The FTSE had been down about 100 points at one stage today, but at the close it was actually up 9.2 points at 5,702.1, about 13 points off its high. The FTSE 250 closed up 19.3 points to close at 9,980.6.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 44 points at 12,260, the S&P 500 up nearly 4 points at 1,320 and the Nasdaq was up 10 points at 2,271. Better than expected Purchasing Managers Index numbers as well as details of a US government plan to overhaul the way Wall Street is regulated gave some confidence to the markets.
Back here in London, the mining stocks had a good day as metal prices were up again. Anto closed up 25.5p at 701 on the back of a broker upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell' as it looks like metals will continue on the up. Kazakhmys was 40p up on the day to closed at 1,599, Rio closed up 66p at 5,233, and BHP closed up 19p at 1,495.
Oil was still above US$105 bbl, mainly due to concerns on goings on in Iraq, so the oil majors were up. BP closed up 9p at 512p, Cairn Energy up 32p at 2,834 after a double broker confidence vote and target raise, and RD Shell closed up 37p at 1,696 after receiving an upgrade by SG Securities to 'buy'.
Friends Provident closed up 3.5p at 123.6 after confriming it had rejected US private equity group JC Flowers' takeover offer saying it was way under value. It was said that JC Flowers bid 175p a share back in January.
After some good news on drug trials with its hypertension product Crestor, AstraZeneca closed up 36p at 1,884 on the day. The pharma giant said it has stopped the Jupiter clinical trial for Crestor early after the independent data monitoring board overseeing the trial said there was "unequivocal evidence" of a reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients treated with the drug.
On to the down side, British Airways closed down nearly 6p at 234.25p after a Goldman Sachs change of stance from 'buy' to 'sell', and added a price target of 2-quid a share, down from 330p. The broker blamed earnings for the next two years will be less due to the price of the black stuff, which BA needs at least US$2 bln worth a year, and also this farce at Terminal 5 that could cost anything up to £50m, it is said. About 500 T5 flights will have been cancelled by the end of the week.
ITV was also down after a downgrade by UBS citing worries on advertising revenue. The lack of Euro 2008 interest (thank you MacLaren) will affect revenues, for one thing. UBS gave a target of 60p, down from 70p. ITV closed down 4.6p at 63.3p.
Vodafone closed down 6.1p at 150.9 after a double-downgrade by Morgan Stanley, who went from 'overweight' to 'underweight', and gave a 170p target, down 20%, after it reviewed the telecoms sector.
Tesco closed down 11.25p at 379p on news that the supermarket group will mark time for the moment on its US explansion plans. Standing still for 3 months, in fact, as it gets to grips with the first 59 stores its opened over there.
Monday, 31 March 2008
Morning Market, Monday 31st March 2008
The FTSE was down about 85 points after an hour at 5,608, following on from the US falling again on Friday.
Over the pond on Friday, the DJI closed down 86.06 points at 12,216.40, whilst the S&P500 close down 10.54 at 1,315.22, and the Nasdaq down 19.65 points at 2,261.18. A profit warning from retail giant JC Penny didn't help.
Today in the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed down 344.67 points at 12,475.8, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 445 points at 22,840 by lunchtime chow time.
Back here in London, there were some broker downgrades, which caused some selling in a few blue chips. British Airways was down 9p at 231p after Goldman Sachs reversed its opinion from a 'buy' to a 'sell', and gave the airline a 2-quid target, down from 330p. The broker cited the rising cost of oil as thge reason earniungs will be lower over the next couple of years. What with the farce at the new Terminal 5, it hasn't been a good week for the airline.
ITV was down over 4p at 63.8p after a UBS downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral', and a 60p target, down from 70p.
Vodafone was off an unusal 7.5p at 149.5 after Morgan Stanley downgraded to 'underweight' from 'overweight', and lowered its target to 170p after it had reviewed the telecoms sector in general. Morgan Stanley also raised its rating for BT Group to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' in the sector review, but this didn't help the price this morning, down 3p to 213p.
Supermarket chain Tesco was doewn 16p to 374p this morning on news that its US expansion program is on hold for 3 months. The marketing director for Tesco's US Fresh & Easy business, Simon Uwins, said the company will take a 3-month break from opening new sites to 'kick the tyres' and 'smooth out the wrinkles' following the opening of its first 59 stores.
Friends Provident was up 4.4p to 124.6 after confirming it had rejected JC Flowers 150p a share bid saying it grossly undervalued the business. The 150p bid was 25p under its last bid of 175p in January.
AstraZenecawas up 26p at 1,876 after good news on its new hypertension drug, Crestor, which has flown through trials.
Over the pond on Friday, the DJI closed down 86.06 points at 12,216.40, whilst the S&P500 close down 10.54 at 1,315.22, and the Nasdaq down 19.65 points at 2,261.18. A profit warning from retail giant JC Penny didn't help.
Today in the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed down 344.67 points at 12,475.8, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 445 points at 22,840 by lunchtime chow time.
Back here in London, there were some broker downgrades, which caused some selling in a few blue chips. British Airways was down 9p at 231p after Goldman Sachs reversed its opinion from a 'buy' to a 'sell', and gave the airline a 2-quid target, down from 330p. The broker cited the rising cost of oil as thge reason earniungs will be lower over the next couple of years. What with the farce at the new Terminal 5, it hasn't been a good week for the airline.
ITV was down over 4p at 63.8p after a UBS downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral', and a 60p target, down from 70p.
Vodafone was off an unusal 7.5p at 149.5 after Morgan Stanley downgraded to 'underweight' from 'overweight', and lowered its target to 170p after it had reviewed the telecoms sector in general. Morgan Stanley also raised its rating for BT Group to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' in the sector review, but this didn't help the price this morning, down 3p to 213p.
Supermarket chain Tesco was doewn 16p to 374p this morning on news that its US expansion program is on hold for 3 months. The marketing director for Tesco's US Fresh & Easy business, Simon Uwins, said the company will take a 3-month break from opening new sites to 'kick the tyres' and 'smooth out the wrinkles' following the opening of its first 59 stores.
Friends Provident was up 4.4p to 124.6 after confirming it had rejected JC Flowers 150p a share bid saying it grossly undervalued the business. The 150p bid was 25p under its last bid of 175p in January.
AstraZenecawas up 26p at 1,876 after good news on its new hypertension drug, Crestor, which has flown through trials.
Friday, 28 March 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 28th March 2008
As expected, the FTSE closed down 24.6 points today at 5,692.9, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 20.7 points at 9,961.3 on the day. The FTSE had been 50 points higher during the day, but the strength fell off. Not a bad week, though, especially aftre the recent few weeks, as the FTSE is up about 198 points on the week.
Over the pond, by the time London closed The DJI was up about 24 points at 12,326, whilst the S&P500 was up 3 points at 1,328.9 and the Nasdaq up 6 points at 2,287. The US heard that cosnsumer spending was up slightly, 0.1% last month. It had said spending was down over there, but personal income was up, with 0.5% rise in Febraury. However, a profit warning from JC Penney Co caused some concern.
Back here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was the housebuilders under pressure. Persimmons closed down 40p at 749.5p after Nationwide's house price survey said house prices fell again for the 5th consecutive month in March, and forecasted that it would continue to fall. Peers were off too, with Barratts was down over 27p at just shy of 411p after a broker downgrade as Panmure Gordon gave a downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold', and Redrow down nearly 2p at just shy of 313p, Bellway down 11p at 874 and Taylor Wimpey down 1.25p at just shy of 186p.
Land was down too, with Land Securities closing down 39p at 1,497, British Land down 31.5p at 902.5, and Liberty Intnl down 22p at 955p after UBS reiterated its 'neutral' stance and cut its target to 10-quid.
Also carrying on from this morning, and back to the Terminal 5 fiasco, British Airways ended the day down over 7p at 240p as investors showed concenrs on the ongoing debacle at the airline's new home. Another 34 flights were cancelled today, with other airlines enjoying the extra passengers.
The banks were also down, with the rumours that Lehman Brothers were feeling it all too causing investors to be cautious here. Lloyds TSB was down over 8p at 451.25 and HBOS down 17.5p at 540p.
Miners were stronger as commodities were up. Vedanta was up 67p t 2,133, Anto up 18p at 675.5p, and Anglo up 29p at 3,020.
Oil was down, though, causing BP to close down 9p at 503p and Tullow Oil down to 648, off 12.5p on the day.
Enterprise Inns continued up today, closing nearly 46p to the good at just shy of 410p after a decent trading update. As we said this morning, broker rating were changed to 'buy', with comments that the news could mean another £1 to £1.50 a share. Peers were also up, with Punch Taverns up 35.5p at 554 after pulling out of its merger hopes with Mitchells & Butlers, who closed up 13p at 342.5p. Despite the FT saying other private equity groups had pulled out of the bid running too, it seems there are still one or two interests.
Over the pond, by the time London closed The DJI was up about 24 points at 12,326, whilst the S&P500 was up 3 points at 1,328.9 and the Nasdaq up 6 points at 2,287. The US heard that cosnsumer spending was up slightly, 0.1% last month. It had said spending was down over there, but personal income was up, with 0.5% rise in Febraury. However, a profit warning from JC Penney Co caused some concern.
Back here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was the housebuilders under pressure. Persimmons closed down 40p at 749.5p after Nationwide's house price survey said house prices fell again for the 5th consecutive month in March, and forecasted that it would continue to fall. Peers were off too, with Barratts was down over 27p at just shy of 411p after a broker downgrade as Panmure Gordon gave a downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold', and Redrow down nearly 2p at just shy of 313p, Bellway down 11p at 874 and Taylor Wimpey down 1.25p at just shy of 186p.
Land was down too, with Land Securities closing down 39p at 1,497, British Land down 31.5p at 902.5, and Liberty Intnl down 22p at 955p after UBS reiterated its 'neutral' stance and cut its target to 10-quid.
Also carrying on from this morning, and back to the Terminal 5 fiasco, British Airways ended the day down over 7p at 240p as investors showed concenrs on the ongoing debacle at the airline's new home. Another 34 flights were cancelled today, with other airlines enjoying the extra passengers.
The banks were also down, with the rumours that Lehman Brothers were feeling it all too causing investors to be cautious here. Lloyds TSB was down over 8p at 451.25 and HBOS down 17.5p at 540p.
Miners were stronger as commodities were up. Vedanta was up 67p t 2,133, Anto up 18p at 675.5p, and Anglo up 29p at 3,020.
Oil was down, though, causing BP to close down 9p at 503p and Tullow Oil down to 648, off 12.5p on the day.
Enterprise Inns continued up today, closing nearly 46p to the good at just shy of 410p after a decent trading update. As we said this morning, broker rating were changed to 'buy', with comments that the news could mean another £1 to £1.50 a share. Peers were also up, with Punch Taverns up 35.5p at 554 after pulling out of its merger hopes with Mitchells & Butlers, who closed up 13p at 342.5p. Despite the FT saying other private equity groups had pulled out of the bid running too, it seems there are still one or two interests.
Morning Market, Friday 28th March 2008
The FTSE was fairly flat this morning, and we expect a slow end to the week. The FTSE was up 6.5points at 5,724 after its first hour of trading, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 24 points at 9,958.
last night over the pond it was a bit topsy-turvey, with the rumour of a bank close to a Chapter 11 situation gaining some strength. The DJI closed down 120.4 points at 12,302.5, whilst the S&P500 closed down 15.37 points at 1,325.76, and the nasdaq down 43.53 at 2,280.83.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 15.89 points at 12,820.47, and in Hong Kopng the Hang Seng recently closing up 621.73 points at 23,285.95. Hong Kong jumped as on the Shanghai market there was some decent investors moving in as commodities gained strength with oil rising yet again on Nymex last night after problems in Iraq again with an explosion on a pipeline. However, the price of the black stuff eased in the far East today as people calmed, as it turned out the explosion wasn't as major as feared. Light Sweet (May del) was down a buck at US$106.5 bbl.
Back here in London, funny goings on at the new £4.3 bln building and technology masterpiece, Terminal 5, have had many observers in fits and the debacle, but thousands and thousands of travellers in tears. With 20 flights cancelled yesterday and 34 today, chaos is snowballing. Passengers are being asked to tarvel with hand-baggage only, as well, which isn't being accepted nor possible by most. British Airways was taking some stick over the fiasco, falling 5p to 242.5p as investors concern over the number of cancelled flights and compensation payments, as well as the hotel costs for housing the unfortunate customers. With BA's staff not being able to find parking spaces, not knowing how to opearte the state-of-the-art baggage system, and a host of other problems, claims of 'early teething problems' wasn't washing with most.
Onto the markets, it was the housebuilders that were under pressure. Nationwide's house price survey said the UK's housing market was weaker again in March, causing the annual growth rate to be at its lowest level in more than a decade. Nationwide said house prices fell 0.6% in March from February, with annual growth down to just 1.1%. Housebuilder Persimmon was down 35p at 755p, Bovis Homes was down 11p at 587p, and Barratts was down 19p at 419. Property group Land Securities was off 17p at 1,519, and British Land down 12p at 922.
Banks were also under pressure early on, mainly due to the US rumours, it seems, and further speculation that the well-respected Lehman Brothers is also suffering with the sub-prime crisis. Lloyds TSB was down 10p at 450 and HBOS down 4p at 553-1/2. Broker upgrade of HSBC gave that a 5p boost to 826p, though, after Casenove upgraded it to 'outperform' from 'in-line' citing a healthy balance sheet.
Associated British Foods was down 12p at 877p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' and a 929p target.
The miners were up this morning, helped by far Eastern trading, with Anglo up 64p at 3,055, Eurasian Natural Resources up 10p at 975, BHP up 23p at 1,496 and Anto up 11p at 669. Oil stocks were also stronger, with RD Shell up 8p 1,671 and BG Group 9p to the good at 1,132.
Enterprise Inns was looking good this morning, though, up 26p to 390p, or over 7%, after an update that said its figures would be in-line with expectations and nothing uch has changed since the start of the year. Landsbanki liked the news, upgraded it to 'buy' rating, and said it could be worth another £1.50 to the share price. Staying with the licensed trade, Punch Taverns was up 21p at 540 after pulling out of the merger talks with Mitchells & Butlers, who were down 9p at 321p. M&B is understood to have received a number of approaches from various private equity groups, though, with TPG, CVC Capital Partners, Apax, Cinven, and Terra Firma all rumoured to be sniffing with intent, although the FT said a few of them had already also decided to pull out of the running.
The London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was up again as well, 33p higher at 1,282 after an update that said it will start a share buy-back program using £500m to do so.
last night over the pond it was a bit topsy-turvey, with the rumour of a bank close to a Chapter 11 situation gaining some strength. The DJI closed down 120.4 points at 12,302.5, whilst the S&P500 closed down 15.37 points at 1,325.76, and the nasdaq down 43.53 at 2,280.83.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 15.89 points at 12,820.47, and in Hong Kopng the Hang Seng recently closing up 621.73 points at 23,285.95. Hong Kong jumped as on the Shanghai market there was some decent investors moving in as commodities gained strength with oil rising yet again on Nymex last night after problems in Iraq again with an explosion on a pipeline. However, the price of the black stuff eased in the far East today as people calmed, as it turned out the explosion wasn't as major as feared. Light Sweet (May del) was down a buck at US$106.5 bbl.
Back here in London, funny goings on at the new £4.3 bln building and technology masterpiece, Terminal 5, have had many observers in fits and the debacle, but thousands and thousands of travellers in tears. With 20 flights cancelled yesterday and 34 today, chaos is snowballing. Passengers are being asked to tarvel with hand-baggage only, as well, which isn't being accepted nor possible by most. British Airways was taking some stick over the fiasco, falling 5p to 242.5p as investors concern over the number of cancelled flights and compensation payments, as well as the hotel costs for housing the unfortunate customers. With BA's staff not being able to find parking spaces, not knowing how to opearte the state-of-the-art baggage system, and a host of other problems, claims of 'early teething problems' wasn't washing with most.
Onto the markets, it was the housebuilders that were under pressure. Nationwide's house price survey said the UK's housing market was weaker again in March, causing the annual growth rate to be at its lowest level in more than a decade. Nationwide said house prices fell 0.6% in March from February, with annual growth down to just 1.1%. Housebuilder Persimmon was down 35p at 755p, Bovis Homes was down 11p at 587p, and Barratts was down 19p at 419. Property group Land Securities was off 17p at 1,519, and British Land down 12p at 922.
Banks were also under pressure early on, mainly due to the US rumours, it seems, and further speculation that the well-respected Lehman Brothers is also suffering with the sub-prime crisis. Lloyds TSB was down 10p at 450 and HBOS down 4p at 553-1/2. Broker upgrade of HSBC gave that a 5p boost to 826p, though, after Casenove upgraded it to 'outperform' from 'in-line' citing a healthy balance sheet.
Associated British Foods was down 12p at 877p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' and a 929p target.
The miners were up this morning, helped by far Eastern trading, with Anglo up 64p at 3,055, Eurasian Natural Resources up 10p at 975, BHP up 23p at 1,496 and Anto up 11p at 669. Oil stocks were also stronger, with RD Shell up 8p 1,671 and BG Group 9p to the good at 1,132.
Enterprise Inns was looking good this morning, though, up 26p to 390p, or over 7%, after an update that said its figures would be in-line with expectations and nothing uch has changed since the start of the year. Landsbanki liked the news, upgraded it to 'buy' rating, and said it could be worth another £1.50 to the share price. Staying with the licensed trade, Punch Taverns was up 21p at 540 after pulling out of the merger talks with Mitchells & Butlers, who were down 9p at 321p. M&B is understood to have received a number of approaches from various private equity groups, though, with TPG, CVC Capital Partners, Apax, Cinven, and Terra Firma all rumoured to be sniffing with intent, although the FT said a few of them had already also decided to pull out of the running.
The London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was up again as well, 33p higher at 1,282 after an update that said it will start a share buy-back program using £500m to do so.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 27th March 2008
The FTSE closed up today, finishing at 5,717.5, up 57.1 points on the day, but down from the session high of 5,735. The FTSE 250 closed at 9,982, up 225.9 on the day. That's been quite a run up since the rcent lows a couple of weeks ago. Not sure how far more we go in the short-term, but it does show some confidence is returning. We will say that we feel there will be a shaking up of the markets and a re-levelling of the playing field. Fundamentals, genuine fundamentals, need to be used when these companies are being valued.
Over the pond it was also in positive territory, and by the time London closed the DJI was up 21 points at 12,444, whilst the S&P500 was marginally down, off 3 points at 1,338, and the Nasdaq was also down, off 17 points at 2,307. Rumours that one of the US banks could be looking at a Chapter 11 situation had a few traders concerned. We'll have to wait and see if we get a confirmation on that, which would have seemed unthinkable this time last year, or even 6 months ago.
Back here in London it was Compass Group, the catering giant, that was singing today. The old 'turkey twizzler feeder to school kids now come good' was boasting of a decent set of figures. After revamping the business, selling off smaller subsidiaries, and changing the school menus in answer to Jamie Oliver, it was now paying dividends (pun intended). After refusing to speak to any school authority that won't pay a minimum of 55p a meal, it has upped its standards. Compass closed up 11p at 321.5p after it said that the first 5 months of its current financial year were showing better than expected figures, and it was sure this strength would continue for the rest of the year.
Oil. Up. Climbing again. Expensive. But we won't go on about it. Some benefits are for shareholders, of course, and Cairn Energy was u 130p at 2,816 after news that US stockpiles were down and that there was some serious fire-fighting going on in Iraq.
On the banks, where Barclays faired the best as Merrills said it was on its favourite list. Or preferred list, as they call it. Barclays closed up 8.5p at 453.25p after the broker said it was cheap at the current level. merrills also said it reckoned the Bank of England would take some action to help the sector. Just like the Feds did over the pond. Mind you, not sure the help helped, so to speak. Well, not yet, anyway. Peer HBOS was up yet again, closing at 557.5p, up 16p on the day. Those naughty schoolboys that shorted the bank on those nasty rumours last week are still being hunted. We're up from the 425p low of that day in question to a channel, climbing from the 550p level now.
Staying with the financial sector, Hedge Fund Manager Man Group closed up 14.5p at 560p after it said its profits for the year would be growing by a very healthy 40%, way above expectations.
FirstGroup closed up 22p at 566.5p on news it would meet expectations, and added that it expected a strong performance to continue. Merrills reiterated its 'buy' stance.
Builders and plumbers merchant Wolseley closed up another 25p to 552p on the back of a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' and added that it thinks its on the bottom, with all the bad news built in to the share price now.
On to the housebuilders where Persimmons closed up 52p at 789.5, Bellway up 96p at 885p, Barratts up nearly 31p at 438p and Redrow closed up 25.5p at 314.5.
Kingfisher closed down 4.7p at 130.4 after halving its final divvy payment, and said it expected to do the same with the next interim payment too.
Rentokil Initial closed up 8.5p at 96p on a broker upgrade, with Merrills giving it a 'buy' rating and 120p target, with the new management getting the thumbs up, it seems, after the stock has had a somewhat hard time of late.
