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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 end with small gains but upside limited London's FTSE 100 managed to finish in the green after a choppy session, though upside was limited by continuing uncertainty in Greece.
The Footsie settled 8.38 points higher at 6,968.87, ending well below the intraday high of 7,015.49 but firmly above the intraday low of 6,931.64.
While mining stocks ended broadly higher, oil and gas producers and banking shares were providing a drag. Aveva and Bwin.party meanwhile were high risers on the FTSE 250 on bid speculation.
Analyst Alastair McCaig from IG said that market "direction [was] distinctly absent despite sufficient corporate newsflow". He said that a sparse economic calendar "provides little incentive for any significant portfolio adjustments".
The NAHB US housing market index was the only major economic data release of the day, falling from 56 to 54 in May, missing the 57 consensus forecast.
Turning to Greece, a government spokesman said Athens will be able to pay wages and pensions in May but needs a deal with its lenders by the end of the month in order to "resolve our liquidity issues".
However, Gabriel Sakellaridis told a news conference that Athens was sticking to "red lines" in its continued cash-for-reforms negotiations with creditors.
BHP bucks the trend, Aveva and bwin surge
BHP Billiton was trading with heavy losses after its South32 spin-off was valued at the lower end of market expectations on its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange. Nevertheless, the wider mining sector finished higher as decent gains from the likes of Fresnillo, Glencore and Randgold managed to offset BHP.
Upbeat comments from UBS also helped shares in the precious metals sector in particular as the bank said gold equities were well placed to offer "genuine leverage to a gold-price recovery". The bank reiterated its 'buy' recommendations on Acacia Mining and Randgold and said it sees long-term value potential at Fresnillo.
Fresnillo was also rising after saying it remains on track to hit its output guidance in 2015 after a strong start to the year. Elsewhere, Rio Tinto was making headlines on rumours it could raise $1bn from the sale of some aluminium assets.
Engineering software group Aveva was making decent gains after weekend reports that it could be an acquisition target of Schneider Electric, General Electric and Emerson Electric.
Meanwhile, online gaming group Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment jumped after confirming it has received a cash and shares bid from sector peer 888 Holdings.
Babcock gained after posting a 47% rise in pre-tax profit for the year ended March 31st to £313.1m on revenues up 37% at £4.5bn.
Banking stocks were mostly lower, including RBS, Barclays and Lloyds. The latter fell after being hit with a downgrade by Investec to 'sell' after the stock recently reached a 6.5-year high. The broker said that the share price is now more than up with events.
Oil and gas stocks such as BP and BG Group were also trading in the red. BP was lowered to 'sell' by Goldman Sachs, who warned that its dividend was at risk. |
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| | Market Movers
techMARK 3,250.93 +0.37%
FTSE 100 6,968.87 +0.12%
FTSE 250 18,022.21 +0.01% FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 792.50p +5.39%
Sage Group (SGE) 561.50p +3.22%
Royal Mail (RMG) 499.00p +2.80%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,111.00p +2.78%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 581.00p +2.29%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,419.00p +2.01%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,936.00p +2.00%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,874.00p +1.41%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 187.20p +1.35%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,265.00p +1.28%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,463.00p -4.57%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,071.00p -1.43%
Aviva (AV.) 535.00p -1.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,678.00p -1.29%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,077.00p -1.24%
BG Group (BG.) 1,163.50p -1.15%
Tesco (TSCO) 222.10p -1.07%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,667.00p -1.04%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 88.14p -0.97%
St James's Place (STJ) 936.00p -0.85%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,000.00p +8.99%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 108.00p +8.60%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 888.00p +5.34%
Rotork (ROR) 262.90p +4.37%
Mitie Group (MTO) 298.70p +3.82%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.80p +2.96%
Allied Minds (ALM) 636.50p +2.83%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 713.50p +2.37%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,409.00p +2.34%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 207.00p +2.02%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
COLT Group SA (COLT) 148.50p -4.19%
Soco International (SIA) 186.50p -4.06%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 325.20p -3.84%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,684.00p -3.77%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 552.00p -3.66%
Premier Oil (PMO) 171.00p -3.50%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,257.00p -3.38%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 156.10p -3.22%
Just Eat (JE.) 448.80p -3.11% |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Stocks eke out gains; Greece remains in focus European stocks eked out gains on Monday, having traded in a tight range all day as investors kept one eye on Greece and the other on corporate news flow.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up 0.4% at 398.09 and the CAC 40 finished 0.4% higher at 5,012.31. Germany's DAX - which features a large number of exporters who do well when the euro is weak - fared the best, ending up 1.3% at 11,594.28.
With no major economic data released, investors watched for any headlines on Greece following news in the Greek press that the country only just made its latest payment to the International Monetary Fund after the government discovered that it could use a reserve account it wasn't aware of.
