds.
Advanced Micro Devices plunged 10% after its first half loss was wider than estimated, while Mattel rallied 6.4% after the toy-maker posted a smaller-than-expected first quarter loss on Thursday.
Schlumberger gained 1.8% as the oil field services group announced it would slash a further 11,000 jobs following a 39% decline in first quarter earnings.
Oil prices edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate losing 0.9% to $56.19 a barrel, while Brent crude shed 0.2% to $63.84 |
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| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: Pearson, Diageo, Whitbread Pearson's stock rebounded slightly on Friday after a heavy drop the previous session, though Westhouse Securities still recommended investors to 'sell' shares of the publishing group.
Westhouse said it sees "scope for further share-price weakness". Thursday's news that Los Angeles' second-largest school district, LAUSD, is cancelling a $1.3bn education project based on Apple's iPad using course material provided by Pearson hit shares on Thursday. "With these [LAUSD] reservations in mind we believe the group's current valuation looks stretched," the broker said.
Canaccord Genuity has raised its target slightly for Diageo, but said that Thursday's update from the spirits producer contained a "cocktail of small disappoints".
The broker maintained a 'sell' recommendation, saying it sees no end yet to the downgrade cycle for Diageo. Canaccord lowered its earnings estimates for the Smirnoff and Baileys maker after third-quarter sales were "disappointing relative to our own and, we believe, consensus expectations in all regions except Africa".
Credit Suisse has hiked its target for Costa and Premier Inn owner Whitbread from 5,300p to 6,200p and kept an 'outperform' rating, saying the leisure group provides "long-term sustainable quality growth". | | |
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