Over the pond it was also in positive territory, and by the time London closed the DJI was up 21 points at 12,444, whilst the S&P500 was marginally down, off 3 points at 1,338, and the Nasdaq was also down, off 17 points at 2,307. Rumours that one of the US banks could be looking at a Chapter 11 situation had a few traders concerned. We'll have to wait and see if we get a confirmation on that, which would have seemed unthinkable this time last year, or even 6 months ago.
Back here in London it was Compass Group, the catering giant, that was singing today. The old 'turkey twizzler feeder to school kids now come good' was boasting of a decent set of figures. After revamping the business, selling off smaller subsidiaries, and changing the school menus in answer to Jamie Oliver, it was now paying dividends (pun intended). After refusing to speak to any school authority that won't pay a minimum of 55p a meal, it has upped its standards. Compass closed up 11p at 321.5p after it said that the first 5 months of its current financial year were showing better than expected figures, and it was sure this strength would continue for the rest of the year.
Oil. Up. Climbing again. Expensive. But we won't go on about it. Some benefits are for shareholders, of course, and Cairn Energy was u 130p at 2,816 after news that US stockpiles were down and that there was some serious fire-fighting going on in Iraq.
On the banks, where Barclays faired the best as Merrills said it was on its favourite list. Or preferred list, as they call it. Barclays closed up 8.5p at 453.25p after the broker said it was cheap at the current level. merrills also said it reckoned the Bank of England would take some action to help the sector. Just like the Feds did over the pond. Mind you, not sure the help helped, so to speak. Well, not yet, anyway. Peer HBOS was up yet again, closing at 557.5p, up 16p on the day. Those naughty schoolboys that shorted the bank on those nasty rumours last week are still being hunted. We're up from the 425p low of that day in question to a channel, climbing from the 550p level now.
Staying with the financial sector, Hedge Fund Manager Man Group closed up 14.5p at 560p after it said its profits for the year would be growing by a very healthy 40%, way above expectations.
FirstGroup closed up 22p at 566.5p on news it would meet expectations, and added that it expected a strong performance to continue. Merrills reiterated its 'buy' stance.
Builders and plumbers merchant Wolseley closed up another 25p to 552p on the back of a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' and added that it thinks its on the bottom, with all the bad news built in to the share price now.
On to the housebuilders where Persimmons closed up 52p at 789.5, Bellway up 96p at 885p, Barratts up nearly 31p at 438p and Redrow closed up 25.5p at 314.5.
Kingfisher closed down 4.7p at 130.4 after halving its final divvy payment, and said it expected to do the same with the next interim payment too.
Rentokil Initial closed up 8.5p at 96p on a broker upgrade, with Merrills giving it a 'buy' rating and 120p target, with the new management getting the thumbs up, it seems, after the stock has had a somewhat hard time of late.
Morning Market, Thursday 27th March 2008
The FTSE opened up this morning, and after an hour was up about 54 points at 5,714, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 130 points at 9,886.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down 109.74 points at 12,422.86, but this was up nearly 50 points from the low of the session. The S&P500 was down 11.86 ponts on the day at 1,341.13 and the Nasdaq at 16.69 points at 2,324.36.
Over in the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 102.5 points, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 47.21 points at 22,664.22.
Oil prices were up in Far East trading today, with Light Sweet (May del) up about 40c at US£106 bbl, and Brent (May del) up about 35c at US$104.3 bbl.
Here in London it was the catering group Compass Group that was doing well, with a trading update that said things were better than expected, giving a 12p rise to 322p this morning.
Firstgroup, the bus and train operator, was up nearly 20p at 564p after a trading update that said it was also doing ok, and was in-line with expectations.
On to financials, the banks were doing ok this morning. Barclays was up 8p at 453p on a broker comment from Merrills that said the company was basically the best value for investment in the sector at the moment. It also added that it expected the BoE to take some action to help the UK money markets back to somwhere near the norm. Peer Standard Chartered was up 15p at 1,773.
Building materials group Wolseley was 18p up at 545p after a Goldman Sachs broker upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell'.
Onto oil, where Cairn Energy was up 75p at 2,761 due to oil getting dearer again. Peer Tullow Oil was up 10p at 667.
On the downside, Kingfisher was down 2p at 133p after saying it was halfing its divvy after a near 3% drop in pre-tax profit for the year. It added that the next interrim divvy would also be about 50% down too. Year end 02Feb PBIT was £386m, which was down from £397m.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down 109.74 points at 12,422.86, but this was up nearly 50 points from the low of the session. The S&P500 was down 11.86 ponts on the day at 1,341.13 and the Nasdaq at 16.69 points at 2,324.36.
Over in the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 102.5 points, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 47.21 points at 22,664.22.
Oil prices were up in Far East trading today, with Light Sweet (May del) up about 40c at US£106 bbl, and Brent (May del) up about 35c at US$104.3 bbl.
Here in London it was the catering group Compass Group that was doing well, with a trading update that said things were better than expected, giving a 12p rise to 322p this morning.
Firstgroup, the bus and train operator, was up nearly 20p at 564p after a trading update that said it was also doing ok, and was in-line with expectations.
On to financials, the banks were doing ok this morning. Barclays was up 8p at 453p on a broker comment from Merrills that said the company was basically the best value for investment in the sector at the moment. It also added that it expected the BoE to take some action to help the UK money markets back to somwhere near the norm. Peer Standard Chartered was up 15p at 1,773.
Building materials group Wolseley was 18p up at 545p after a Goldman Sachs broker upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell'.
Onto oil, where Cairn Energy was up 75p at 2,761 due to oil getting dearer again. Peer Tullow Oil was up 10p at 667.
On the downside, Kingfisher was down 2p at 133p after saying it was halfing its divvy after a near 3% drop in pre-tax profit for the year. It added that the next interrim divvy would also be about 50% down too. Year end 02Feb PBIT was £386m, which was down from £397m.
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 26th March 2008
The FTSE closed down 28.7 points today at 5,660.4, but this was up from its low of the day, which was down about 50 points from yesterday's close. The FTSE 250 closed down 38.5 points at 9,756.1.
Over the pond the US opend down as well, with durable goods figures down for Feb. By the time London closed the DJI was down nearly 110 points at 12,423, whilst the S&P500 was down around 11 points at 1,341 and the Nasdaq off 26 points at 2,315.
Back here in London, and carrying ion from this morning, the news that Vale were pulling out of bid talks with Xstrata caused the miner to close down over 5%, or 194p at 3,522. It appears investors moved into peers, as what with gold and copper on the up again we saw others gain. Anglo closed up 103p at 2,945, Rio up 65p at 5,050, Kazakhmys up 64p at 1,606, and Lonmin up 76p at 3,101. One faller, and on its FTSE 100 open day too, was Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, closing down 6p at 970p.
Also on its first day with the FTSE 100, or first day back, we should say, was Tate & Lyle, who closed down 29.5p at 553.5p, probably due to its recent run after news was out that it was rejoining the top 100 elite gang.
Some shares were down due going ex-div, with builders supply group Wolseley closing down 23.5p at 527, and insurance giant Aviva closing down a massive 34.5p at 601p on the day.
The Pharmas also suffered, with the two majors down after a Morgan Stanley broker downgrade. Glaxo closed down 28p at 1,046, whilst peer AstraZeneca closed down 87p at 1,845p. New targets of £21.50 (down from £24.50) and £11.61 (down from £13.91) respectively.
Market Analyser data feeder Reuters closed down 4.5p at a penny short of 6-quid after its shareholders approved the takeover by Thomson Corp, owner of Thomson Financial News, at the EGM here in London. Trading of the new 'Thomson Reuters' group shares will kick off on 17th April.
Sainsbury closed up 21.5p at 358p after the 3rd largest supermarket group reported over a 4% rise in 4th quarter sales. It also added it was entering into a JV with British land.
Vodafone closed up 1.7p at 153.6p on press reports that cash will soon be arriving again by way of divvy from US JV partner Verizon Wireless. This news helped Cable & Wireless, which climbed 3.1p to 141.9, which also received a broker upgrade from UBS, with a new 'neutral' rating, up from 'sell', but a 140p target (down from 150p) left the shares where they belong in the broker's eyes.
Oil was up again, with Nymex showing US$104.85 bbl (May del), up over $3.50, Brent (May del) was up to US$103.75 bbl, up $3.15 bbl. This helped the oil majors, with RD Shell closing up 19p at 1,657, and Tullow Oil up 9p at 657.5p.
Bellway was down 21p at 789p after the housebuilder reported a 3.9% drop in its 1st half pre-tax profits, but did say it was still confident, although added that it expected completions on sales to be down 5-10% for this year end in July. Peer Bovis Homes Group was 32p down at 565.5p after going ex-dividend.
Debenhams was down over 12p to 59.25p, off 17% on the day, as broker Merrills placed 47m shares at 60p-66p.
Over the pond the US opend down as well, with durable goods figures down for Feb. By the time London closed the DJI was down nearly 110 points at 12,423, whilst the S&P500 was down around 11 points at 1,341 and the Nasdaq off 26 points at 2,315.
Back here in London, and carrying ion from this morning, the news that Vale were pulling out of bid talks with Xstrata caused the miner to close down over 5%, or 194p at 3,522. It appears investors moved into peers, as what with gold and copper on the up again we saw others gain. Anglo closed up 103p at 2,945, Rio up 65p at 5,050, Kazakhmys up 64p at 1,606, and Lonmin up 76p at 3,101. One faller, and on its FTSE 100 open day too, was Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, closing down 6p at 970p.
Also on its first day with the FTSE 100, or first day back, we should say, was Tate & Lyle, who closed down 29.5p at 553.5p, probably due to its recent run after news was out that it was rejoining the top 100 elite gang.
Some shares were down due going ex-div, with builders supply group Wolseley closing down 23.5p at 527, and insurance giant Aviva closing down a massive 34.5p at 601p on the day.
The Pharmas also suffered, with the two majors down after a Morgan Stanley broker downgrade. Glaxo closed down 28p at 1,046, whilst peer AstraZeneca closed down 87p at 1,845p. New targets of £21.50 (down from £24.50) and £11.61 (down from £13.91) respectively.
Market Analyser data feeder Reuters closed down 4.5p at a penny short of 6-quid after its shareholders approved the takeover by Thomson Corp, owner of Thomson Financial News, at the EGM here in London. Trading of the new 'Thomson Reuters' group shares will kick off on 17th April.
Sainsbury closed up 21.5p at 358p after the 3rd largest supermarket group reported over a 4% rise in 4th quarter sales. It also added it was entering into a JV with British land.
Vodafone closed up 1.7p at 153.6p on press reports that cash will soon be arriving again by way of divvy from US JV partner Verizon Wireless. This news helped Cable & Wireless, which climbed 3.1p to 141.9, which also received a broker upgrade from UBS, with a new 'neutral' rating, up from 'sell', but a 140p target (down from 150p) left the shares where they belong in the broker's eyes.
Oil was up again, with Nymex showing US$104.85 bbl (May del), up over $3.50, Brent (May del) was up to US$103.75 bbl, up $3.15 bbl. This helped the oil majors, with RD Shell closing up 19p at 1,657, and Tullow Oil up 9p at 657.5p.
Bellway was down 21p at 789p after the housebuilder reported a 3.9% drop in its 1st half pre-tax profits, but did say it was still confident, although added that it expected completions on sales to be down 5-10% for this year end in July. Peer Bovis Homes Group was 32p down at 565.5p after going ex-dividend.
Debenhams was down over 12p to 59.25p, off 17% on the day, as broker Merrills placed 47m shares at 60p-66p.
Morning Market, Wednesday 26th March 2008
The FTSE was down this morning after the Dow fell back last night in the US. The FTSE was off about 20 points at 5,669, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 27 points at 9821.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down 16.04 points at 12,532.6, whilst the S&P500 closed up 3.11 points at 1,352.99, and the Nasdaq up 14.3 at 2,341.05. One thing to note ref the housing, is that a report showed home prices slumped nearly 11% from a year ago in the major US cities.
In the far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed 38.59 points down at 12,706.63, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 152.49 points at 22,617.01.
Oil was up again in Far East trading, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude (May del) up over 50c at US$101.75 bbl, and Brent North Sea crude (May del) was up 30c at US$100.90 bbl.
Here in London this morning Xstrata had a poor start, down about 10%, as news that Brazilian outfit Vale confirmed it had pulled out of bid talks with Xstrata, who were down 365p at 3,351. Other miners were mixed, with Lonmin up 27p at 3,052, and Anglo up 37p at 2,879. Kazakhmys was doing well, up 5% so far, or 77p at 1,619, after an FT report said that the government of Kazakhstan is considering doing a deal with its largest copper producer and swapping some mining assets for a stake in Kazakhmys.
United Utilities was down 8p at 688.5 after some profit taking after te company said its results would be in-line with expectations.
Sainsburys was up 8p at 345, after the supermarket group reported a 4% rise in 4th quarter sales, showing that things aren't so bad with trade after all.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down 16.04 points at 12,532.6, whilst the S&P500 closed up 3.11 points at 1,352.99, and the Nasdaq up 14.3 at 2,341.05. One thing to note ref the housing, is that a report showed home prices slumped nearly 11% from a year ago in the major US cities.
In the far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed 38.59 points down at 12,706.63, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 152.49 points at 22,617.01.
Oil was up again in Far East trading, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude (May del) up over 50c at US$101.75 bbl, and Brent North Sea crude (May del) was up 30c at US$100.90 bbl.
Here in London this morning Xstrata had a poor start, down about 10%, as news that Brazilian outfit Vale confirmed it had pulled out of bid talks with Xstrata, who were down 365p at 3,351. Other miners were mixed, with Lonmin up 27p at 3,052, and Anglo up 37p at 2,879. Kazakhmys was doing well, up 5% so far, or 77p at 1,619, after an FT report said that the government of Kazakhstan is considering doing a deal with its largest copper producer and swapping some mining assets for a stake in Kazakhmys.
United Utilities was down 8p at 688.5 after some profit taking after te company said its results would be in-line with expectations.
Sainsburys was up 8p at 345, after the supermarket group reported a 4% rise in 4th quarter sales, showing that things aren't so bad with trade after all.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 25th March 2008
The FTSE did a bit better today, to say the least. To keep hold of a 150-200 point lead for the close was very positive indeed. The FTSE closed up 193.9 points at 5,689.1, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 346.2 at 9,794.6.
The news we mentioned this morning regarding the JP Morgan/Bear Sterns bid gave the financial side of things something positive. Other news over the pond that house sales were better than expected also gave some confidence, although the average prices were down. By the time London closed the DJI was down nearly 30 points at 12,519, whilst the S&P500 was down 2 points at 1,352, and the Nasdaq down about 6 points at 2,333.
back here in London the banks did well. Barclays closed up 30p at 459p after Merrills reiterated its 'buy' rating of the bank, whilst HBOS did even better, up nearly 71p at 544.5p after news that directors had been buying shares after those false rumours last week. RBS closed up 30p at 351.25, lloyds TSB up 27.5p at 461.5, Alliance & Leicester up 11.5p at 548.25.
Insurance also did well. Standard Life closed up nearly 18p at 252.5p, Aviva up 44.5p 635.5p, and Old Mutual closed up 9.1p better that 114.4.
The miners gave the FTSE a boost too, with the heavyweights climbing well after metal prices turned up again. Anglo closed up 169p at 2,841, Rio up 185p at 4,982.5, Xstrata up 233p at 3,713, BHP up 69p at 1,430.5, and Kazakhmys closed up 107p at 1,541.5.
Oil stocks did well as the price of the black stuff was near US$100 bbl. BP closd up 19p at just shy of 515p, RD Shell closed up 48p at 1,682, and Tullow Oil up 31p at just shy of 649p.
The housebuilders also had a decent day today, probably mostly due to the US housing report yetserday. Persimmons closed up 71.5p at 770, Taylor Wimpey up 19.5p at 183.3p, Bovis up 74p at 597-1/2, Redrow up nearly 34p at just shy of 304p, and Bellways was up 57p at just shy of 809p. Bellway announces its interim figures in the morning.
British Energy was subject to bid rumours, closing up 39.5p at 660.25 after a weekend press report that Centrica is sniffing with a possible £10 bln stg bid for the nuclear power company.
Yellow Pages publisher Yell had a little bounce, after its torrid recent weeks, with a 17p rise to 155p.
To the negatives, where Merrills didn't helped the recently strong Morrissons as it downgraded the supermarket chain to 'neautral' from 'buy', resulting in a 7.5p fall to close at 272p.
After news that the government wants to hide cigarettes under the counters of shops, the tobacco sector took a hit. British American Tobacco closed down 58p at 1,822, and Imperial Tobacco closed down 55p at 23-quid a share.
Go-Ahead, the transport group, closed up 54p to close at 1,586.5 after broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'add' and kept its 2,155p target saying it looked cheap.
The news we mentioned this morning regarding the JP Morgan/Bear Sterns bid gave the financial side of things something positive. Other news over the pond that house sales were better than expected also gave some confidence, although the average prices were down. By the time London closed the DJI was down nearly 30 points at 12,519, whilst the S&P500 was down 2 points at 1,352, and the Nasdaq down about 6 points at 2,333.
back here in London the banks did well. Barclays closed up 30p at 459p after Merrills reiterated its 'buy' rating of the bank, whilst HBOS did even better, up nearly 71p at 544.5p after news that directors had been buying shares after those false rumours last week. RBS closed up 30p at 351.25, lloyds TSB up 27.5p at 461.5, Alliance & Leicester up 11.5p at 548.25.
Insurance also did well. Standard Life closed up nearly 18p at 252.5p, Aviva up 44.5p 635.5p, and Old Mutual closed up 9.1p better that 114.4.
The miners gave the FTSE a boost too, with the heavyweights climbing well after metal prices turned up again. Anglo closed up 169p at 2,841, Rio up 185p at 4,982.5, Xstrata up 233p at 3,713, BHP up 69p at 1,430.5, and Kazakhmys closed up 107p at 1,541.5.
Oil stocks did well as the price of the black stuff was near US$100 bbl. BP closd up 19p at just shy of 515p, RD Shell closed up 48p at 1,682, and Tullow Oil up 31p at just shy of 649p.
The housebuilders also had a decent day today, probably mostly due to the US housing report yetserday. Persimmons closed up 71.5p at 770, Taylor Wimpey up 19.5p at 183.3p, Bovis up 74p at 597-1/2, Redrow up nearly 34p at just shy of 304p, and Bellways was up 57p at just shy of 809p. Bellway announces its interim figures in the morning.
British Energy was subject to bid rumours, closing up 39.5p at 660.25 after a weekend press report that Centrica is sniffing with a possible £10 bln stg bid for the nuclear power company.
Yellow Pages publisher Yell had a little bounce, after its torrid recent weeks, with a 17p rise to 155p.
To the negatives, where Merrills didn't helped the recently strong Morrissons as it downgraded the supermarket chain to 'neautral' from 'buy', resulting in a 7.5p fall to close at 272p.
After news that the government wants to hide cigarettes under the counters of shops, the tobacco sector took a hit. British American Tobacco closed down 58p at 1,822, and Imperial Tobacco closed down 55p at 23-quid a share.
Go-Ahead, the transport group, closed up 54p to close at 1,586.5 after broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'add' and kept its 2,155p target saying it looked cheap.
Morning Market, Tuesday 25th March 2008
The FTSE was up this morning, with the 100 up 179 points at 5,674.3 and the FTSE 250 up 281 poiints at 9729.4.
News that JP Morgan had raised its offer for the failed Bear Sterns from $2 to $10 was taken well. The housing sales figures were also betterthan expected over there too. Not a bad Easter. As yetserday wasn't a bank holiday in the US the markets were open. The DJI closed up 187.32 points at 12,548.64, whilst the S&P500 closed up 20.37 points at 1,349.88, and the Nasdaq up 2,326.75.
In the Far East today they were follwing the States, with the Nikkei 225 closing up 265.13 points, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up a healthy 1,356.3 points at 22,464.52.
Oil was falling back in Far East trade too, with Light Sweet (May del) now not much above US$100 bbl. Brent (May del) is sub $100 bbl, trading at around US$99.4 bbl.
Back here in London this morning it was the banks that were doing well. With news that HBOS directors had been buying around £1.5m shares between them last week as a sign of belief (and opportunity?), HBOS was up 57p at 478 in early trading. Peers were also doing well, with RBS up 29p at 350p, Barclays up nearly 50p at 478p, Alliance & Leicester up 50p at 588p and Lloyds TSB up 27p at 461.
Insurance was also doing well. Aviva was up 35p at 626p, Standard Life up 15p at almost 250p, and the Pru was up 30p at 665p.
The housebuilders were also having a nice morning, mainly on the back of the US housing figures, with Persimmons up 45p at 744, Taylor Wimpey up 11p at 174.8, Barratts up 25p at 404p, Redrow up 22p at 292p, and Bovis Homes up 40p at 563p.
We expect further rises in the markets here in London today.
News that JP Morgan had raised its offer for the failed Bear Sterns from $2 to $10 was taken well. The housing sales figures were also betterthan expected over there too. Not a bad Easter. As yetserday wasn't a bank holiday in the US the markets were open. The DJI closed up 187.32 points at 12,548.64, whilst the S&P500 closed up 20.37 points at 1,349.88, and the Nasdaq up 2,326.75.