Talks between Athens and European Union and IMF lenders have deadlocked over their demand for reforms. Over the weekend, German politicians kept up the pressure on Greece as Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview that a third aid package would not be possible unless changes are made.
"It has not been a day to rank among the most exciting so far this year, as a sparse economic calendar provides little incentive for any significant portfolio adjustments. Headline news is still likely to be dominated by Greece, but this particular problem has little to offer in the way of progress," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG.
"Suggestions of a new deal will run up against the immovable object of German concern, diminishing any euphoric reaction to a possible solution," he added.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note on Monday that investors are trapped in "the Twilight Zone" - the transition period between the end of quantitative easing and the first rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
It said that until US macro is unambiguously robust enough to allow the Fed to hike safely, "investors will be cursed by mediocre returns, volatile trading rotation and flash crashes".
On the corporate front, silver miner Fresnillo made strong gains after reiterating its output guidance for this year following a tough 2014.
Babcock was also on the front foot after the company posted a 47% rise in pre-tax profit and a 10% increase in the full-year dividend for the year ended March 31st 2015.
Aveva stormed ahead following a report in The Sunday Times that France's Schneider Electric held talks with bankers about a bid for the software solutions company.
On the downside, though, Austrian oil and gas company OMV was under pressure after it posted a 46% drop in first-quarter net income on the back of low oil prices and production shutdowns in Libya and Yemen.
BHP Billiton also bucked the trend as the miner's spin-off South32 started trading with a market value of $9bn on Monday - the lower end of analysts' forecasts. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Stocks flat after dovish comments from Fed member US stocks were broadly flat early on Monday as investors came to term for renewed calls for a postponement in the hike of interest rates.
Just before 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up five points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined two and seven points respectively.
The outlook for economic growth and the jobs market in the US is "good" but inflation is "too low" and has been so for the last six years, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, said in a speech in Stockholm.
"The Fed should refrain from raising the federal funds rate until there is much greater confidence that inflation one or two years ahead will be at our 2% target," he said.
"I see no compelling reason for us to be in a hurry to tighten financial conditions until then."
The release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting from 29 April on Wednesday and could shed light on the timing of the first rate hike.
"In the Fed's last meeting it rightfully downgraded its view on the economy but still implied a rate hike could happen as early as June," said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets.
"It seems pretty unlikely now that the Fed would risk a move in June but depending on the minutes, September could still be on.
"A determination to hike rates despite the poor data could rattle markets, but given the minutes are two-weeks old, investors may just look through them. "
The earnings season continues with a host of retailers reporting this week, starting with Urban Outfitters on Monday.
Women's apparel retailer Ann surged 21.2% after receiving a $2bn takeover offer from AscenaRetail Group, which would value Ann shares at $47 each, representing a 21% premium on Friday's closing price.
Ascena shares jumped 7.71%
Elsewhere, European stocks were mixed, with the German DAX gaining 0.1%, while over in Asia the Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.8% but Chinese stocks slid.
Oil prices were mixed, with West Texas Intermediate climbing 0.25% to $59.84 a barrel, while Brent shed 0.60% to $66.41 a barrel. |
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| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: BP, Lloyds, BHP Billiton, Weir Group, Bwin.party Goldman Sachs has cut its stance on the integrated oil firm from 'neutral' to 'cautious' and lowered UK major BP specifically from 'neutral' to 'sell', after reducing its crude price forecasts.
"This change is likely to put severe pressure on the integrated oils, leaving them too high on the cost curve." As such, Goldman reckons that dividends are likely to come under "severe pressure".
Lloyds is now rated as a 'sell' by Investec, which sees downside for the stock following its recent outperformance.
The broker said the stock has "enjoyed a euphoric reaction" to its first-quarter update on 1 May and the result of the UK general election, taking its shares to a fresh 6.5-year high. It said that the share price is now more than up with events.
Analysts at Credit Suisse moved to trim their price target on BHP Billiton from 1,400p to 1,350p following the spin-off of its South 32 unit, keeping an 'underperform' rating.
The analysts said that BHP's valuation "looks full" when compared with its peers. Its shares change hands at 9.5 times cash-earnings, instead of 6.7 across the rest of the sector.
Shares in UK-listed industrial engineer Weir Group were advancing after analysts at Citigroup lifted their rating on the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy' and hiked their target from 1,750p to 2,200p.
The bank said that the risk-reward balance on earnings upgrades at Weir is "now tilted to the upside in our view".
Exane BNP Paribas has upgraded Bwin.Party to 'neutral' from 'underperform' saying that if a deal place takes with 888, it would be a clear positive for Bwin. | | |
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