In the Far East today they were follwing the States, with the Nikkei 225 closing up 265.13 points, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up a healthy 1,356.3 points at 22,464.52.
Oil was falling back in Far East trade too, with Light Sweet (May del) now not much above US$100 bbl. Brent (May del) is sub $100 bbl, trading at around US$99.4 bbl.
Back here in London this morning it was the banks that were doing well. With news that HBOS directors had been buying around £1.5m shares between them last week as a sign of belief (and opportunity?), HBOS was up 57p at 478 in early trading. Peers were also doing well, with RBS up 29p at 350p, Barclays up nearly 50p at 478p, Alliance & Leicester up 50p at 588p and Lloyds TSB up 27p at 461.
Insurance was also doing well. Aviva was up 35p at 626p, Standard Life up 15p at almost 250p, and the Pru was up 30p at 665p.
The housebuilders were also having a nice morning, mainly on the back of the US housing figures, with Persimmons up 45p at 744, Taylor Wimpey up 11p at 174.8, Barratts up 25p at 404p, Redrow up 22p at 292p, and Bovis Homes up 40p at 563p.
We expect further rises in the markets here in London today.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 20th March 2008
So, here we are, a nice long weekend to reflect on some recent market turmoil. Maybe we can even have a prayer that no more bad news on bad debt and bad credit will be released over this Easter weekend. We can hope that there will be no more bad gossip leaked by some nasty 25 year-old traders that will effect the share price of a multi-billion pound world bank like HBOS to the tune of a 20% drop. Naughty boys.
We finished the day down today. Am I suprised? No. Is anyone else in the support room suprised? No.
The FTSE closed today down over 50 points today at 5,495.2, under the 5.5k line, which we had managed to get back over during the afternoon. But alas, the pre-break sell off came towards the end of the session. The FTSE 250 closed down 102,8 points at 9,448.4, under thr 9.5k line.
Over the pond it was somewhat different, despite commodity prices being lower, as by the time London closed the DJI was up about 112 points at around 12,212, whilst the S&P500 was up 10 points as 1,309 and the Nasdaq up 16 points at 2,226 points. It seems investors feel there is some scavenging to be done, and that some floors seem to be in place.
Gold and other metals were down, basically due to concenrs over the world's economy and the dollar gaining some stregnth again, oh, and the extra 0.75% interest rate cut by the Feds that wasn't as high (!) as expected, too. With this the miners were down. Anto was down 44.5p at 622p, BHP down 80p at 1,361, Rio down 270p at 48-quid, and Anglo down 236p at 2,673p.
Oil stocks also suffered, with the oil price falling, with BP down 15.5p at 496p, BG Group down 27p at 1,037, and Cairn Energy down 178p at 2,535p. Smaller players were off too, with Dana Petroleum was down 131p at 1,074, Soco Intnl down 108p at 1,841, Premier Oil down 102p at 1,241, Aricom down 5.5p at 73p and Randgold Resources closed down 172p at 2,173.
Carrying on from this morning, aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce closed dodnw nearly 14p at 394.5p as there were some concerns over the delays to the new Boeing B787 Dreamliner aeroplanes, which RR supply engines for. Broker Evo doesn't like this and reitereated its 'sell' rating.
On the other hand, Rentokil closed up at 85.5p, up 12.7p on the day, or 17%, as the company announced some boardroom changes to the courier and delievery side to the business, which was sen as welcome after the recent profit warnings. Evo gave a thumbs up and reiterated its 'buy' rating.
Carphone Warehouse closed up nearly 9p at 279.5p aftre it said it had agreed a deal to sell the its Swiss branch network to Swisscom. Brokers Investec Sec and Daniel Stewart reiterated their 'buy' ratings and 4-quid to 416p targets.
HBOS, yesterday's 'dipper', closed up 27.5p to just shy of 474p. The FSA said it was looking into the de-ramping rumours that went on yesterday in which it was said that halifax didn't have any cash and HBOS had gone to the BoE with cap in hand. Tut, tut.
Pharmas looked safer, with AstraZeneca closing up 37p at 1,879p and Glaxo up 19p at 1,069 after broker Dresdner Kleinwort moved from 'sell' to to 'hold' on Astra with a 1,840 target.
Retail sector had a small boost as figures for Feb were up, but nothing to write home about. However, it was an excuse for investors to move back in, with Marks & Sparks closing up 8.5p at 387, Debenhams up 9p at 68p, and Home Retail Group up over 6p at 246.25p.
Cruise operator Carnival closed up 57p at 1,986 after the group announced a 1st quarter income of $236 mln, down from $283m last year, but better than the $232m expected by analysts, non-the-less.
We'll be taking a few days off to eat some chocolate. Chat on Tuesday 25th - enjoy the long weekend.
We finished the day down today. Am I suprised? No. Is anyone else in the support room suprised? No.
The FTSE closed today down over 50 points today at 5,495.2, under the 5.5k line, which we had managed to get back over during the afternoon. But alas, the pre-break sell off came towards the end of the session. The FTSE 250 closed down 102,8 points at 9,448.4, under thr 9.5k line.
Over the pond it was somewhat different, despite commodity prices being lower, as by the time London closed the DJI was up about 112 points at around 12,212, whilst the S&P500 was up 10 points as 1,309 and the Nasdaq up 16 points at 2,226 points. It seems investors feel there is some scavenging to be done, and that some floors seem to be in place.
Gold and other metals were down, basically due to concenrs over the world's economy and the dollar gaining some stregnth again, oh, and the extra 0.75% interest rate cut by the Feds that wasn't as high (!) as expected, too. With this the miners were down. Anto was down 44.5p at 622p, BHP down 80p at 1,361, Rio down 270p at 48-quid, and Anglo down 236p at 2,673p.
Oil stocks also suffered, with the oil price falling, with BP down 15.5p at 496p, BG Group down 27p at 1,037, and Cairn Energy down 178p at 2,535p. Smaller players were off too, with Dana Petroleum was down 131p at 1,074, Soco Intnl down 108p at 1,841, Premier Oil down 102p at 1,241, Aricom down 5.5p at 73p and Randgold Resources closed down 172p at 2,173.
Carrying on from this morning, aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce closed dodnw nearly 14p at 394.5p as there were some concerns over the delays to the new Boeing B787 Dreamliner aeroplanes, which RR supply engines for. Broker Evo doesn't like this and reitereated its 'sell' rating.
On the other hand, Rentokil closed up at 85.5p, up 12.7p on the day, or 17%, as the company announced some boardroom changes to the courier and delievery side to the business, which was sen as welcome after the recent profit warnings. Evo gave a thumbs up and reiterated its 'buy' rating.
Carphone Warehouse closed up nearly 9p at 279.5p aftre it said it had agreed a deal to sell the its Swiss branch network to Swisscom. Brokers Investec Sec and Daniel Stewart reiterated their 'buy' ratings and 4-quid to 416p targets.
HBOS, yesterday's 'dipper', closed up 27.5p to just shy of 474p. The FSA said it was looking into the de-ramping rumours that went on yesterday in which it was said that halifax didn't have any cash and HBOS had gone to the BoE with cap in hand. Tut, tut.
Pharmas looked safer, with AstraZeneca closing up 37p at 1,879p and Glaxo up 19p at 1,069 after broker Dresdner Kleinwort moved from 'sell' to to 'hold' on Astra with a 1,840 target.
Retail sector had a small boost as figures for Feb were up, but nothing to write home about. However, it was an excuse for investors to move back in, with Marks & Sparks closing up 8.5p at 387, Debenhams up 9p at 68p, and Home Retail Group up over 6p at 246.25p.
Cruise operator Carnival closed up 57p at 1,986 after the group announced a 1st quarter income of $236 mln, down from $283m last year, but better than the $232m expected by analysts, non-the-less.
We'll be taking a few days off to eat some chocolate. Chat on Tuesday 25th - enjoy the long weekend.
Morning Market, Thursday 20th March 2008
The FTSE was down again this morning, and by 9am was down about 42 points at 5,503.1, whilst the FTSE 250 was down at 9,467.9, down around 83 points.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down 293 points at 12,099.66, whilst the S&P500 closed down 32.32 points at 1,298.42, and the Nasdaq down 58.3 points at 2,209.96.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 was having another holiday (how many bank holidays do they get...??!!), whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 758.72 points at 21,108.22.
Here in London the miners were down, continuing on from the pressure they took in Hong Kong today. Gold and other metals were down as well, with the 'state' of the world economy causing concerns. Anglo was down 165p at 2,746, Vedanta down 120p at 1,890, Rio down nearly 240p at 4,831, and Xstrata down 162p at 3,554.
Man Group was off over 20p at 510p as the fund manager's US business MF Global has had some serious health problems this week, although MF's share price has recovered from the low of about $3 earlier on to about $9 now. There has been some concern over an apparent 'rogue trader' who has taken a massive loss on one of the commodities over the last few weeks, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Back here again, aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce were down over 9p at 399p after there were some concerns aired about the impact the delayed Boeing 787 Dreamliner will have on its business. Apparently the new aeroplane will be way behnd schedule. Broker Evo reiterated its 'sell' stance.
Cruise operator Carnival was down 50p at 1,879 as the figures due to be posted later today may not be as good as hoped. Staying with broker Evo, they said that £232m should be a Q1 profit figure, which is down from nearly £280m last year. What the booking figures are for this summer will sway the feeling on this one, we think.
Rentokil were up over 14p to 87p after news of an internal shake up. Boardroom changes for the courier delivery side of the business were taken as positive. The group said it has appointed ex ICI chief executive John DG McAdam as chairman, Alan J Brown, also ex ICI, as chief executive and Andy M Ransom as executive director corporate development. Evo still likes this one and feels it's off the floor, and promptly reiterated its 'buy' rating.
Bank HBOS recovered somewhat from yesterday's falls, up 5p at 451p. The bank's shares fell like a stone earlyt doors yesterday on ruimours of liquidity problems and that halifax had no money to lend. The bank denied this and the FSA are very upset that scaremongering and false rumours are rife. Noting new there, then.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down 293 points at 12,099.66, whilst the S&P500 closed down 32.32 points at 1,298.42, and the Nasdaq down 58.3 points at 2,209.96.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 was having another holiday (how many bank holidays do they get...??!!), whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 758.72 points at 21,108.22.
Here in London the miners were down, continuing on from the pressure they took in Hong Kong today. Gold and other metals were down as well, with the 'state' of the world economy causing concerns. Anglo was down 165p at 2,746, Vedanta down 120p at 1,890, Rio down nearly 240p at 4,831, and Xstrata down 162p at 3,554.
Man Group was off over 20p at 510p as the fund manager's US business MF Global has had some serious health problems this week, although MF's share price has recovered from the low of about $3 earlier on to about $9 now. There has been some concern over an apparent 'rogue trader' who has taken a massive loss on one of the commodities over the last few weeks, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Back here again, aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce were down over 9p at 399p after there were some concerns aired about the impact the delayed Boeing 787 Dreamliner will have on its business. Apparently the new aeroplane will be way behnd schedule. Broker Evo reiterated its 'sell' stance.
Cruise operator Carnival was down 50p at 1,879 as the figures due to be posted later today may not be as good as hoped. Staying with broker Evo, they said that £232m should be a Q1 profit figure, which is down from nearly £280m last year. What the booking figures are for this summer will sway the feeling on this one, we think.
Rentokil were up over 14p to 87p after news of an internal shake up. Boardroom changes for the courier delivery side of the business were taken as positive. The group said it has appointed ex ICI chief executive John DG McAdam as chairman, Alan J Brown, also ex ICI, as chief executive and Andy M Ransom as executive director corporate development. Evo still likes this one and feels it's off the floor, and promptly reiterated its 'buy' rating.
Bank HBOS recovered somewhat from yesterday's falls, up 5p at 451p. The bank's shares fell like a stone earlyt doors yesterday on ruimours of liquidity problems and that halifax had no money to lend. The bank denied this and the FSA are very upset that scaremongering and false rumours are rife. Noting new there, then.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 19th March 2008
The FTSE fell back today, closing down 60 points at 5,546, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down closed down 50.3 points at 9,551. Rumours about HBOS didn't help the feelings today.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 64 points at 12,329, whilst the S&P500 was down about 4 points at 1,327, and the Nasdaq down nearly 11 points at 2,257. The US did open up, but profit taking soon came in after yesterday's massive jump and interest rate cut of another 0.75%.
The banks were in focus again, especially HBOS, who had rumours of their cap in hand to the bank of England for some cash, with murmours that Halifax doesn't have any cash to loan out, with liquidity being a problem. HBOS denied the rumours saying they were "complete and utter nonsense", but the shares still closed down nearly 34 points at 446.25, but had ben down as low as 398p during the day. Peer Alliance & Leicester closedd down 14p at 501.5p, and Bradford & Bingley closed down 12p at just shy of 193p. Other banks did well, with Barclays closing up 10p at just shy of 423p, whilst Lloyds TSB closed up nearly 11p at 427p, and Standard Chartered up 52p at 1,668p.
carrying on from this morning, ICAP announced it expects more than the expected £312m profit for the year, and closed up 2p at 553p on the news.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 3.5p at 562.5p after a trading update on their confectionary sales so far this year.
Imperial Tobacco closed up 61p at 2,325 on a positive trading update, and also said that it plans for no more than a £5 bln rights issue for the Altadis buy.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca closed up 53p at 1,842 on the back of an HSBC upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and a 21-quid target.
Next closed down 71p at 1,108 on the back of a 4.1% rise in profits, but a downbeat forecast for the tough year this year. Peer Marks & Sparks closed down 1p at 377p.
Miners were down, with Lonmin down 223p at 3,014, Vedanta down 88p at 2,010, BHP down 74p at 1,441, and Rio down 203p at 5,070.
Enterprise Inns fell nearly 12p at 367p after other 2nd tier brewers also fell. Punch Taverns closed down 20p at 527p, Marstens down 10p at 200.5p, JD Wethersppon down 8p at just shy of 241, and Mitchells & Butlers closed up 12.5p at 340p despite a broker target reduced to 235p from 450p.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 64 points at 12,329, whilst the S&P500 was down about 4 points at 1,327, and the Nasdaq down nearly 11 points at 2,257. The US did open up, but profit taking soon came in after yesterday's massive jump and interest rate cut of another 0.75%.
The banks were in focus again, especially HBOS, who had rumours of their cap in hand to the bank of England for some cash, with murmours that Halifax doesn't have any cash to loan out, with liquidity being a problem. HBOS denied the rumours saying they were "complete and utter nonsense", but the shares still closed down nearly 34 points at 446.25, but had ben down as low as 398p during the day. Peer Alliance & Leicester closedd down 14p at 501.5p, and Bradford & Bingley closed down 12p at just shy of 193p. Other banks did well, with Barclays closing up 10p at just shy of 423p, whilst Lloyds TSB closed up nearly 11p at 427p, and Standard Chartered up 52p at 1,668p.
carrying on from this morning, ICAP announced it expects more than the expected £312m profit for the year, and closed up 2p at 553p on the news.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 3.5p at 562.5p after a trading update on their confectionary sales so far this year.
Imperial Tobacco closed up 61p at 2,325 on a positive trading update, and also said that it plans for no more than a £5 bln rights issue for the Altadis buy.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca closed up 53p at 1,842 on the back of an HSBC upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and a 21-quid target.
Next closed down 71p at 1,108 on the back of a 4.1% rise in profits, but a downbeat forecast for the tough year this year. Peer Marks & Sparks closed down 1p at 377p.
Miners were down, with Lonmin down 223p at 3,014, Vedanta down 88p at 2,010, BHP down 74p at 1,441, and Rio down 203p at 5,070.
Enterprise Inns fell nearly 12p at 367p after other 2nd tier brewers also fell. Punch Taverns closed down 20p at 527p, Marstens down 10p at 200.5p, JD Wethersppon down 8p at just shy of 241, and Mitchells & Butlers closed up 12.5p at 340p despite a broker target reduced to 235p from 450p.
Morning Market, Wednesday, 19th March 2008
The FTSE was down this morning, despite a promising start, off about 22 points at 5,582 in its first hour, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 108 points at 9,493.
Lat night over the pond Wall Street had a wonderful day, with the DJI closing up 420.41 points at 12,392.66 - through that 12k line again. The S&P500 closed up 54.14 points at 1,330.74, and the Nasdaq up 91.25 points at 2,268.26. The Feds cut interest rates by another 75 points (0.75%), which gave some positive reasons for investors to move back in to the markets. Interest rates have been cut by 3% in the USA since September. Desperate measures. Don't hold your breath for the same in the UK, as it is widely expected the BoE will keep rates at 5.25% for at least another month.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 296.28 points at 12,260.44, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Senf finished its morning session up 584.58 pointsd at 21,969.19.
Oil was down in Asian trade, with Light Sweet (Apr del) trading at US$108 bbl, whilst Brent crude (Apr del) was down over a dollar at US$104.42 bbl.
Onto equities, where bank HBOS had a bad start, down 11p at 469p after it was rumoured the bank was having some liquidity problems. Lloyds TSB received some better verbal support, but was still down 8p at 408.5p, with others similarly falling back. Barclays was down 13p at 4-quid, whilst RBS was down 20p at 306p, and HSBC off 16p at 784p (but had gone ex-div today).
Other financials fell, some due to going ex-div, with Standard Life down 3.5p at 239p after the insurer went ex-dividend.
British Energy was down 13p at 640p after a broker Dresdner Kleinwort downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold', but left its target at 490p.
Smiths Group had a good atrt, up over 30p to 977p after some decent figures. A £165m profit for 6 months was well received, up nearly 30m on last year for the same period.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca was up over 30p at 1,820 after a HSBC upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and a 21-quid target.
ICAP was up 12p at 563p after the group said it expects an annual profit better than the expected £312m after a better 2nd half ofg the year.
The miners also did well this morning as the Australians metal prices rose over night. Rio Tinto was up 90p at 5,361, Anglo up 85p at 3,093, Vedanta up 61p at 22-quid, and Xstrata up 60p at 3,848.
Lat night over the pond Wall Street had a wonderful day, with the DJI closing up 420.41 points at 12,392.66 - through that 12k line again. The S&P500 closed up 54.14 points at 1,330.74, and the Nasdaq up 91.25 points at 2,268.26. The Feds cut interest rates by another 75 points (0.75%), which gave some positive reasons for investors to move back in to the markets. Interest rates have been cut by 3% in the USA since September. Desperate measures. Don't hold your breath for the same in the UK, as it is widely expected the BoE will keep rates at 5.25% for at least another month.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 296.28 points at 12,260.44, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Senf finished its morning session up 584.58 pointsd at 21,969.19.
Oil was down in Asian trade, with Light Sweet (Apr del) trading at US$108 bbl, whilst Brent crude (Apr del) was down over a dollar at US$104.42 bbl.
Onto equities, where bank HBOS had a bad start, down 11p at 469p after it was rumoured the bank was having some liquidity problems. Lloyds TSB received some better verbal support, but was still down 8p at 408.5p, with others similarly falling back. Barclays was down 13p at 4-quid, whilst RBS was down 20p at 306p, and HSBC off 16p at 784p (but had gone ex-div today).
Other financials fell, some due to going ex-div, with Standard Life down 3.5p at 239p after the insurer went ex-dividend.
British Energy was down 13p at 640p after a broker Dresdner Kleinwort downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold', but left its target at 490p.
Smiths Group had a good atrt, up over 30p to 977p after some decent figures. A £165m profit for 6 months was well received, up nearly 30m on last year for the same period.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca was up over 30p at 1,820 after a HSBC upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and a 21-quid target.
ICAP was up 12p at 563p after the group said it expects an annual profit better than the expected £312m after a better 2nd half ofg the year.
The miners also did well this morning as the Australians metal prices rose over night. Rio Tinto was up 90p at 5,361, Anglo up 85p at 3,093, Vedanta up 61p at 22-quid, and Xstrata up 60p at 3,848.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 18th March 2008
The FTSE had a 'bit of a rally' today, with some investors returning. No-one knows who they are, but some of the financial stocks look like they could have bottomed. For now. Anyway, the FTSE 100 closed up 191.4 points at 5,605.8, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 220.8 points at 9,601.5.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 285 points at 12,258, whilst the S&P500 was up around 36 points at 1,313 and the Nasdaq up 55 points at 2,232. Hope that the Feds will announce a further 1% cut in interest rates could be possible. The Bear Sterns collapse frightened everyone, so the Feds and Central bank want to boost the market and give incentives for investors to return.
Back here in London the bottom feeders were grabbing some of the banks. RBS closed up 21.25p at 326p, HSBC up 54p at 8-quid, and Alliance & Leicester up nearly 40p at 515.5p.
Top FTSE performer of the day, though, was Man Group, who closed up 43.5p at 529.5, whlst ICAP was close too, with a 44.5p rise to 551p. IG Group closed up 16p at jst over 333p.
Legal & General closed up 3.6p at 122.8p after the insurance giant announced a decent set of figures, with a strong reserve increase of £269m reserve strengthening for annuitant longevity. Wilst last year's profit fell 26%, Panmore Gordon said that the EEV per share of 134.5p was better than expected.
Pharmas did well. Shire Pharma clsoed up 61.5p at 1,058.5 after saying that giant AstraZeneca could afford to pay up to 1,425p a pop for Shire and still create value. Buy rating followed with that 14-quid target.
TUI Travel closed up over 18p at 261/25p after a decent set of 1st quarter results. As we said this morning, the 1st quarter losses had been more than halved after a decent start to the year. A broker 'buy' rating followed.
Oil did well as well, with oil prices up again. BP was up 9p at 518.25p and RD Shell closed up 36p at 1,718.5p, whilst Tullow Oil closed up 22.5p at 651.25p.
Miners looked good too, with Rio closing up 212p at 5,270 with its decent update on "significant progress" being made on work on the Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland. The US£1.8 bln project will more than double Yarwun's annual production, lifting output to 3.4 mln tons per year by 2011 from 1.4m ton per year at present.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 285 points at 12,258, whilst the S&P500 was up around 36 points at 1,313 and the Nasdaq up 55 points at 2,232. Hope that the Feds will announce a further 1% cut in interest rates could be possible. The Bear Sterns collapse frightened everyone, so the Feds and Central bank want to boost the market and give incentives for investors to return.
Back here in London the bottom feeders were grabbing some of the banks. RBS closed up 21.25p at 326p, HSBC up 54p at 8-quid, and Alliance & Leicester up nearly 40p at 515.5p.
Top FTSE performer of the day, though, was Man Group, who closed up 43.5p at 529.5, whlst ICAP was close too, with a 44.5p rise to 551p. IG Group closed up 16p at jst over 333p.
Legal & General closed up 3.6p at 122.8p after the insurance giant announced a decent set of figures, with a strong reserve increase of £269m reserve strengthening for annuitant longevity. Wilst last year's profit fell 26%, Panmore Gordon said that the EEV per share of 134.5p was better than expected.
Pharmas did well. Shire Pharma clsoed up 61.5p at 1,058.5 after saying that giant AstraZeneca could afford to pay up to 1,425p a pop for Shire and still create value. Buy rating followed with that 14-quid target.
TUI Travel closed up over 18p at 261/25p after a decent set of 1st quarter results. As we said this morning, the 1st quarter losses had been more than halved after a decent start to the year. A broker 'buy' rating followed.
Oil did well as well, with oil prices up again. BP was up 9p at 518.25p and RD Shell closed up 36p at 1,718.5p, whilst Tullow Oil closed up 22.5p at 651.25p.
Miners looked good too, with Rio closing up 212p at 5,270 with its decent update on "significant progress" being made on work on the Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland. The US£1.8 bln project will more than double Yarwun's annual production, lifting output to 3.4 mln tons per year by 2011 from 1.4m ton per year at present.
Morning Market, Tuesday, 18th March 2008
The FTSE rose this morning, early doors, as some bounce arrived after what seemed like a bit of a meltdown yetserday. In its first hour the FTSE was up about 85 points at 5,499, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 90 points at 9,570. Interest seemed average in the markets, which we take as quite a cautious reaction to the US close last night.
Over the pond last night the DJI actually closed up 21.2 points at 11,972.30 despite being doen nearly 200 points earlier on. The S&P500 closed down 11.55 points at 1,276.6 and the Nasdaq down 35.48 at 2,177.01. It seemed investors didn't like the smaller stocks and put money back into the bigger stuff once they reliased the Fed money coming to market, accompanied by the JP Morgan Chase $240m buyout of Bear Sterns was backed by the Government over the weekend, gave investors some confidence that the market will receive some heavy backing. We're not so sure, and we think the next year is going to be unstable whilst banks and financial houses announce more and more write downs and the sector needs to find some stability and a true 'floor', using the new fundamentals after the current credit crisis is known exactly, and valued correctly.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed 176.65 points at 11,914.16, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed 300 points to the good at 21,384.61.
Back here in London the financial sector had a little flurry of activity with some bargain hunters out there having a punt. The banks saw some positive territory, with HSBC up 20p at 766p, Barclays up 8p at 401, and Lloyds TSB also up 8p at 406p.
Other financials also had a decent start, with ICAP up 22p at 529, Man Group up 21p at 507p and Old Mutual up 2.5p at 104.3p.
Oil & gas also looked good, especially as the price of a barrel of the black stuff was now knocking US$112 bbl in the Far East earlier today. This fell back somwewhat this morning, though, but the heavyweights were still stronger. BP was up 9p at at 519p, RD Shell up 30p at 1,676, and Cairn Energy up 40p at 2,806.
Onto Pharmas, where Shire Pharma was up nearly 8%, with a 80p rise to 1,077 on a statement that AstraZeneca could afford to pay £14.25 a share for Phrama and still create more value. Broker upgrade to 'buy' followed immediately.
Onto travel, where TUI Travel was up 7p at 250p after a fairly decent set of 1st quarter results, saying that first quarter losses were halved aftre a decent start to the year.
Onto miners, where Rio was up 125p at 5,186 after announcing it had made "significant progress" on expansion work at the Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland. The US$1.8 bln project, announced in July 2007, will more than double Yarwun's annual production, lifting output to 3.4 m tons per year by 2011 from 1.4m tons at the moment.
Legal & General was up 2.7p at 222p after the insurance giant reported a decent set of numbers, with its reserve increase of 269 mln stg for annuitant longevity being welcomed. Although profit fell 26% last year, broker Panmore Gordon said the Embedded Value per share at 134.5p was ahead of expectations.
On to the reds - British Energy Group, which had a wonderful day yesterday compared to most, was down 10p at 625p on profit taking.
Building and Plumbing supplier Wolseley was down 5p to 478p after a broker downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', after a cautious statement. Peer SIG was up 2p at 775p as investors looked like moving into there.
Over the pond last night the DJI actually closed up 21.2 points at 11,972.30 despite being doen nearly 200 points earlier on. The S&P500 closed down 11.55 points at 1,276.6 and the Nasdaq down 35.48 at 2,177.01. It seemed investors didn't like the smaller stocks and put money back into the bigger stuff once they reliased the Fed money coming to market, accompanied by the JP Morgan Chase $240m buyout of Bear Sterns was backed by the Government over the weekend, gave investors some confidence that the market will receive some heavy backing. We're not so sure, and we think the next year is going to be unstable whilst banks and financial houses announce more and more write downs and the sector needs to find some stability and a true 'floor', using the new fundamentals after the current credit crisis is known exactly, and valued correctly.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed 176.65 points at 11,914.16, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed 300 points to the good at 21,384.61.
Back here in London the financial sector had a little flurry of activity with some bargain hunters out there having a punt. The banks saw some positive territory, with HSBC up 20p at 766p, Barclays up 8p at 401, and Lloyds TSB also up 8p at 406p.
Other financials also had a decent start, with ICAP up 22p at 529, Man Group up 21p at 507p and Old Mutual up 2.5p at 104.3p.
Oil & gas also looked good, especially as the price of a barrel of the black stuff was now knocking US$112 bbl in the Far East earlier today. This fell back somwewhat this morning, though, but the heavyweights were still stronger. BP was up 9p at at 519p, RD Shell up 30p at 1,676, and Cairn Energy up 40p at 2,806.
Onto Pharmas, where Shire Pharma was up nearly 8%, with a 80p rise to 1,077 on a statement that AstraZeneca could afford to pay £14.25 a share for Phrama and still create more value. Broker upgrade to 'buy' followed immediately.
Onto travel, where TUI Travel was up 7p at 250p after a fairly decent set of 1st quarter results, saying that first quarter losses were halved aftre a decent start to the year.
Onto miners, where Rio was up 125p at 5,186 after announcing it had made "significant progress" on expansion work at the Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland. The US$1.8 bln project, announced in July 2007, will more than double Yarwun's annual production, lifting output to 3.4 m tons per year by 2011 from 1.4m tons at the moment.
Legal & General was up 2.7p at 222p after the insurance giant reported a decent set of numbers, with its reserve increase of 269 mln stg for annuitant longevity being welcomed. Although profit fell 26% last year, broker Panmore Gordon said the Embedded Value per share at 134.5p was ahead of expectations.
On to the reds - British Energy Group, which had a wonderful day yesterday compared to most, was down 10p at 625p on profit taking.
Building and Plumbing supplier Wolseley was down 5p to 478p after a broker downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', after a cautious statement. Peer SIG was up 2p at 775p as investors looked like moving into there.
Monday, 17 March 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 17th March 2008
The FTSE had a poor day, fuelled by the Bear Sterns collapse in the States. The FTSE closed down 217.3 points at 5,414.4, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 325.4 at 9,380.6. Volume was heavy, with investors moving their money out of the market.
Over the pond it was the Bear Strens collapse that had everyone upset. With the financial institution bought by JP Morgan Chase for just $240m, investors saw their shares worth a fifteenth of what they were one week ago. By the time London closed the DJI was about 145 points down at 11,805.4, whilst the S&P500 was off about 26 points at 1,262 and the Nasdaq down around 50 points at 2,162.
JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns for US$236.2m, which equested to US$2 per share, down from the US$30 per share on Friday. The deal was backed by the Feds. Whilst the Fed & US Government rushed the approval of the deal through over the weekend it did nothing to calm fears of the investors who feel that there will be many more failures and similar stories in the coming weeks and months.
back here in London this all caused the banks to take some stick. HBOS closed down 67.5p at 460.5, barclays down 40.5p at 392.5, and RBOS was down 29p at just shy of 305p.
ICAP closed down 91.5p at 506.5 as other financials got hit too. Friends Provident was down 8.9p at 113.1p, and our beloved London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was down 107p at 1,125p. The LSE spun off the unit MF Global last year, and rumours were rife that the LSE was pulling cash from there. MF Globla fell 70% on the day, down to somewhere around $6 a share.
Yello Pages distributer Yell Group fell yet another 20.3p to 147p as concerns over ongoing revenue and high gearing were a concern. Peers were also off, with Johnston Press down 14.5p at just shy of 124p and Informa down nearly 28p at 288.25p.
Building merchant Wolseley closed down 49p at 483 announced a fall in results, which was expected, but a cautious outlook didn't help. Profits were down by 30% to £233m. Broker Evo gave it a 'sell' rating immediately.
Housebuilders were down too, with Barratts down nearly 32p at 364p and Bovis down 30p to close at 490.5p.
DIY retailers Kingfisher and Home Retail Group didn't like the Wolseley news and closed down 5.3p to 125.0 and 11.25p to just shy of 239p resepctively.
Trying to fins something positive got us to some energy firms, with British Energy up 11.2% with a 64p rise to close at 635.5 after news of a possible buy out. British Energy said it is currently in discussions with a number of companies with a view to developing new nuclear power stations in the UK, which could lead to a takeover. Evo raised its target to 650p, up from 6-quid. Peer Drax closed up 8p at 523p on the news.
Pharmaceuticals looked safe, for now, with GlaxoSmithKline closing up 15p to 1,016 and Shire Pharma up 8p to 998p.
Over the pond it was the Bear Strens collapse that had everyone upset. With the financial institution bought by JP Morgan Chase for just $240m, investors saw their shares worth a fifteenth of what they were one week ago. By the time London closed the DJI was about 145 points down at 11,805.4, whilst the S&P500 was off about 26 points at 1,262 and the Nasdaq down around 50 points at 2,162.
JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns for US$236.2m, which equested to US$2 per share, down from the US$30 per share on Friday. The deal was backed by the Feds. Whilst the Fed & US Government rushed the approval of the deal through over the weekend it did nothing to calm fears of the investors who feel that there will be many more failures and similar stories in the coming weeks and months.
back here in London this all caused the banks to take some stick. HBOS closed down 67.5p at 460.5, barclays down 40.5p at 392.5, and RBOS was down 29p at just shy of 305p.
ICAP closed down 91.5p at 506.5 as other financials got hit too. Friends Provident was down 8.9p at 113.1p, and our beloved London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was down 107p at 1,125p. The LSE spun off the unit MF Global last year, and rumours were rife that the LSE was pulling cash from there. MF Globla fell 70% on the day, down to somewhere around $6 a share.
Yello Pages distributer Yell Group fell yet another 20.3p to 147p as concerns over ongoing revenue and high gearing were a concern. Peers were also off, with Johnston Press down 14.5p at just shy of 124p and Informa down nearly 28p at 288.25p.
Building merchant Wolseley closed down 49p at 483 announced a fall in results, which was expected, but a cautious outlook didn't help. Profits were down by 30% to £233m. Broker Evo gave it a 'sell' rating immediately.
Housebuilders were down too, with Barratts down nearly 32p at 364p and Bovis down 30p to close at 490.5p.
DIY retailers Kingfisher and Home Retail Group didn't like the Wolseley news and closed down 5.3p to 125.0 and 11.25p to just shy of 239p resepctively.
Trying to fins something positive got us to some energy firms, with British Energy up 11.2% with a 64p rise to close at 635.5 after news of a possible buy out. British Energy said it is currently in discussions with a number of companies with a view to developing new nuclear power stations in the UK, which could lead to a takeover. Evo raised its target to 650p, up from 6-quid. Peer Drax closed up 8p at 523p on the news.
Pharmaceuticals looked safe, for now, with GlaxoSmithKline closing up 15p to 1,016 and Shire Pharma up 8p to 998p.
Morning Market, Monday 17th March 2008
The FTSE had a poor start to the week, with the US Bank Bear Sterns being blamed. The FTSE was down nearly 150 points in its first hour, at around 5,485, which was not a pleasant strat, but expected none-the less. The FTSE 250 was down nearly 250 points at around 9,460. There were more trades as usual, as sellers came wading in.
Over the pond on Friday the Feds and the US government didn't hang around with a quick solution, of sorts, anyway, by rushing through an all-share buyout before today's US markets open. Also, the US central bank approved an immediate cut in its discount rate for financial institutions, and added a new lending facility for the larger investment banks to cover their short-term loans. All this sparked some rumours of a 1% cut in the core Fed funds rate to 2%, rather than the 0.5% or 0.75% that was expected prior to this Bear Sterns collapse.
On Friday the DJI closed down 194.65 points weaker at 11,951.1, with the S&P500 down 27.34 points at 1,288.14, and the Nasdaq down 51.12 points at 2,212.49.
Over in the Far East today it was a similar story. The Nikkei 225 closed down 454.09 points at 11,787.51, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recetnly closed down 1,152.50 points at 21,084.61.
Oil rushed up some more, with US$111 bbl being hit in the Far East today.
Back here in London it was a sea of red, with the exception of a couple of energy players. RD Shell who were up 5p at 1,693p after a decent trading statment, accompnaied by the latest record oil prices. The oil & gas producer said net oil and gas reserves for last year were at11.9 bln bbl, while the overall reserve replacement rate was above 100 pct (which is an important note). British Energy, meanwhile, jumped 72p to 644 after the firm announced it could possibly be the target for a European utility, or possibly major JVs and work with them at least, as it was in deep discussions with big players regarding Nuclear Power Stations in the UK. Last week there was speculation that the firm could be taken over by RWE of Germany, or even that the UK government may sell its stake to a European utility including Centrica, EON or Iberdrola. Peer Drax Group was up 7p at 533p on the news, as were Premier Oil, up 19p at 1,348, and Dana Petroleum, up 4p at 1,245.
Whitbread was up 12p at at 1,201 on rumours that a merger for its budget hotel business with Travelodge looks on the cards. Whitbread & Dubai International Capital have been in talks for a while, it was said in weekend press.
Back to the rest of the board, where it was sell, sell, sell, it seems. The Bear Sterns news was taken hard, with worries that others may also be suffering.
Bank HBOS was down 52p at 476p, RBOS down 28p at 306p, Barclays down 35p at 398.5p, Alliance & Leciester down 48p at 464p, and Bradford & Bingley down 16p at 185p.
Insurer Friends Provident was down 7.2p at 114.8p while insurer and fund manager Old Mutual was off 5p at 103.6p. The London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was down 60p at 1,172p.
Wolseley was down 35p at 497p after acautious statement with a fall in first-half results. Plumbing and heating supplier Wolseley announced H1 pre-tax profits down nearly 30% at £233m.
Kingfisher was down 5p at 125.3p, whilst sector peer Home Retail Group was off 10p at 240p.
Over the pond on Friday the Feds and the US government didn't hang around with a quick solution, of sorts, anyway, by rushing through an all-share buyout before today's US markets open. Also, the US central bank approved an immediate cut in its discount rate for financial institutions, and added a new lending facility for the larger investment banks to cover their short-term loans. All this sparked some rumours of a 1% cut in the core Fed funds rate to 2%, rather than the 0.5% or 0.75% that was expected prior to this Bear Sterns collapse.
On Friday the DJI closed down 194.65 points weaker at 11,951.1, with the S&P500 down 27.34 points at 1,288.14, and the Nasdaq down 51.12 points at 2,212.49.
Over in the Far East today it was a similar story. The Nikkei 225 closed down 454.09 points at 11,787.51, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recetnly closed down 1,152.50 points at 21,084.61.
Oil rushed up some more, with US$111 bbl being hit in the Far East today.
Back here in London it was a sea of red, with the exception of a couple of energy players. RD Shell who were up 5p at 1,693p after a decent trading statment, accompnaied by the latest record oil prices. The oil & gas producer said net oil and gas reserves for last year were at11.9 bln bbl, while the overall reserve replacement rate was above 100 pct (which is an important note). British Energy, meanwhile, jumped 72p to 644 after the firm announced it could possibly be the target for a European utility, or possibly major JVs and work with them at least, as it was in deep discussions with big players regarding Nuclear Power Stations in the UK. Last week there was speculation that the firm could be taken over by RWE of Germany, or even that the UK government may sell its stake to a European utility including Centrica, EON or Iberdrola. Peer Drax Group was up 7p at 533p on the news, as were Premier Oil, up 19p at 1,348, and Dana Petroleum, up 4p at 1,245.
Whitbread was up 12p at at 1,201 on rumours that a merger for its budget hotel business with Travelodge looks on the cards. Whitbread & Dubai International Capital have been in talks for a while, it was said in weekend press.
Back to the rest of the board, where it was sell, sell, sell, it seems. The Bear Sterns news was taken hard, with worries that others may also be suffering.
Bank HBOS was down 52p at 476p, RBOS down 28p at 306p, Barclays down 35p at 398.5p, Alliance & Leciester down 48p at 464p, and Bradford & Bingley down 16p at 185p.
Insurer Friends Provident was down 7.2p at 114.8p while insurer and fund manager Old Mutual was off 5p at 103.6p. The London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was down 60p at 1,172p.
Wolseley was down 35p at 497p after acautious statement with a fall in first-half results. Plumbing and heating supplier Wolseley announced H1 pre-tax profits down nearly 30% at £233m.
Kingfisher was down 5p at 125.3p, whilst sector peer Home Retail Group was off 10p at 240p.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 14th March 2008
The FTSE closed down 60.7 points at 5,631.7, down about 150 points from the high of the day. The FTSE 250 closed down 95.4 points at 9,706.1. The fall back coincided with the US opening and falling.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 125 points at 11,930, whilst the S&P500 was down 30 points at 1,286, and the Nasdaq down around 52 points at 2,211.
Back here in London it was the banks that had a tough day again, reversing the hope of the last couple of days. HBOS closed down 34p at 528p, Barclays closed down nearly 18p at 433p, RBS was down 8.5p at just shy of 334p, Lloyds TSB was down nearly 9p at 421.25p, and Alliance & Leicester down 19.5p at 512.5. A&L suffered the dreaded Standard & Poor’s Ratings downgrade, and was re-ranked an ‘A’ bank, down from ‘A+’ bank, due to the recent reults posted.
Supermarkets suffered due to a Goldman Sachs review on the sector, where the broker downgraded Tesco to ’sell’ from ‘neutral’ and Morrisons to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’. Tesco closed down 13.5p at 380.25, Morrison down 11.25 at 278.5, and Sainsburys closed down 13.25 at 326.25.
The Pru closed down 32p at 622 aftre some profit taking, it seems, as the results posted were good. The insurance giant posted a £2.54 bln operating profit for last year, which was up 25% on 2006, and also up about £7m on forecasts.
Imperial Tobacco closed down 59p at 2,291, which was ahead of the figures due next week, where we expect to hear more on the planned Rights Issue of £4.5 bln so it can take out the Spanish tobacco giant, Altadis.
Trying to look positive, for a minute, the pharmaceuticals did better. Shire Pharma was actually up about 5% on the day, closing up 47p at 990p after a rumour of Pfizer coming in with a 13-quid bid. Pfizer are the world’s biggest drug company, of course.
On to energy, where International Power closed up 11.25p at 393p on the back of a Deutche Bank upgrade after some decent figures were posted last week. Cairn Energy closed 39p up at 2,945 with the rumours of a bid from the Italian ENI still rife.
Miners also had a good day, as commodity prices were still rising. Gold actually broke through the US$1,000 ounce level for the first time ever, hitting US$1,006.9 ounce at one stage. BHP closed up 56p at 1,590, Rio up 120p at 5,527, and Lonmins up 33p at 3,413. Lehmans upgraded the sector as well, which gave some help.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 125 points at 11,930, whilst the S&P500 was down 30 points at 1,286, and the Nasdaq down around 52 points at 2,211.
Back here in London it was the banks that had a tough day again, reversing the hope of the last couple of days. HBOS closed down 34p at 528p, Barclays closed down nearly 18p at 433p, RBS was down 8.5p at just shy of 334p, Lloyds TSB was down nearly 9p at 421.25p, and Alliance & Leicester down 19.5p at 512.5. A&L suffered the dreaded Standard & Poor’s Ratings downgrade, and was re-ranked an ‘A’ bank, down from ‘A+’ bank, due to the recent reults posted.
Supermarkets suffered due to a Goldman Sachs review on the sector, where the broker downgraded Tesco to ’sell’ from ‘neutral’ and Morrisons to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’. Tesco closed down 13.5p at 380.25, Morrison down 11.25 at 278.5, and Sainsburys closed down 13.25 at 326.25.
The Pru closed down 32p at 622 aftre some profit taking, it seems, as the results posted were good. The insurance giant posted a £2.54 bln operating profit for last year, which was up 25% on 2006, and also up about £7m on forecasts.
Imperial Tobacco closed down 59p at 2,291, which was ahead of the figures due next week, where we expect to hear more on the planned Rights Issue of £4.5 bln so it can take out the Spanish tobacco giant, Altadis.
Trying to look positive, for a minute, the pharmaceuticals did better. Shire Pharma was actually up about 5% on the day, closing up 47p at 990p after a rumour of Pfizer coming in with a 13-quid bid. Pfizer are the world’s biggest drug company, of course.
On to energy, where International Power closed up 11.25p at 393p on the back of a Deutche Bank upgrade after some decent figures were posted last week. Cairn Energy closed 39p up at 2,945 with the rumours of a bid from the Italian ENI still rife.
Miners also had a good day, as commodity prices were still rising. Gold actually broke through the US$1,000 ounce level for the first time ever, hitting US$1,006.9 ounce at one stage. BHP closed up 56p at 1,590, Rio up 120p at 5,527, and Lonmins up 33p at 3,413. Lehmans upgraded the sector as well, which gave some help.
Morning Market, Friday 14th March 2008
The FTSE was up about 23 points at 5,715 in its first hour of trading this morning, whilst the FTSE 250 was up 21 points at 9,822. Not a very confident start, after such a bad day yesterday considering the Fed's news, but at least we're not going lower.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up 35.5 points at 12,145.7, reversing after a nasty fall on opening, whilst the S&P500 closed up 6.75 points at 1,315.5 and the Nasdaq up 19.74 points 2,263.61. Some positive news was that Standard & Poor's reckons the banks have now written down enough to cover all the sub-prime losses they are exposed to.
In the Far East this today the Nikkei 225 closed down 91.84 points at 12,241.6, whiclst in Hong Kong the Hang seng closed down 64.53 points at 22,237.11 after investors heard that the Chinese Central bank may raise interest rates again this weekend.
On to oil, where in Far East tarding today the price of the black stuff actually hit US$111 bbl. Yes, US$111 a barrel. This has been blamed on the weak dollar.
Back here in London there wasn't much exciting gong on. Insurance giant, the Pru, was up 8p at 662p after posting some decent figures of £2.54 bln operating profit, up 25% on 2006.
The Miners were back in fashion too, after commodity prices rose again. Gold is actually almost thru' the US$1,000 ounce level, trading at US$997.7 ounce, and actually hit that level in futures trades. Mining stocks were up with BHP up 17p at 1,551, Rio up 65p at 5,462, Lonmins up 34p at 3,414, and Anglo up 20p at 3,150. All this after a sector upgrade by Lehman Brothers to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight'. Vedanta didn't do as well this morning, though, falling back 40p at 2,188.
International Power was up 6p at 387.7 as Deutche Bank upgraded the energy supplier to 'buy' from 'hold' after a decetn set of numbers.
Supermarkets received a sector downgrade from Goldman Sachs, with Tesco to 'sell' from 'neutral' and WM Morrison to 'neutral' from 'buy', resulting in Tescos down 7p at 387, Morrissons down 9p at 280.5p, Sainsburys down 4p at 335.5p and Marks & Sparks down 2p at 372.5p.
TUI Travel was up 2.25p at 258p on merger speculation.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up 35.5 points at 12,145.7, reversing after a nasty fall on opening, whilst the S&P500 closed up 6.75 points at 1,315.5 and the Nasdaq up 19.74 points 2,263.61. Some positive news was that Standard & Poor's reckons the banks have now written down enough to cover all the sub-prime losses they are exposed to.
In the Far East this today the Nikkei 225 closed down 91.84 points at 12,241.6, whiclst in Hong Kong the Hang seng closed down 64.53 points at 22,237.11 after investors heard that the Chinese Central bank may raise interest rates again this weekend.
On to oil, where in Far East tarding today the price of the black stuff actually hit US$111 bbl. Yes, US$111 a barrel. This has been blamed on the weak dollar.
Back here in London there wasn't much exciting gong on. Insurance giant, the Pru, was up 8p at 662p after posting some decent figures of £2.54 bln operating profit, up 25% on 2006.
The Miners were back in fashion too, after commodity prices rose again. Gold is actually almost thru' the US$1,000 ounce level, trading at US$997.7 ounce, and actually hit that level in futures trades. Mining stocks were up with BHP up 17p at 1,551, Rio up 65p at 5,462, Lonmins up 34p at 3,414, and Anglo up 20p at 3,150. All this after a sector upgrade by Lehman Brothers to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight'. Vedanta didn't do as well this morning, though, falling back 40p at 2,188.
International Power was up 6p at 387.7 as Deutche Bank upgraded the energy supplier to 'buy' from 'hold' after a decetn set of numbers.
Supermarkets received a sector downgrade from Goldman Sachs, with Tesco to 'sell' from 'neutral' and WM Morrison to 'neutral' from 'buy', resulting in Tescos down 7p at 387, Morrissons down 9p at 280.5p, Sainsburys down 4p at 335.5p and Marks & Sparks down 2p at 372.5p.
TUI Travel was up 2.25p at 258p on merger speculation.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday, 13th March 2008
The FTSE closed down 84 points today at 5,692.4, which was up about 65 points on the session's low. The FTSE 250 closed down 187.9 points at 9,801.5.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 62 points at 12,046, with the Feds (House Financial Services Committe) now saying that they will help slow down the house re-pos, which would mean the Feds guaranteeing remortgaged properties. The word 'desperation' comes to mind.
Back here in London, it was a building supplier that had the worst day, as Wolseley closed down 6%, or 37p, at 550p after a double-broker downgrade to 'sell', with Goldman Sachs expressing concern on earnings for this current year.
Oil continued to be strong, which didn't do British Airways much good. BAY.L was down to 230.5p today, off 12p on the session, as the cost of this year's fuel gets worse and worse. No doubt the airline will introduce many other savings across the in-house board, with many cuts in other departments, but the rising cost of fuel is going to be hard to offset, never mind match. Peers didn't like the oil price of US$108 bbl, either, as easyJet also fell, off 20.5p at 396p.
The banks were turning down again, with HBOS down 16p at 562p, RBS down 16.5p at 342.5p, and Lloyds TSB down 14p to 430. News that the London-based fund Carlyle Capital had failed yesterday didn't help the sector. Apparently the fund's creditors will seize all of the fund's remaining assets after unsuccessful negotiations to prevent its liquidation.
Mining giant Kazakhmys closed down 35p at 1,744, falling back some of its massive 16% leap yesterday, as it confirmed there had been no formal merger proposal from ENRC, which we spoke about yesterday. Peers were also down, with fellow copper miner Anto down 6p at 754p, and Anglo down 43p at 3,130. But Xstrata was up 68p at 3,921 on another reversal of rumour/speculation/etc on Brazilian major Vale coming in for a bid. 42-quid is the figure being banted around, which is down from the 45-quid mentioned on the floors last week, but still well up on the current traded price. This sector is a long-term hold. Buying on serious dips can only be a good thing, as the world's minerals become more and more required.
Unilever was up 51p at 1,651 as it was considered somewhwere fairly safe to plant some cash from sales elsewhere, it seems. British American Tobacco was up 25p at 1,958 on similar reasons, it also seems.
Tonmorrow is another day.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 62 points at 12,046, with the Feds (House Financial Services Committe) now saying that they will help slow down the house re-pos, which would mean the Feds guaranteeing remortgaged properties. The word 'desperation' comes to mind.
Back here in London, it was a building supplier that had the worst day, as Wolseley closed down 6%, or 37p, at 550p after a double-broker downgrade to 'sell', with Goldman Sachs expressing concern on earnings for this current year.
Oil continued to be strong, which didn't do British Airways much good. BAY.L was down to 230.5p today, off 12p on the session, as the cost of this year's fuel gets worse and worse. No doubt the airline will introduce many other savings across the in-house board, with many cuts in other departments, but the rising cost of fuel is going to be hard to offset, never mind match. Peers didn't like the oil price of US$108 bbl, either, as easyJet also fell, off 20.5p at 396p.
The banks were turning down again, with HBOS down 16p at 562p, RBS down 16.5p at 342.5p, and Lloyds TSB down 14p to 430. News that the London-based fund Carlyle Capital had failed yesterday didn't help the sector. Apparently the fund's creditors will seize all of the fund's remaining assets after unsuccessful negotiations to prevent its liquidation.
Mining giant Kazakhmys closed down 35p at 1,744, falling back some of its massive 16% leap yesterday, as it confirmed there had been no formal merger proposal from ENRC, which we spoke about yesterday. Peers were also down, with fellow copper miner Anto down 6p at 754p, and Anglo down 43p at 3,130. But Xstrata was up 68p at 3,921 on another reversal of rumour/speculation/etc on Brazilian major Vale coming in for a bid. 42-quid is the figure being banted around, which is down from the 45-quid mentioned on the floors last week, but still well up on the current traded price. This sector is a long-term hold. Buying on serious dips can only be a good thing, as the world's minerals become more and more required.
Unilever was up 51p at 1,651 as it was considered somewhwere fairly safe to plant some cash from sales elsewhere, it seems. British American Tobacco was up 25p at 1,958 on similar reasons, it also seems.
Tonmorrow is another day.
Morning Market, Thursday 13th March 2008
The FTSE opened down 100 points this morning, and by an hour of trading was off over 130m points at 5,643, whilst the FTSe 250 was down 200 points at 9,789. Shame, really as yetserday was quite nice.
Over the pond it seems that investors are looking deeper than the US$200 bln that is being inputted to the fiunancial markets by the Feds. The DJI closed down 46.57 points at 12,110.24, whilst the S&P500 closed down 11.88 points at 1,308.77 and the Nasdaq down 11.89 points at 2,243.87. Again after the previous day's surge and the fact that the DJI actually ran up 140 points after opening yetserday.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 closed down 427.69 at 12,433.44, whislt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng closed down 1,121.12 points at 22,301.64 - down a massive 4.8%.
Back here in London, Kazakhmys was 72p down at 1,708 after the moiner said that no formal proposal had been received by ENRC, who were in the frame with a deal yesterday. Shares in ENRC were down 26p at 922, despite joining the FTSE100 next week. Peers were also down, with BHP down 55p at 1,509 and Anto down 25p at 731.
Wolseley, the building materials group, was down 35p at 552p after a double broker downgrade, with both ABN Amro and Goldman Sachs downgrading to 'sell'. sachs said they expect Wolseley's earnings to continue to fall.
Morrison supermarket chain was down 1.5p to 294p after reporting profits up to £612m to 03Feb07, up from £369m last year, and saying they will return £1 bln to shareholders. Sir Ken Morrison will step down as Chairman, with Sir Ian Gibson, the current deputy, taking his place. Broker upgrade to 'buy' followed.
Home Retail Group, the Argos and Homebase owner, was down 10p at 240p after saying growtyh in the coming year looks restricted. Argos sales were up 5.4% to £566m for the year. At Homebase sales actually fell 0.7% to £217m.
The banks pulled back this morning, after a decent few days. Barclays was down 20p at 441p and RBS was down 15p at 343p.
Over the pond it seems that investors are looking deeper than the US$200 bln that is being inputted to the fiunancial markets by the Feds. The DJI closed down 46.57 points at 12,110.24, whilst the S&P500 closed down 11.88 points at 1,308.77 and the Nasdaq down 11.89 points at 2,243.87. Again after the previous day's surge and the fact that the DJI actually ran up 140 points after opening yetserday.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 closed down 427.69 at 12,433.44, whislt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng closed down 1,121.12 points at 22,301.64 - down a massive 4.8%.
Back here in London, Kazakhmys was 72p down at 1,708 after the moiner said that no formal proposal had been received by ENRC, who were in the frame with a deal yesterday. Shares in ENRC were down 26p at 922, despite joining the FTSE100 next week. Peers were also down, with BHP down 55p at 1,509 and Anto down 25p at 731.
Wolseley, the building materials group, was down 35p at 552p after a double broker downgrade, with both ABN Amro and Goldman Sachs downgrading to 'sell'. sachs said they expect Wolseley's earnings to continue to fall.
Morrison supermarket chain was down 1.5p to 294p after reporting profits up to £612m to 03Feb07, up from £369m last year, and saying they will return £1 bln to shareholders. Sir Ken Morrison will step down as Chairman, with Sir Ian Gibson, the current deputy, taking his place. Broker upgrade to 'buy' followed.
Home Retail Group, the Argos and Homebase owner, was down 10p at 240p after saying growtyh in the coming year looks restricted. Argos sales were up 5.4% to £566m for the year. At Homebase sales actually fell 0.7% to £217m.
The banks pulled back this morning, after a decent few days. Barclays was down 20p at 441p and RBS was down 15p at 343p.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 12th March 2008
The FTSE closed up 86 points at 5,776.4, down about 36 points from the day's high, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 216.6 points at 9,989.4.
Over the pond it was a little confusing. yesterday's $200 bln pledge by the Feds had given the market a 400-point boost, but some see it as a little false. After all, fundamentals will always come through in the end, and chucking good money after bad isn't usually an answer.
Anyway, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,237, whilst the S&P500 was up just 4 points at 1,324 and the Nasdaq up 15 points at 2,271. Nothing to shout about there.
Back here in London, it was budget day, of course, and Mr Darling told us all how well the government has done over the last God knows how many years, and then Cameron got up and ripped it all to pieces. Nothing new there, either. Anwyay, more tax on ciggies and beer, of course, with fuel follwing soon. Anyone driving a big car is to face a firing squad. Well, nearly, apparently. It's serious stuff. The billions on tons of CO2 being pumped into the air elsewhere in the world is all ok, but my wife's X5 needs to be taxed even more as it will save the world. It must be true - they keep telling us so. The budget was so positive and forceful, that nothing happened afterwards. The market did nothing. Yes, did nothing, despite our Darling (that's his name, not an affection) telling us all he wants energy suppliers in the UK to spend £150 mln helping those who don't earn as much as others. They already spend £50m on this, with those earning more supposedly subsidising, but that's not enough. Another £100m in the pot, please. National Grid shares fell 5p to 710p as a consequence, with Scottish & Southern Energy also down 5p at 1,420 and International Power just a penny and a half lower at just shy of 380p. That was about the reaction to the budget.
Well, almost. The extra 3p a pint (my mate's pub already charges £3.80 for a Magners, so he'll be playing with his life if it becomes £3.83) caused the brewery stocks to do nothing, as did the extra 11p on a packet of cigarettes cause the tobacco firms to do nothing too.
The delay in the rise on petrol was welcome, but Darling's (his name, not an affection) arm was somewhat twisted as with the black stuff at US$109 bbl and petrol at 112p a litre, the motorist is already being hit somewhat. Anyway, he's put the fuel tax rise off for 6 months.
Miners just got on with life, which we can do too. Kazakhmys jumped 16% on the day, up 245p at 1,780 on news that Eurasian Natural Resources admitted it has had 'informal' merger talks with Kaz. Kazakhmys already holds a 14.6% stake in ENRC after acquiring an 18.8% holding in the Kazakh mining group for US$806.5m last October before ENRC's float in Dec07. Peers were up too, with Anto up 36p at 760p and Vedanta up 94p at 2,226.
Oil is now touching US$109 bbl, which helped BP rise 7.5p to 545.5p, RD Shell to close up 26p at 1,708, and Tullow Oil to close up 16p at 646 after an upbeat statement to accompany some average results.
Insurance - Standard Life was up 28.5p at 247 after reporting a 43% rise in profits, and a positive note on trading and cost controls in general. Broker Panmure Gordon reiterated its 'buy' rating. Peers liked it - Old Mutual was up 4.9p at 114.6p, Legal & General up 4.1p at 126.5, and Friends Provident closed up 3.9p at 127.9 on the back of the JC Flowers interest.
Banks continued their bounce, mainly due to this US$200 bln being pumped into the sector by the Feds, with Barclays closing up 23.5p at 460.5p, RBS up 14p to close just shy of 359p, and Lloyds TSB closing up nearly 11p at 444p. HBOS was down 11.5p to 578p after going ex-dividend.
Over the pond it was a little confusing. yesterday's $200 bln pledge by the Feds had given the market a 400-point boost, but some see it as a little false. After all, fundamentals will always come through in the end, and chucking good money after bad isn't usually an answer.
Anyway, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,237, whilst the S&P500 was up just 4 points at 1,324 and the Nasdaq up 15 points at 2,271. Nothing to shout about there.
Back here in London, it was budget day, of course, and Mr Darling told us all how well the government has done over the last God knows how many years, and then Cameron got up and ripped it all to pieces. Nothing new there, either. Anwyay, more tax on ciggies and beer, of course, with fuel follwing soon. Anyone driving a big car is to face a firing squad. Well, nearly, apparently. It's serious stuff. The billions on tons of CO2 being pumped into the air elsewhere in the world is all ok, but my wife's X5 needs to be taxed even more as it will save the world. It must be true - they keep telling us so. The budget was so positive and forceful, that nothing happened afterwards. The market did nothing. Yes, did nothing, despite our Darling (that's his name, not an affection) telling us all he wants energy suppliers in the UK to spend £150 mln helping those who don't earn as much as others. They already spend £50m on this, with those earning more supposedly subsidising, but that's not enough. Another £100m in the pot, please. National Grid shares fell 5p to 710p as a consequence, with Scottish & Southern Energy also down 5p at 1,420 and International Power just a penny and a half lower at just shy of 380p. That was about the reaction to the budget.
Well, almost. The extra 3p a pint (my mate's pub already charges £3.80 for a Magners, so he'll be playing with his life if it becomes £3.83) caused the brewery stocks to do nothing, as did the extra 11p on a packet of cigarettes cause the tobacco firms to do nothing too.
The delay in the rise on petrol was welcome, but Darling's (his name, not an affection) arm was somewhat twisted as with the black stuff at US$109 bbl and petrol at 112p a litre, the motorist is already being hit somewhat. Anyway, he's put the fuel tax rise off for 6 months.
Miners just got on with life, which we can do too. Kazakhmys jumped 16% on the day, up 245p at 1,780 on news that Eurasian Natural Resources admitted it has had 'informal' merger talks with Kaz. Kazakhmys already holds a 14.6% stake in ENRC after acquiring an 18.8% holding in the Kazakh mining group for US$806.5m last October before ENRC's float in Dec07. Peers were up too, with Anto up 36p at 760p and Vedanta up 94p at 2,226.
Oil is now touching US$109 bbl, which helped BP rise 7.5p to 545.5p, RD Shell to close up 26p at 1,708, and Tullow Oil to close up 16p at 646 after an upbeat statement to accompany some average results.
Insurance - Standard Life was up 28.5p at 247 after reporting a 43% rise in profits, and a positive note on trading and cost controls in general. Broker Panmure Gordon reiterated its 'buy' rating. Peers liked it - Old Mutual was up 4.9p at 114.6p, Legal & General up 4.1p at 126.5, and Friends Provident closed up 3.9p at 127.9 on the back of the JC Flowers interest.
Banks continued their bounce, mainly due to this US$200 bln being pumped into the sector by the Feds, with Barclays closing up 23.5p at 460.5p, RBS up 14p to close just shy of 359p, and Lloyds TSB closing up nearly 11p at 444p. HBOS was down 11.5p to 578p after going ex-dividend.
Morning Market, Wednesday 12th March 2008
The FTSE was up over 55 points this morning at 5,745, whilst the FTSE 250 was up around 60 points at 9,908. This was mainly due to some positive feeling over in the States last night after the Fed news on the US$200 bln cash input to the financial markets.
Over the pond the DJI had closed up 416.66 points at 12,156.81, up 3.6% on the day. The S&P500 closed up 47.28 at 1,320.65 (up 3.7% and the Nasdaq closed up 86.42 at 2,255.76, up 4% on the day. A good day all round.
Back here in London, it's Budget Day. Not sure what Darling has in store for us, but we can all expect extra taxes on reasons of environmental issues, when we all know that the difference to environmental issues gaines by charging us twice as much for tax on a 4x4 will be so minimal it couldn't be counted. Still, we can expect some more taxes, all the same.
Some financial stocks rallied this morning after the Fed's announcement yesterday, with Standard Life having a nice start to the day here, up about 25p in its first hour of trading at 244p, with a decent set of results haelping. The insurer said its profits were 43% up on the year. Peer Friends Provident was up 3p at 127p as well, and Old Mutual up 4p at 114p.
Banks also bounced, with Barclays up 11.5p at 448p, Lloyds TSB up 10p at 443p and RBS up 10p at 355p. But HBOS was down 15p at 574p after going ex-div.
The mining sector felt the Fed input was also helpful, and promptly rose as well. BHP was up 50p at 1,541, Rio up 172p at 5,423 and Anto up 19p at 743p.
Oil was up too, with Tullows up 13p at 643p after it announced its figures, which were in-line with expectation sand the accompanied statement for 2008 looked good too. Peers were also up, all enjoying the US$105 bbl, with BP up 9p at 547.5p, and RD Shell up 15p at 1,736p.
Schroders was up 10p at 880p after broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Over the pond the DJI had closed up 416.66 points at 12,156.81, up 3.6% on the day. The S&P500 closed up 47.28 at 1,320.65 (up 3.7% and the Nasdaq closed up 86.42 at 2,255.76, up 4% on the day. A good day all round.
Back here in London, it's Budget Day. Not sure what Darling has in store for us, but we can all expect extra taxes on reasons of environmental issues, when we all know that the difference to environmental issues gaines by charging us twice as much for tax on a 4x4 will be so minimal it couldn't be counted. Still, we can expect some more taxes, all the same.
Some financial stocks rallied this morning after the Fed's announcement yesterday, with Standard Life having a nice start to the day here, up about 25p in its first hour of trading at 244p, with a decent set of results haelping. The insurer said its profits were 43% up on the year. Peer Friends Provident was up 3p at 127p as well, and Old Mutual up 4p at 114p.
Banks also bounced, with Barclays up 11.5p at 448p, Lloyds TSB up 10p at 443p and RBS up 10p at 355p. But HBOS was down 15p at 574p after going ex-div.
The mining sector felt the Fed input was also helpful, and promptly rose as well. BHP was up 50p at 1,541, Rio up 172p at 5,423 and Anto up 19p at 743p.
Oil was up too, with Tullows up 13p at 643p after it announced its figures, which were in-line with expectation sand the accompanied statement for 2008 looked good too. Peers were also up, all enjoying the US$105 bbl, with BP up 9p at 547.5p, and RD Shell up 15p at 1,736p.
Schroders was up 10p at 880p after broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 11th March 2008
The FTSE closed up today, 61.3 points to the good at 5,690.4, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 102.1 points at 9,772.8.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was rallying after the Feds announced that they and other banks would be inserting a massive US$200 bln into the financial markets so to aid the current pressure. We are back to a sort of margin call situation, just falsely supporting the markets. Look what happened last summer - pushed all the way to 14k when everyone new the US economy was in a mess. The US trade deficit is at an all time high for January (up to $58.2 bln from $57.9 bln), crude oil is at an all time high (US$105 bbl), and the Feds look like dropping interest rates another 0.5% next time out (whilst 0.75% was hoped for). They are trying, but it's all a bit false. Anyway, by the time London was closing the DJI was up about 185 points at 11,925, as a reaction to the news from the Feds. The S&P500 was up about 17 points at 1,290.5.
Here in London the banks bounced too, also liking the news from the States. Barclays closed up over 21p at 437, a 5% ump, RBS up nearly 15p at just shy of 345p, and HSBC was up 21p at 790p.
On to oil, where Cairn Energy jumped a massive 223p to 2,989p after rumours of an Italian ENI bid of 40-quid a pop. That was an 8% rise on the day, and values Cairn at £3.9 bln. Other oil shares also rose as the price of the black stuff rose. Brent was over US$105 bbl (Apr del) at one stage, but fell back to about US$104.61 bbl. Index heavyweight BP closed up 4.5p at 538.5p.
G4S closed up nearly 10p at 219.25 after it announced some good figures. The security services provider told of a 16.8% increase profit. Broker Collins Stewart reiterated its buy stance.
Friends Provident also announced figures, profits of £16m, down from £509m, and less than the £20m expected. US private equity group JC Flowers was still sniffing with intent, and was aksed to clarify its position. Friends closed up 5p at 124p. Peer Standard Life closed up over 11p at just shy of 219p prior to their results posting tomorrow morning.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 21.5p at 561p after confiriming its demerger date of 7th May, with the confectionary and beverage divisions seperating. Broker Evo upgraded to 'buy' and gave a 650p target.
The Miners didn't do so well today. Xstrata closed down 92p at 3,742 after it was feared that Brazilan giant Vale may no longer be interested with a $43 bln bid. Broker JM Finn downgraded to miner to 'sell' from 'buy'. Peers were down too, with Anglo down 49p at 3,105 and Kazakhmys down 156p at 1,535.
British Airways was down another 3.75p at 238p due to oil prices. ABN Amro reduced its target for the airline to 260p, down from 330p. News from the Civil Aviation Authority didn't help, either, as they are now allowing BAA to increase its charges to passengers. The CAA raised the maximum charge to £12.80, up from £10.36, and set it for 5 years. A 23% jump in charges for passengers using Heathrow in one swipe. BA complained that this is to the detriment of customers.
Oil services company Amec closed down 16.5p at 744.5 after some profit taking after a decent recent run. Its announced figures were as expected, quite strong, and the group said it looks on track to deliver 6% margin this year.
Yell Group was down a further 7.9p at 176.6 as investors moved away fearing an inevitable relegation from the FTSE 100.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was rallying after the Feds announced that they and other banks would be inserting a massive US$200 bln into the financial markets so to aid the current pressure. We are back to a sort of margin call situation, just falsely supporting the markets. Look what happened last summer - pushed all the way to 14k when everyone new the US economy was in a mess. The US trade deficit is at an all time high for January (up to $58.2 bln from $57.9 bln), crude oil is at an all time high (US$105 bbl), and the Feds look like dropping interest rates another 0.5% next time out (whilst 0.75% was hoped for). They are trying, but it's all a bit false. Anyway, by the time London was closing the DJI was up about 185 points at 11,925, as a reaction to the news from the Feds. The S&P500 was up about 17 points at 1,290.5.
Here in London the banks bounced too, also liking the news from the States. Barclays closed up over 21p at 437, a 5% ump, RBS up nearly 15p at just shy of 345p, and HSBC was up 21p at 790p.
On to oil, where Cairn Energy jumped a massive 223p to 2,989p after rumours of an Italian ENI bid of 40-quid a pop. That was an 8% rise on the day, and values Cairn at £3.9 bln. Other oil shares also rose as the price of the black stuff rose. Brent was over US$105 bbl (Apr del) at one stage, but fell back to about US$104.61 bbl. Index heavyweight BP closed up 4.5p at 538.5p.
G4S closed up nearly 10p at 219.25 after it announced some good figures. The security services provider told of a 16.8% increase profit. Broker Collins Stewart reiterated its buy stance.
Friends Provident also announced figures, profits of £16m, down from £509m, and less than the £20m expected. US private equity group JC Flowers was still sniffing with intent, and was aksed to clarify its position. Friends closed up 5p at 124p. Peer Standard Life closed up over 11p at just shy of 219p prior to their results posting tomorrow morning.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 21.5p at 561p after confiriming its demerger date of 7th May, with the confectionary and beverage divisions seperating. Broker Evo upgraded to 'buy' and gave a 650p target.
The Miners didn't do so well today. Xstrata closed down 92p at 3,742 after it was feared that Brazilan giant Vale may no longer be interested with a $43 bln bid. Broker JM Finn downgraded to miner to 'sell' from 'buy'. Peers were down too, with Anglo down 49p at 3,105 and Kazakhmys down 156p at 1,535.
British Airways was down another 3.75p at 238p due to oil prices. ABN Amro reduced its target for the airline to 260p, down from 330p. News from the Civil Aviation Authority didn't help, either, as they are now allowing BAA to increase its charges to passengers. The CAA raised the maximum charge to £12.80, up from £10.36, and set it for 5 years. A 23% jump in charges for passengers using Heathrow in one swipe. BA complained that this is to the detriment of customers.
Oil services company Amec closed down 16.5p at 744.5 after some profit taking after a decent recent run. Its announced figures were as expected, quite strong, and the group said it looks on track to deliver 6% margin this year.
Yell Group was down a further 7.9p at 176.6 as investors moved away fearing an inevitable relegation from the FTSE 100.
Morning Market Tues 11 March 2008
The FTSE 100 was up about 45 points this morning at 5,675.0, whilst the FTSE 250 was up around 25 points at 9,696.
Lst night over the pond the DJI closed down 153.54 points at 11,740.15, whilst the S&P500 closed doen 20 points at 1,273.37, and the Nasdaq down 43.15 points at 2,169.34.
Oil was actually up at US$108 bbl, which was a bit of a suprise, but we expect to remain strong.
Today in the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed 126.15 points higher at 12,658.28, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 300 points at lunchtime but reversed nearly 600 points to recently close up 290-odd points at 22,995.35.
Oil was under US$108 bbl for Light Sweet (Apr del), whilst Brent (Apr del) was at US$104.4 bbl. Record highs for oil during the last 24 hours.
Back here in London we saw Friends Provident up over a penny at 120.14 despite reporting a sharp fall in profit for 2007.
G4S was up 5p to 214p, as the security services provider posted a 16.8% increase in full-year profit and reckons they'll be ok this year.
Amec was down 9p at 752p this morning after the company posted higher full-year profits in its three core divisions. It added that it reckons it will hit its 6% margin target this year too.
Confectionery and drinks manufacturer Cadbury Schweppes was up 25p at 564p on news of a firm date for the company to split intop tw0.
The miners were off on press rumours that Vale may pull out of the US$43 bln deal with Xstrata. Anto's results were quite as good as expected, either. Anto said net profit rose to US$1.38 from US$1.35 bln in 2006, short of the US$1.41 bln expected by the market, while sales dipped 1.1% to US$3.83 bln. Peers were down too, Xstrata was off 164p at 3,670, with Anto down 13p to 715, Rio off 105p at 5,153, Kazakhmys 32p lower at 1,521, and Vedanta down 30p to 2,091.
Supermarkets - Morrison was down 2p at 291.5p, while Tesco was down 3p to 407.5, and Sainsburys down a penny at 339p.
Retailers - Marks & Sparks was just down 0.25p at 374.5 and Next down 6p to 1,197 after the British Retail Consortium's monthly retail monitor for February showed high street sales were down in February, which wasn't a suprise.
Lst night over the pond the DJI closed down 153.54 points at 11,740.15, whilst the S&P500 closed doen 20 points at 1,273.37, and the Nasdaq down 43.15 points at 2,169.34.
Oil was actually up at US$108 bbl, which was a bit of a suprise, but we expect to remain strong.
Today in the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed 126.15 points higher at 12,658.28, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 300 points at lunchtime but reversed nearly 600 points to recently close up 290-odd points at 22,995.35.
Oil was under US$108 bbl for Light Sweet (Apr del), whilst Brent (Apr del) was at US$104.4 bbl. Record highs for oil during the last 24 hours.
Back here in London we saw Friends Provident up over a penny at 120.14 despite reporting a sharp fall in profit for 2007.
G4S was up 5p to 214p, as the security services provider posted a 16.8% increase in full-year profit and reckons they'll be ok this year.
Amec was down 9p at 752p this morning after the company posted higher full-year profits in its three core divisions. It added that it reckons it will hit its 6% margin target this year too.
Confectionery and drinks manufacturer Cadbury Schweppes was up 25p at 564p on news of a firm date for the company to split intop tw0.
The miners were off on press rumours that Vale may pull out of the US$43 bln deal with Xstrata. Anto's results were quite as good as expected, either. Anto said net profit rose to US$1.38 from US$1.35 bln in 2006, short of the US$1.41 bln expected by the market, while sales dipped 1.1% to US$3.83 bln. Peers were down too, Xstrata was off 164p at 3,670, with Anto down 13p to 715, Rio off 105p at 5,153, Kazakhmys 32p lower at 1,521, and Vedanta down 30p to 2,091.
Supermarkets - Morrison was down 2p at 291.5p, while Tesco was down 3p to 407.5, and Sainsburys down a penny at 339p.
Retailers - Marks & Sparks was just down 0.25p at 374.5 and Next down 6p to 1,197 after the British Retail Consortium's monthly retail monitor for February showed high street sales were down in February, which wasn't a suprise.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 10th March 2008
The FTSE closed down 70.8 points at 5,629.1 today, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 183 points at 9,670.7. The US was down after it opened too.
by the time London closed the DJI was down just over 50 points at 11,843, whilst the S&P500 was down about 10 points at 1,283 and the Nasdaq down 18 points at 2,194.
Back here in London the miners were under pressure today. Metal prices had turned down and the confrimation that the US is in recession didn't help. Anto was down 58.5p at 728p, BHP down 93p at 1,497, and Rio down 336p at 5,258.
Housebuilders were also down after Bovis Homes gave a downbeat statement to accompnay its results this morning. The 2nd tier builder closed down 71.5p, or 12.4%, at 506p. Peers suffered as a consequence. Persimmons was down 30.5p at 677p and Taylor Wimpey closed down 11.2p 161.5.
Catering giant Compass Group closed down 15.5p at 320p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' expressing some concern about world food prices on the rise.
Oil did better after a small trun in oil prices in the Far East earlier as the price of the black stuff hugged US$105 bbl. BP closed up 5.5p at 534 and RD Shell was up 7p at 1,675 on the day.
Imperial Tobacco was up 37p at 2,381 and British American Tobacco up 52p at 1,875 after news that Imperial Tobacco has sold its 49.95% holding in the Spanish duty-free retailer Aldeasa SA.
Bank HSBC did ok and closed up 11p at 769.5p after a broker upgrade to 'outperform' from 'market perform'.
Friends Provident was up on bid rumours, closing 0.9p to the good at at 119p as weekend press said US private equity group JC Flowers was sniffing with intent on a £3.5 bln bid. With its results due to be published tomorrow, this one could look volatile early on.
by the time London closed the DJI was down just over 50 points at 11,843, whilst the S&P500 was down about 10 points at 1,283 and the Nasdaq down 18 points at 2,194.
Back here in London the miners were under pressure today. Metal prices had turned down and the confrimation that the US is in recession didn't help. Anto was down 58.5p at 728p, BHP down 93p at 1,497, and Rio down 336p at 5,258.
Housebuilders were also down after Bovis Homes gave a downbeat statement to accompnay its results this morning. The 2nd tier builder closed down 71.5p, or 12.4%, at 506p. Peers suffered as a consequence. Persimmons was down 30.5p at 677p and Taylor Wimpey closed down 11.2p 161.5.
Catering giant Compass Group closed down 15.5p at 320p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' expressing some concern about world food prices on the rise.
Oil did better after a small trun in oil prices in the Far East earlier as the price of the black stuff hugged US$105 bbl. BP closed up 5.5p at 534 and RD Shell was up 7p at 1,675 on the day.
Imperial Tobacco was up 37p at 2,381 and British American Tobacco up 52p at 1,875 after news that Imperial Tobacco has sold its 49.95% holding in the Spanish duty-free retailer Aldeasa SA.
Bank HSBC did ok and closed up 11p at 769.5p after a broker upgrade to 'outperform' from 'market perform'.
Friends Provident was up on bid rumours, closing 0.9p to the good at at 119p as weekend press said US private equity group JC Flowers was sniffing with intent on a £3.5 bln bid. With its results due to be published tomorrow, this one could look volatile early on.
Morning Market, Monday 10th March 2008
The FTSE started the week opened down, with the miners falling amongst some M&A news. After about an hour of trading the FTSE was down around 45 points at 5,655, whilst the FTSE 250 was down nerly 120 points at 9,735. It's the UK Budget on Wednesday, so there is some caution around.
On Friday, over the pond, the DJI closed the week down again after the Feds said that 63k jobs had been struck off the workers count for February. The DJI closed down 146.7 points at 11,893.69, under 12k again. The S&P 500 closed down 10.97 points at 1,293.37, whilst the Nasdaq closed down 8.01 to 2,212.49. The figures now all confirm the US is in recession.
This didn't help the Far East, where in Japan the Nikkei 225 cloosed today at 12,532.13, down 250.67 points on the day, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 340 points at 22,160 by lunchtime chow.
After a strong run recently, oil fell back below US$105 bbl, with the state of the US economy being blamed as the US uses the most energy. Light Sweet (Apr del) was down about 25c at 104.9 bbl, whilst Brent North Sea (Apr del) was also down 25c at US$102.13 bbl.
Back here in London it was the mioners that were under pressure. Rio was down 170p at 5,422 after reports in weekend press that it will be informing shareholders of its own value on its aluminium business is worth US$20 bln more than valued by BHP. This didn't help the share price this morning, and BHP Billiton was down 60p at 1,530 too, with peer Anto down 24p at 762p, Vedanta down 56p at 2,200, Anglo down 60p at 3,240 and Kazakhmys off 21p at 1,642.
Bovis Homes caused the housebuilders to fall after posting lower profits for last year, and the share price was off 45p this morning at 532p as a result. Peers showed similar movement, with Persimmons down 25p at 683, Taylor Wimpey down 4p at 168.7p, and Barratts down 12p at 393p.
And the the banks, where RBS was up 4.5p at 339p on reports that Standard Chartered is sniffing around with a potential bid for RBS's stake in Saudi Hollandi bank and Egypt's state-owned Banque du Caire so to help its situation in the Middle East area. Standard Chartered was up 15p at 1,627 as a result of this. Peer HSBC was up 15p at 774p on a broker upgrade to 'outperform' from 'market perform'.
Friends Provident was up 2p at 120p on M&A rumours in weekend press that US private equity outfit JC Flowers was sniffing with intent with a £3.5 bln bid. Other insurance peers liked this, with the Pru up 6p at 632p and Legal & General up a penny at 123.5p.
Compass Group was down 5p at 330p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' and added a new lower target of 3-quid, down from 350p.
On Friday, over the pond, the DJI closed the week down again after the Feds said that 63k jobs had been struck off the workers count for February. The DJI closed down 146.7 points at 11,893.69, under 12k again. The S&P 500 closed down 10.97 points at 1,293.37, whilst the Nasdaq closed down 8.01 to 2,212.49. The figures now all confirm the US is in recession.
This didn't help the Far East, where in Japan the Nikkei 225 cloosed today at 12,532.13, down 250.67 points on the day, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 340 points at 22,160 by lunchtime chow.
After a strong run recently, oil fell back below US$105 bbl, with the state of the US economy being blamed as the US uses the most energy. Light Sweet (Apr del) was down about 25c at 104.9 bbl, whilst Brent North Sea (Apr del) was also down 25c at US$102.13 bbl.
Back here in London it was the mioners that were under pressure. Rio was down 170p at 5,422 after reports in weekend press that it will be informing shareholders of its own value on its aluminium business is worth US$20 bln more than valued by BHP. This didn't help the share price this morning, and BHP Billiton was down 60p at 1,530 too, with peer Anto down 24p at 762p, Vedanta down 56p at 2,200, Anglo down 60p at 3,240 and Kazakhmys off 21p at 1,642.
Bovis Homes caused the housebuilders to fall after posting lower profits for last year, and the share price was off 45p this morning at 532p as a result. Peers showed similar movement, with Persimmons down 25p at 683, Taylor Wimpey down 4p at 168.7p, and Barratts down 12p at 393p.
And the the banks, where RBS was up 4.5p at 339p on reports that Standard Chartered is sniffing around with a potential bid for RBS's stake in Saudi Hollandi bank and Egypt's state-owned Banque du Caire so to help its situation in the Middle East area. Standard Chartered was up 15p at 1,627 as a result of this. Peer HSBC was up 15p at 774p on a broker upgrade to 'outperform' from 'market perform'.
Friends Provident was up 2p at 120p on M&A rumours in weekend press that US private equity outfit JC Flowers was sniffing with intent with a £3.5 bln bid. Other insurance peers liked this, with the Pru up 6p at 632p and Legal & General up a penny at 123.5p.
Compass Group was down 5p at 330p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' and added a new lower target of 3-quid, down from 350p.
Friday, 7 March 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 7th March 2008
Not a great day on the markets. The FTSE closed down 66.5 points at 5,699.9, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 137.1 points at 9,853.7.
Over the pond the US non-farm payroll figures were weak, but the Feds did follow up with some positive plans with steps to help the credit markets. By the time London closed the DJI was down about 60 points at 11,980, whilst the S&P500 was down nearly 3 points at 1,301 and the Nadaq actually up 4 points at 2,225.
Back here in London the miners took the biggest hit, with Rio down 213p at 5,594, Vedanta down 111p at 2,256, BHP down 90p at 1,590 and Anto down 43.5p at 786.5p. Antofagasta, who report figures on Tuesday, received a broker downgrade from EVO who gave it a 'reduce' from 'buy' rating.
Oil is up at US$105-US$106 bbl, which gave some strength to Cairn Energy, which closed up 35p at 2,766.
Enterprise Inns, the pub operator, was 13p down at just under 4-quid after some fairly mediocre interims. Peer JD Wetherspoons gave a cautious outlook for the year, with CEO Tim Martin also pleading the alcohol case on TV today, giving advice on the younger end of the market too. Dresdner Kleinwort gave Wetherspoon a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', which is a little suprise as Tim Martin has spent alot of money this year buying his own company's stock. Wetherspoon closed down nearly 52p at 260.
Fund managers continued to fall under pressure, as the financial sector seems tjhe worse hit of late due to obvious reasons. Schroders closed down another 53.5p at 903.5p today.
The insurance sector was also hit, with Friends Provident closing down 3.4p at 118.1 as concenrs mount on what sort of full year figures will be announced next Tuesday.
Yellow Pages publisher, Yell Group, closeod down 5p at 195p after a UBS reiterting its 'sell' stance and reducing its target to 150p, doenfrom 265p. The US side of Yell's business is under pressure, as is the UK too.
Tour operator Thomas Cook closed down nearly 8p at 290 after making some acquisitions from Dubai Financial Group that amounted to about £150m in cash, we think. Details of the various acquisitions we posted this morning.
Intercontinental Hotels closed up 10p at 790p after some psoitive figures from a French peer.
Over the pond the US non-farm payroll figures were weak, but the Feds did follow up with some positive plans with steps to help the credit markets. By the time London closed the DJI was down about 60 points at 11,980, whilst the S&P500 was down nearly 3 points at 1,301 and the Nadaq actually up 4 points at 2,225.
Back here in London the miners took the biggest hit, with Rio down 213p at 5,594, Vedanta down 111p at 2,256, BHP down 90p at 1,590 and Anto down 43.5p at 786.5p. Antofagasta, who report figures on Tuesday, received a broker downgrade from EVO who gave it a 'reduce' from 'buy' rating.
Oil is up at US$105-US$106 bbl, which gave some strength to Cairn Energy, which closed up 35p at 2,766.
Enterprise Inns, the pub operator, was 13p down at just under 4-quid after some fairly mediocre interims. Peer JD Wetherspoons gave a cautious outlook for the year, with CEO Tim Martin also pleading the alcohol case on TV today, giving advice on the younger end of the market too. Dresdner Kleinwort gave Wetherspoon a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', which is a little suprise as Tim Martin has spent alot of money this year buying his own company's stock. Wetherspoon closed down nearly 52p at 260.
Fund managers continued to fall under pressure, as the financial sector seems tjhe worse hit of late due to obvious reasons. Schroders closed down another 53.5p at 903.5p today.
The insurance sector was also hit, with Friends Provident closing down 3.4p at 118.1 as concenrs mount on what sort of full year figures will be announced next Tuesday.
Yellow Pages publisher, Yell Group, closeod down 5p at 195p after a UBS reiterting its 'sell' stance and reducing its target to 150p, doenfrom 265p. The US side of Yell's business is under pressure, as is the UK too.
Tour operator Thomas Cook closed down nearly 8p at 290 after making some acquisitions from Dubai Financial Group that amounted to about £150m in cash, we think. Details of the various acquisitions we posted this morning.
Intercontinental Hotels closed up 10p at 790p after some psoitive figures from a French peer.
Morning Market, Friday 7th March 2008
The FTSE was down abou 85 points this morning at about 5,680, following on from the fall in the US last night.
Over the pond the DJI closed down 214.6 points at 12,040.39, which was close to the 12,000 support level it bounced off. The S&P500 closed down 29.36 points at 1,304.34and the Nasdaq down 52.31 points lower at 2,220.50. All this was stil blamed on the credit market. We now hear that one-in-100 houses are being reposessed in the US. Worrying. The non-farmn figures are out this afternoon, so eyes will be fixed on them. Analysts expect a small increase in the figures of about 25k, up from a minus 17k for Jan.
In the Far East today the Nikkei cloosed down 432.62 at 12,782.8, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng cloosed down 841.4 points at xxxxxxxxx, all following on from US falls.
Oil was even up near US$106 bbl, partly caused by the weakness of the US$ and OPEC not raising production.
Here in London this morning Enterprise Inns was was down 23p at 389p after Tim Martin's Wetherspoons gave a downbeat statement and a 13% drop to £28.5m in pre-tax profits. Brokers didn't like it, with KBCPH reiterating its 'sell' rating. Wetherspoon CEO Martin has been buying quite a few shares of late in his own firm, but this didn't help this morning with a 30p fall to 282p. Peers were also down, with Mitchells & Butlers down 18p at 421p, Punch down 24p at 595p, and Marstens down 10p to 225p.
The miners reversed some recent gains, with Rio down 255p at 5,552, Vedanta down 105p at 2,262, BHP down 70p at 1,610, and Anto down 35p at 795p.
Banks may be near the bottom, possibly, as the Market Analyser is picking a few up and broker UBS upgraded the banking sector in general to 'neutral' from 'underperform'. Barclays was still down though, off 15p at 412p, whilst peer RBS was down 13p at 328p.
Schroders was down another 25p at 927 as the fund manager was still under pressure.
Friends Provident was down 5p at 116.5 as the insurance giant saw investors concerned with ongojng pressures to the sector in general.
Thomas Cook was down nearly 10p at 288p after news that the holiday firm wants to buy up to 74.9% (under the 75% takeover figure) of Thomas Cook India, plus the complete shareholding of Thomas Cook's branded businesses in Egypt, and also the licenses for the Thomas Cook brand in 15 Middle East countries.
Yellow Pages publisher Yell Group has ben under much pressure lately too, and followed on today with another 6p fall to 194p aftre a broker reiterated its 'sell' rating and gave a 150p target, down from 265p. Yell's US peer recently posted a downbeat statment and Yell is also exposed quite heavily bin the US.
Over the pond the DJI closed down 214.6 points at 12,040.39, which was close to the 12,000 support level it bounced off. The S&P500 closed down 29.36 points at 1,304.34and the Nasdaq down 52.31 points lower at 2,220.50. All this was stil blamed on the credit market. We now hear that one-in-100 houses are being reposessed in the US. Worrying. The non-farmn figures are out this afternoon, so eyes will be fixed on them. Analysts expect a small increase in the figures of about 25k, up from a minus 17k for Jan.
In the Far East today the Nikkei cloosed down 432.62 at 12,782.8, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng cloosed down 841.4 points at xxxxxxxxx, all following on from US falls.
Oil was even up near US$106 bbl, partly caused by the weakness of the US$ and OPEC not raising production.
Here in London this morning Enterprise Inns was was down 23p at 389p after Tim Martin's Wetherspoons gave a downbeat statement and a 13% drop to £28.5m in pre-tax profits. Brokers didn't like it, with KBCPH reiterating its 'sell' rating. Wetherspoon CEO Martin has been buying quite a few shares of late in his own firm, but this didn't help this morning with a 30p fall to 282p. Peers were also down, with Mitchells & Butlers down 18p at 421p, Punch down 24p at 595p, and Marstens down 10p to 225p.
The miners reversed some recent gains, with Rio down 255p at 5,552, Vedanta down 105p at 2,262, BHP down 70p at 1,610, and Anto down 35p at 795p.
Banks may be near the bottom, possibly, as the Market Analyser is picking a few up and broker UBS upgraded the banking sector in general to 'neutral' from 'underperform'. Barclays was still down though, off 15p at 412p, whilst peer RBS was down 13p at 328p.
Schroders was down another 25p at 927 as the fund manager was still under pressure.
Friends Provident was down 5p at 116.5 as the insurance giant saw investors concerned with ongojng pressures to the sector in general.
Thomas Cook was down nearly 10p at 288p after news that the holiday firm wants to buy up to 74.9% (under the 75% takeover figure) of Thomas Cook India, plus the complete shareholding of Thomas Cook's branded businesses in Egypt, and also the licenses for the Thomas Cook brand in 15 Middle East countries.
Yellow Pages publisher Yell Group has ben under much pressure lately too, and followed on today with another 6p fall to 194p aftre a broker reiterated its 'sell' rating and gave a 150p target, down from 265p. Yell's US peer recently posted a downbeat statment and Yell is also exposed quite heavily bin the US.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 6th March 2008
The FTSE ended the day down 87.1 points at 5,766.4, which was about 110 points down from the high of the morning. Shame. the FTSE 250 closed down 153.3 points at 9,990.8
By the time London closed the DJI was about 120 points lower at 12,132, whilst the S&P500 was down about 16 points at 1,317.9 and the Nasdaq also down 16 points at 2,257. This was disappointinga ftre the little bounce yesterday, but the US house sales figures weren't encouraging, with the same figure as December. We will see what happens to morrow with the non-farm payroll figures.
back here in London it was the financial sector that pulled the FTSE down. Following on from our reports this morning on banks, the fund managers didn't have a good day. F&C gave a cautious outlook, as did Deutche Bank. F&C reported annual profits of £25.9m, which was up from a £30m loss last year. The fact that friends Provident had offloaded its 53% holding didn't help, but shares were up nearly a penny, though. Friends Providentwas down 6p howeveer, closing at 121.5p. Peer Standard Life cloosed down nearly 7p at at 209p and Old Mutual cloosed down 6.9p at 115.1p.
Schroders cloosed down 49p at 957 on a deutche Bank downgrade and a sell rating replayed to investors. Deutche Bank also lowered its feelings on New Star Asset Management with a 'sell' rating, down from 'buy'. New Star fell over 8p to 87.5p.
British Airways closed down 20p at 245p after warning of a possible 20% increase in fuel costs this year, which is another £450m to £2.5 bln on kerosene for its aeroplanes. A hefty figure to swallow, and oil doesn't look like getting cheaper, with US$105 being passed today. The airline held an investors day and informed margins were dropping from 10% to 7%. The shareprice had a good day yesterday, with a 2 or 3 day 'long' in play. Stops were hit today.
Cruises operator Carnival was down 68p to 1,949 also on oil price concerns.
Liberty International lost some of its gains yesterday as the property group closed down 27p at 1,003 after news that the group's FD will step down later this month.
Marks & Spencer was down another 11.5p to close at just shy of 390p, with other high street retailers falling too, with Next down 26p at 1,276. Even John lewis, whio handed out some decent bonuses to all its staff, warned of tighter trading this year.
Supermarklets did ok, with mainland europe peers posting good results. sainsbury was up over 4p at 351.25, Tescos up 11.25p at 403p, and Morrisons up 1.25p to close just shy of 296p.
Housebuilders were also lower as a reaction to the no change in interest rates by the Bank of England. House prices were also down again, 0.3% last month. Persimmons was down 4.5p at 698.5, Bellway down 19p at 816 and Bovis down 5p at 570p. Peer Taylor Wimpey had a better day, up 3.3p at 164.7 after reporting priofts of £535.6m, some £5m better than expected, but still down from £776.5m last year. The builder will leave the FTSE 100 bnext week in the reshuffle after falling to a 12-month low recently.
International Power closed up 24p at 385 after reporting a 17% rise in profits to £904m. Broker support reiterated an 'outperform' rating. Peer British Energy closed up 18p at 565 in sympathy and a Goldman Sachs target of 795p, up from 714p. Peers followed, with Scottish & Southern Energy closing up 14p at 1,438 and National Grid up 3p to 727.
By the time London closed the DJI was about 120 points lower at 12,132, whilst the S&P500 was down about 16 points at 1,317.9 and the Nasdaq also down 16 points at 2,257. This was disappointinga ftre the little bounce yesterday, but the US house sales figures weren't encouraging, with the same figure as December. We will see what happens to morrow with the non-farm payroll figures.
back here in London it was the financial sector that pulled the FTSE down. Following on from our reports this morning on banks, the fund managers didn't have a good day. F&C gave a cautious outlook, as did Deutche Bank. F&C reported annual profits of £25.9m, which was up from a £30m loss last year. The fact that friends Provident had offloaded its 53% holding didn't help, but shares were up nearly a penny, though. Friends Providentwas down 6p howeveer, closing at 121.5p. Peer Standard Life cloosed down nearly 7p at at 209p and Old Mutual cloosed down 6.9p at 115.1p.
Schroders cloosed down 49p at 957 on a deutche Bank downgrade and a sell rating replayed to investors. Deutche Bank also lowered its feelings on New Star Asset Management with a 'sell' rating, down from 'buy'. New Star fell over 8p to 87.5p.
British Airways closed down 20p at 245p after warning of a possible 20% increase in fuel costs this year, which is another £450m to £2.5 bln on kerosene for its aeroplanes. A hefty figure to swallow, and oil doesn't look like getting cheaper, with US$105 being passed today. The airline held an investors day and informed margins were dropping from 10% to 7%. The shareprice had a good day yesterday, with a 2 or 3 day 'long' in play. Stops were hit today.
Cruises operator Carnival was down 68p to 1,949 also on oil price concerns.
Liberty International lost some of its gains yesterday as the property group closed down 27p at 1,003 after news that the group's FD will step down later this month.
Marks & Spencer was down another 11.5p to close at just shy of 390p, with other high street retailers falling too, with Next down 26p at 1,276. Even John lewis, whio handed out some decent bonuses to all its staff, warned of tighter trading this year.
Supermarklets did ok, with mainland europe peers posting good results. sainsbury was up over 4p at 351.25, Tescos up 11.25p at 403p, and Morrisons up 1.25p to close just shy of 296p.
Housebuilders were also lower as a reaction to the no change in interest rates by the Bank of England. House prices were also down again, 0.3% last month. Persimmons was down 4.5p at 698.5, Bellway down 19p at 816 and Bovis down 5p at 570p. Peer Taylor Wimpey had a better day, up 3.3p at 164.7 after reporting priofts of £535.6m, some £5m better than expected, but still down from £776.5m last year. The builder will leave the FTSE 100 bnext week in the reshuffle after falling to a 12-month low recently.
International Power closed up 24p at 385 after reporting a 17% rise in profits to £904m. Broker support reiterated an 'outperform' rating. Peer British Energy closed up 18p at 565 in sympathy and a Goldman Sachs target of 795p, up from 714p. Peers followed, with Scottish & Southern Energy closing up 14p at 1,438 and National Grid up 3p to 727.
Morning Market, Thursday 6th March 2008
The FTSE was down 30 points in its first hour, at around the 5,822 level. The FTSE 250 was down about 80 points 10,064. It seems that since the divvies were paid by banks yesterday some are moving away and taking some profit, ahead of the Bank of England interest rate decision later on. We would like to see a further cut, but we think the rates may remaiun unchanged at 5.25% base rate.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up 41.19 points at 12,254.99, whilst the S&P500 closed up nearly 7 points at 1,333.70 and the Nasdaq up 12.53 points to close at 2,272.81.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei closed up 243.36 points at 13,215.42, whilst in Hoing Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 228.39 points at 23,342.73.
After paying dividends yesterday, we saw the banks down this morning. Barclays was down 10p at 437.5, Lloyds TSB down 3p at 425 and RBS down 4.5p at a shade over 350p.
International Power had a jump this morning, up over 4% or 16p to 377p after it announced a 17% rise in profits to £904m, up from £773m last time out. Peers liked it, with British Energy up 17p at 564p and Drax up nearly 2p at 556.5p.
With oil still very strong, and OPEC refusing to move on from 32m bbl per day output, airline British Airways felt some pressure. The airline was down 10p at 255p with many blaming the oil price as a reson to bail. Oil was up quite close to an unbelievable US$105 bbl in the Far East early this morning, with news of an unexpected drop in US stock piles and the OPEC standing fast on its refusal to raise produiction. The oil majors liked the nes, though, and RD Shell was up 8p at 1,780, BP up 1.5p at 548.5p and BG Group was up 6p to 1,219.
Builder Taylor Wimpey was down 2p at 162.2 after reporting a pre-tax profits for the year of £535.6m before exceptionals, which was down from £776.5m last time out.
With commodity prices still strong, the miners were doing ok. Kazakhmys reported full year results of a 1.2% rise in earnings of US$2.336 bln, which was up from US$2.308 bln last time out. EPS was US$3.02, up from US$3. Shares rose 29p to 1,762, whilst peers were also doing ok. Lonmin was up 55p at 3,586, BHP up 21p at 1,678, Anglo up 28p at 4,493, Vedanta up 21p at 2,330, Rio up 16p at 5,816 and Anto was up 7p at 844p.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up 41.19 points at 12,254.99, whilst the S&P500 closed up nearly 7 points at 1,333.70 and the Nasdaq up 12.53 points to close at 2,272.81.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei closed up 243.36 points at 13,215.42, whilst in Hoing Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 228.39 points at 23,342.73.
After paying dividends yesterday, we saw the banks down this morning. Barclays was down 10p at 437.5, Lloyds TSB down 3p at 425 and RBS down 4.5p at a shade over 350p.
International Power had a jump this morning, up over 4% or 16p to 377p after it announced a 17% rise in profits to £904m, up from £773m last time out. Peers liked it, with British Energy up 17p at 564p and Drax up nearly 2p at 556.5p.
With oil still very strong, and OPEC refusing to move on from 32m bbl per day output, airline British Airways felt some pressure. The airline was down 10p at 255p with many blaming the oil price as a reson to bail. Oil was up quite close to an unbelievable US$105 bbl in the Far East early this morning, with news of an unexpected drop in US stock piles and the OPEC standing fast on its refusal to raise produiction. The oil majors liked the nes, though, and RD Shell was up 8p at 1,780, BP up 1.5p at 548.5p and BG Group was up 6p to 1,219.
Builder Taylor Wimpey was down 2p at 162.2 after reporting a pre-tax profits for the year of £535.6m before exceptionals, which was down from £776.5m last time out.
With commodity prices still strong, the miners were doing ok. Kazakhmys reported full year results of a 1.2% rise in earnings of US$2.336 bln, which was up from US$2.308 bln last time out. EPS was US$3.02, up from US$3. Shares rose 29p to 1,762, whilst peers were also doing ok. Lonmin was up 55p at 3,586, BHP up 21p at 1,678, Anglo up 28p at 4,493, Vedanta up 21p at 2,330, Rio up 16p at 5,816 and Anto was up 7p at 844p.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 5th March 2008
The FTSE closed up 85.8 points up at 5,853.5, which was close to the session's high of 5,860.5, and up about 90 points fronm the session low. The FTSE 250 closed up 199.6 points at 10,144.1.
In the US, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 88 points at 12,302, with the ISM service figures came in better than expceted, which was received well.
Here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was property group Liberty International that had the best day, closing up 87p at 1,030 after press reports that an Aussie group and Singaporian group are sniffing with a view to create a monster shopping mall building group. Peers liked the news, with Hammerson up a penny at 1,134, British Land up 52p at 988, Great Portland Estates up 33.5p at 522.5p, and Derwent London up 86p to close at 1,514.
Insuance group Prudential clloed up 41p at 643.5p on rumours of a bid from a Chinese insurance group was doing the rounds.
Airline British Airways cloosed up 14.5p at 265p on decetn traffic figures. The Marke Analyser picked this one nicely yesterday - check the patterns too. A nice 5%-7% trade on this one already. BA said it carried 6.5% more pax in Feb that last year, and added that its load factor was also up slightly too. More importantly, they said that premium traffic was up over 15%, whilst economy traffic was up 3.4%.
Outsourcing outfit Capita Group cloosed up 38p at 7-quid aftre it said it had been named as the preferred bidder by the Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council for a property and highway services contract worth around £70m.
The banks were all over the place today, with HBOS closing up 31p at 574.5p after a ABN Amro upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell', but others didn't do so well, especially as many went ex-dividend. As we mentioned this morning, about 30 points was taken off the FTSE just by the banks correcting after the divvy paymnets were removed from the price, with Barclays and Lloyds also hearing they are subject to a US investigation for potential violations of sanctions against Iran, Libya, Cuba, and Sudan. Barclays closed down over 12p at 355, Lloyds TSB down 12p at 428.25p, and RBS down nealry 15p at 352.5p.
Miners suffered a little, with the Vale situation hanging over Xstrata, who closoed down 2p at 3,960 despite commodities being so strong.
In the US, by the time London closed the DJI was up about 88 points at 12,302, with the ISM service figures came in better than expceted, which was received well.
Here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was property group Liberty International that had the best day, closing up 87p at 1,030 after press reports that an Aussie group and Singaporian group are sniffing with a view to create a monster shopping mall building group. Peers liked the news, with Hammerson up a penny at 1,134, British Land up 52p at 988, Great Portland Estates up 33.5p at 522.5p, and Derwent London up 86p to close at 1,514.
Insuance group Prudential clloed up 41p at 643.5p on rumours of a bid from a Chinese insurance group was doing the rounds.
Airline British Airways cloosed up 14.5p at 265p on decetn traffic figures. The Marke Analyser picked this one nicely yesterday - check the patterns too. A nice 5%-7% trade on this one already. BA said it carried 6.5% more pax in Feb that last year, and added that its load factor was also up slightly too. More importantly, they said that premium traffic was up over 15%, whilst economy traffic was up 3.4%.
Outsourcing outfit Capita Group cloosed up 38p at 7-quid aftre it said it had been named as the preferred bidder by the Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council for a property and highway services contract worth around £70m.
The banks were all over the place today, with HBOS closing up 31p at 574.5p after a ABN Amro upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell', but others didn't do so well, especially as many went ex-dividend. As we mentioned this morning, about 30 points was taken off the FTSE just by the banks correcting after the divvy paymnets were removed from the price, with Barclays and Lloyds also hearing they are subject to a US investigation for potential violations of sanctions against Iran, Libya, Cuba, and Sudan. Barclays closed down over 12p at 355, Lloyds TSB down 12p at 428.25p, and RBS down nealry 15p at 352.5p.
Miners suffered a little, with the Vale situation hanging over Xstrata, who closoed down 2p at 3,960 despite commodities being so strong.
SAB Miller, now looking for some strength
The brewer SAB Miller was subject to many M&A speculation and other bid-type comments recently, and has since fgallen back but does now appear to try and be breaking support. Watch those 20 & 50 MAs.
3i Group, a rare 'Long' in these difficults markets
One we have decided to go against the trend with is 3i Group. First target of 20-day Moving Average. But run a stop.
Morning Market, Wednesday 5th March 2008
The FTSE was up 12 points at about 5,780 in its first hour of trading, basically on the back of the turn up over the pond last night before closing. The FTSE 250 was up around 80 points at 10,025.
As mentioned, in the US last night the DJI did much better in the end, thanks to some bargain basement searching and some encouraging comments by big techie, Cisco Systems. The DJI closed down 45.1 points at 12,213.8, BUT this was up about 200 points from the session's low earlier on. There had been a poor start as Citibank took some more stick early in the session after Merrills lowered its full-year earnings prediction for the year. A Dubai fund executive then added that Citibank will need to raise more cash to stay in business. Then, of course, was the Intel update, which was negative. So Cisco's news bouyed everyone somewhat. The S&P500 closed down 4.59 points at 1,326.75 and the Nasdaq actually rose 1.68 points to close at 2,260.28.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closoed down 20.22 points at 12,972.06, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 230 points at 22,888 by its lunchtime chow. Let's hope all the 'Eights' in the lunchtime figure brings the market some luck in the afternoon.
Here in London this morning it was fairly ok too, with M&A rumours around Liberty International, the property company, whilst TV broadcaster ITV was up on a positive update. Liberty International was up nealry 60 points after an hour, tarding at 10-quid a pop after press reports of some merger & aquisition rumours for the proprty group from both Australia and Singapore.
ITV was up 1.7p at 68.2p after reporting lower revenue for last year but added that it expectes to see a better year this year. Last year's phone-in problems, meaning massive refunds etc, was said to be partly to blame for the figures.
With the banks going ex-dividend today most fell back accordingly, with the big boys taking about 30 points of the FTSE 100 figures this morning just by going ex-div. There was also a pointer or two reported in the FT that Barclays & Lloyfds TSB were under some sort of investigation by the US relating to potential violations of sanctions against four countries, namely: Libya, Iran, Cuba, and Sudan. So by about 9am we had Barclays down about 17p at 440p, Lloyds TSB down 16p 424p, and RBS down 15p at 352p. HSBC, on the other hand, continued on from yesterday with another rise up 16p at 785p. Peer HBOS also did ok early doors, up 18p at 562 after an ABN Amro upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell'.
As mentioned, in the US last night the DJI did much better in the end, thanks to some bargain basement searching and some encouraging comments by big techie, Cisco Systems. The DJI closed down 45.1 points at 12,213.8, BUT this was up about 200 points from the session's low earlier on. There had been a poor start as Citibank took some more stick early in the session after Merrills lowered its full-year earnings prediction for the year. A Dubai fund executive then added that Citibank will need to raise more cash to stay in business. Then, of course, was the Intel update, which was negative. So Cisco's news bouyed everyone somewhat. The S&P500 closed down 4.59 points at 1,326.75 and the Nasdaq actually rose 1.68 points to close at 2,260.28.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closoed down 20.22 points at 12,972.06, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down about 230 points at 22,888 by its lunchtime chow. Let's hope all the 'Eights' in the lunchtime figure brings the market some luck in the afternoon.
Here in London this morning it was fairly ok too, with M&A rumours around Liberty International, the property company, whilst TV broadcaster ITV was up on a positive update. Liberty International was up nealry 60 points after an hour, tarding at 10-quid a pop after press reports of some merger & aquisition rumours for the proprty group from both Australia and Singapore.
ITV was up 1.7p at 68.2p after reporting lower revenue for last year but added that it expectes to see a better year this year. Last year's phone-in problems, meaning massive refunds etc, was said to be partly to blame for the figures.
With the banks going ex-dividend today most fell back accordingly, with the big boys taking about 30 points of the FTSE 100 figures this morning just by going ex-div. There was also a pointer or two reported in the FT that Barclays & Lloyfds TSB were under some sort of investigation by the US relating to potential violations of sanctions against four countries, namely: Libya, Iran, Cuba, and Sudan. So by about 9am we had Barclays down about 17p at 440p, Lloyds TSB down 16p 424p, and RBS down 15p at 352p. HSBC, on the other hand, continued on from yesterday with another rise up 16p at 785p. Peer HBOS also did ok early doors, up 18p at 562 after an ABN Amro upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell'.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 4th March 2008
The FTSE closed down 50.9 points today at 5,767.7, which is a shame as it started with some promise. The close was 105 points down on the day's high. The FTSE 250 closed down 69.4 points at 9,944.5.
By the time London closed the US was also looking poor, with the DJI down about 134 points, the S&P500 down around 15 points at 1,317 and the Nasdaq down 25 points at 2,233.5. It seems the profit warning for 1st quarter from PC chip king Intel had concerned most. Then Bernanke, the Fed Reserve Chairman, rubbed some salt in by saying that they reckoned house prices had further to fall. This is a recession, but no-one wants to actually confirm it.
Back here in London, we saw HSBC reverse yesterday's gains, closing down 21p at 769 as broker Goldman Sachs cut its target for the bank to 965p, down from 1,007, as it said that losses for the bank in the States were around US$1.7 bln worse than expected, and were only helped by the strong performance in the Far East. The banks figures had been around what was expected, though, but one thinks further losses in the USA could effect the future.
UK car insurance giant Admiral had a bad day with some average figures, which showed lower profit, prompting a broket downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Cable & Wireless closed down 20.4p at 157.0 with a broker Collins Stewart downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' with a 180p target.
News also heard today that supermarket Morrison was up to its highest share of the market ever, up to 11.6% for the last 3 months reported period.
The miners helped the FTSE, though, with most having a good day. Commodities are strong, and look to remain so. Rumours were also around that Lonmin could be approached with a 40-quid a pop bid, helping a 85p rise to close at 3,345p. Kazakhmys had the best day, though, up 81p at 1,645 on hopes of some decent results on Thursday. Peer Anglo closed up 79p at 3,354 and Vedanta up 47p at 2,237.
Cairn Energy closed up 52p at 2,650 mainly due to oil being at record levels, and a company update on Cairn India's pipeline cost recovery scheme prompting broker reiterating a 'buy' stance.
Schroders closed up 36p at 962 after its reported 35% rise in profits to £392m, £17m more than analysts expected. Peer Man Group cloosed up 3.5p at 535.5 on a broker Evo upgrade to 'buy' from 'add' and a 670p target.
ITV was up 1.1p at 66.5 ahead of the TV broadcaster's results tomorrow.
Premier Foods closed up nearly 7p at just shy of 99p after its announced £170.8m profit, up from £84.8m last year.
By the time London closed the US was also looking poor, with the DJI down about 134 points, the S&P500 down around 15 points at 1,317 and the Nasdaq down 25 points at 2,233.5. It seems the profit warning for 1st quarter from PC chip king Intel had concerned most. Then Bernanke, the Fed Reserve Chairman, rubbed some salt in by saying that they reckoned house prices had further to fall. This is a recession, but no-one wants to actually confirm it.
Back here in London, we saw HSBC reverse yesterday's gains, closing down 21p at 769 as broker Goldman Sachs cut its target for the bank to 965p, down from 1,007, as it said that losses for the bank in the States were around US$1.7 bln worse than expected, and were only helped by the strong performance in the Far East. The banks figures had been around what was expected, though, but one thinks further losses in the USA could effect the future.
UK car insurance giant Admiral had a bad day with some average figures, which showed lower profit, prompting a broket downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Cable & Wireless closed down 20.4p at 157.0 with a broker Collins Stewart downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' with a 180p target.
News also heard today that supermarket Morrison was up to its highest share of the market ever, up to 11.6% for the last 3 months reported period.
The miners helped the FTSE, though, with most having a good day. Commodities are strong, and look to remain so. Rumours were also around that Lonmin could be approached with a 40-quid a pop bid, helping a 85p rise to close at 3,345p. Kazakhmys had the best day, though, up 81p at 1,645 on hopes of some decent results on Thursday. Peer Anglo closed up 79p at 3,354 and Vedanta up 47p at 2,237.
Cairn Energy closed up 52p at 2,650 mainly due to oil being at record levels, and a company update on Cairn India's pipeline cost recovery scheme prompting broker reiterating a 'buy' stance.
Schroders closed up 36p at 962 after its reported 35% rise in profits to £392m, £17m more than analysts expected. Peer Man Group cloosed up 3.5p at 535.5 on a broker Evo upgrade to 'buy' from 'add' and a 670p target.
ITV was up 1.1p at 66.5 ahead of the TV broadcaster's results tomorrow.
Premier Foods closed up nearly 7p at just shy of 99p after its announced £170.8m profit, up from £84.8m last year.
Morning Market, Tuesday 4th March 2008
The FTSE was up about 40 points in its first hour of trading at about 5,859, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 70 points at 10,085.
Lats night over the pond the DJI closed down 7.49 points at 12,258.90, which was bettre than earlier in the session when it was 100 points down. The S&P500 closed up a smidge - less than a point - at 1,331.34. the Nasdaq closed down 12.88 points at 2,258.60.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 barely closed up - just one tenth of a point at 12,992.28, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 155.89 points at 23,429.08.
Oil was up yet again, with Light Sweet (Apr del) up nearly 20cents at US$102.64 bbl, and Brent North Sea crude (Apr del) up over 20c at 100.69 bbl.
Back here in London it was asset manager Schroders that was leading this morning - up 50p at 976p after it reported a 35% rise in profits to £392.5m, which was better than expected by analysts, and up from £290m last year.
Other financials liked the news, with Man Group up 12p at 544p with a broker upgare to 'buy#' as well. Henderson Group was up over 4p at a quid as well.
Banks moved up a bit, after the recent falls, with some investors feeling the bottom was around this level and there were some bargains on offer. Barclays was up 11p at 472.5p, RBS up 10p at 379p, and Lloyds TSB was up 6p at 450p.
Kingfisher was up 4.7p at 130.7 after some bid ruours were around, with private equity group Blackstone bing in the frame.
The miners were also up, with commodities remaining strong. Anglo was up 43p at 3,318, Lonmin up 44p at 420p, and Anto up 9p at 827p.
Admiral Group was down 14p at 988p as it said 2008 was going to be difficult. Citigroup downgrade to 'hold' followed.
Lats night over the pond the DJI closed down 7.49 points at 12,258.90, which was bettre than earlier in the session when it was 100 points down. The S&P500 closed up a smidge - less than a point - at 1,331.34. the Nasdaq closed down 12.88 points at 2,258.60.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 barely closed up - just one tenth of a point at 12,992.28, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 155.89 points at 23,429.08.
Oil was up yet again, with Light Sweet (Apr del) up nearly 20cents at US$102.64 bbl, and Brent North Sea crude (Apr del) up over 20c at 100.69 bbl.
Back here in London it was asset manager Schroders that was leading this morning - up 50p at 976p after it reported a 35% rise in profits to £392.5m, which was better than expected by analysts, and up from £290m last year.
Other financials liked the news, with Man Group up 12p at 544p with a broker upgare to 'buy#' as well. Henderson Group was up over 4p at a quid as well.
Banks moved up a bit, after the recent falls, with some investors feeling the bottom was around this level and there were some bargains on offer. Barclays was up 11p at 472.5p, RBS up 10p at 379p, and Lloyds TSB was up 6p at 450p.
Kingfisher was up 4.7p at 130.7 after some bid ruours were around, with private equity group Blackstone bing in the frame.
The miners were also up, with commodities remaining strong. Anglo was up 43p at 3,318, Lonmin up 44p at 420p, and Anto up 9p at 827p.
Admiral Group was down 14p at 988p as it said 2008 was going to be difficult. Citigroup downgrade to 'hold' followed.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 3rd March 2008
The FTSE had a weak day, closing down 65.7 points at 5,818.6, which was about 48 points up on the session's low of the day. The FTSE 250 closed down 54 points at 10,103.9.
Over the pond in the US, everyone was reading Warren Buffet's comments on the US economy, which summarised was that the US is in recession and stocks aren't cheap enough yet. By the time London was closed the DJI was down about 36 points at 12,230, whilst the S&P500 was even at 1,330 and Nasdaq Composite was down nearly 9 points at 2,262.
Back here in London the banks suffered, with the exception of HSBC, which posted some fairly decent results. Anyway, the other banks were down, with HBOS down to an almost 5-year low at 558p, down 45.5p on the day. Otehrs were also under pressure, with RBS down nearly 16p at 369.25p, Barclays down over 15p at 462p, Alliance & Leicester down 38p at 525.5p and Bradford & Bingley closed down nearly 10%, or 20.5p at 204.5. Mind you, as mentioned above, though, HSBC actually closed up 24p at 790p as investors all liked the 10% increase in profits. This was the only positive bank news on the board today.
Other financials were also under pressure too, with insurer Friends Provident down.5p at 127p and Aviva off 27p to close at 584.5p.
FT publisher Pearson closed down 17.5p at 648.5p due to worries about its US business and exposure, with the educational books and publications looking to not be growing, to sy the least. Shame, really, as the publisher's figures were actually better than expexcted.
As mentioned this morning, Rentokil look to be secretly planning to split the business after the recent 2nd profit warning. The shares fell nearly a penny today to close at 82.6p.
Oil was up again, but this didn't help the majors as the weak dollar was the main reson for the rise. Brent (Apr delivery) was at US$101.75 bbl, up over US$1.6 bbl on the day, but major BP was actually down 5.5p at 540.5p on the day, and RD Shell was down 39p on the day to close at 1,742. Peer cairn Energy was off 119p to close at 2,598p.
Other commoditioes were also up, as the dollar took some stick. Gold was getting close to that US$1k ounce, trading at US$989 ounce, whilst other metals also rose as platinum, palladium and silver were also up. Miners liked this, though, and Anglo closed up 41p at 3,275p, Lonmin was up 45p at 3,352p and bid-target Xstrata closed up 40p at 40-quid after some decent results too. Broket JM Finn reiterated its buy stance.
Close Brothers closed down 23p at 636 on news of a 2% fall in 1st half profit, blaming the current financial market and pressures. Recent talk of a takeover or group break up were squashed, with a firm 'no' for that route.
Moneysupermarket.com cloosed down nearly 7p at 131.25 after a broker downgrade to neutral.
WSP closed up 25.5p at 568p after decent year end figures, and a broker upgrade with 650p target helped too.
As mentioned this morning, Game Group said they'd be making another million quid more than originally estimated, with a forecasted £74m profit, up from £73m profit, looking likely. The shares closed up nearly 5p at 191p, and a broker upgrade to buy rating also helped investors move some vcash in.
Over the pond in the US, everyone was reading Warren Buffet's comments on the US economy, which summarised was that the US is in recession and stocks aren't cheap enough yet. By the time London was closed the DJI was down about 36 points at 12,230, whilst the S&P500 was even at 1,330 and Nasdaq Composite was down nearly 9 points at 2,262.
Back here in London the banks suffered, with the exception of HSBC, which posted some fairly decent results. Anyway, the other banks were down, with HBOS down to an almost 5-year low at 558p, down 45.5p on the day. Otehrs were also under pressure, with RBS down nearly 16p at 369.25p, Barclays down over 15p at 462p, Alliance & Leicester down 38p at 525.5p and Bradford & Bingley closed down nearly 10%, or 20.5p at 204.5. Mind you, as mentioned above, though, HSBC actually closed up 24p at 790p as investors all liked the 10% increase in profits. This was the only positive bank news on the board today.
Other financials were also under pressure too, with insurer Friends Provident down.5p at 127p and Aviva off 27p to close at 584.5p.
FT publisher Pearson closed down 17.5p at 648.5p due to worries about its US business and exposure, with the educational books and publications looking to not be growing, to sy the least. Shame, really, as the publisher's figures were actually better than expexcted.
As mentioned this morning, Rentokil look to be secretly planning to split the business after the recent 2nd profit warning. The shares fell nearly a penny today to close at 82.6p.
Oil was up again, but this didn't help the majors as the weak dollar was the main reson for the rise. Brent (Apr delivery) was at US$101.75 bbl, up over US$1.6 bbl on the day, but major BP was actually down 5.5p at 540.5p on the day, and RD Shell was down 39p on the day to close at 1,742. Peer cairn Energy was off 119p to close at 2,598p.
Other commoditioes were also up, as the dollar took some stick. Gold was getting close to that US$1k ounce, trading at US$989 ounce, whilst other metals also rose as platinum, palladium and silver were also up. Miners liked this, though, and Anglo closed up 41p at 3,275p, Lonmin was up 45p at 3,352p and bid-target Xstrata closed up 40p at 40-quid after some decent results too. Broket JM Finn reiterated its buy stance.
Close Brothers closed down 23p at 636 on news of a 2% fall in 1st half profit, blaming the current financial market and pressures. Recent talk of a takeover or group break up were squashed, with a firm 'no' for that route.
Moneysupermarket.com cloosed down nearly 7p at 131.25 after a broker downgrade to neutral.
WSP closed up 25.5p at 568p after decent year end figures, and a broker upgrade with 650p target helped too.
As mentioned this morning, Game Group said they'd be making another million quid more than originally estimated, with a forecasted £74m profit, up from £73m profit, looking likely. The shares closed up nearly 5p at 191p, and a broker upgrade to buy rating also helped investors move some vcash in.
Morning Market, Monday 3rd March 2008
The FTSE was dopwn this morning by about 95 points at 5,790 in its first hour of trading, whilst the FTSE 250 was down about 105 points at 9,963.
On Friday over the pond the DJI closed down over 2.5%, or 315.79 points at 12,266.39, whilst the S&P500 closed down a simlar amount, 37.05 points at 1,330.63, and the Nasdaq also more than 2.5%, down 60.09 at 2,271.48.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 closed down 610.84 points at 12,992.18, which is 4.5% on the day, whiclt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 3%, or 746.70 points at 23,584.97.
Back here in the London, it looks like the Bank of England may have to give some good news on interest rates on Thursday so to bring some confidence back to the market and investors.
The banks were all down today, except HSBC, which was up 10p at 776 after their results were seen as better than expected. However, peers were down, with HBOS down21p at 582.5, RBS down 13p 371, and Barclays fell 15-1/4 to 461-3/4.
Miners took some pressure, with Xstrata doing the best even though it was down 55p at 3,905 early doors, but its figures were received wvery well.
FT publisher Pearson was down 20p at 646p as investors showed concern about US business and growth of their publishing over there.
Rentokil are apparently planning to break up the business to relevant sectors after the poor figures last week which showed the courier and delivery business was not performing. The share price was down another 2p at 81.4p this morning.
Premier Foods was 3p lower at 89p after weekend press said a lower dividend will be paid so to help the balance sheet and lower cashflow.
WSP Group was up 16p at 558p after a broker upgrade to 'buy' and 650p target as the company unveiled full-year accounts ahead of expectations.
Keller Group was up 26p at 624 after announcing a 15% rise in divvy and better figures.
Game Group was up 8p at 194.5p after it announced profit would be at least £74m, a million up on the last estimate.
Shares in Rotork rose 15p at 1,007 in reaction to decent results with a 90% rise i profit for the Engineering Group on a £37.8m profit.
On Friday over the pond the DJI closed down over 2.5%, or 315.79 points at 12,266.39, whilst the S&P500 closed down a simlar amount, 37.05 points at 1,330.63, and the Nasdaq also more than 2.5%, down 60.09 at 2,271.48.
In the Far East this morning the Nikkei 225 closed down 610.84 points at 12,992.18, which is 4.5% on the day, whiclt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down 3%, or 746.70 points at 23,584.97.
Back here in the London, it looks like the Bank of England may have to give some good news on interest rates on Thursday so to bring some confidence back to the market and investors.
The banks were all down today, except HSBC, which was up 10p at 776 after their results were seen as better than expected. However, peers were down, with HBOS down21p at 582.5, RBS down 13p 371, and Barclays fell 15-1/4 to 461-3/4.
Miners took some pressure, with Xstrata doing the best even though it was down 55p at 3,905 early doors, but its figures were received wvery well.
FT publisher Pearson was down 20p at 646p as investors showed concern about US business and growth of their publishing over there.
Rentokil are apparently planning to break up the business to relevant sectors after the poor figures last week which showed the courier and delivery business was not performing. The share price was down another 2p at 81.4p this morning.
Premier Foods was 3p lower at 89p after weekend press said a lower dividend will be paid so to help the balance sheet and lower cashflow.
WSP Group was up 16p at 558p after a broker upgrade to 'buy' and 650p target as the company unveiled full-year accounts ahead of expectations.
Keller Group was up 26p at 624 after announcing a 15% rise in divvy and better figures.
Game Group was up 8p at 194.5p after it announced profit would be at least £74m, a million up on the last estimate.
Shares in Rotork rose 15p at 1,007 in reaction to decent results with a 90% rise i profit for the Engineering Group on a £37.8m profit.
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