Despite being up about 33 points at one stage during the day, the FTSE closed down 2 points today at 6,087.3, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down nearly 115 points at 10,122.3.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was up a healthy 111 points at 12,943, whilst the S&P500 was up 8 points at 1,399 and the Nasdaq up 17 points at 2,443. feeling is fairly positive on what is released by the Fed Res after their 2-day meeting.
Back here in London the miners weren't doing very well as the US Dollar was stronger, affecting metal prices. Vedanta had a bad day, down 105p at 2,245, whilst peer Kazakhmys closed down 66p at 1,582 after announcing its copper cathode production was down 16% compared to last year, blaming winter weather, and ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources)closed down 47p to 1,200. Anto did well, though, closing up 19.5p at just shy of 803p after saying its own copper production was up over 8% in the 1st quarter, although its costs more than doubled.
On to the banks, which also had a poor day. RBS was down a further 5.75p to close at 345p as investors began to show concern about the rights issue, whilst peer Barclays closed down 3.5p at 456.5, Lloyds TSB down 6.25p at 432.5p, and HBOS down another 16.25p at 470p after a Cazenove downgrade to 'in-line' from 'outperform'. HSBC, on the other hand, closed up 8.5p at just shy of 880p after a Goldman Sachs upgarde to 'buy' from 'sell' and upped its target by 20% as well.
The oil majors didn't do very well either, as the price of the black stuff came down a little as the dollar got stronger. BG Group didn't have a good day, closing down 77p to 1,231 aftre news of a £6 bln bid for Australia's Origin Energy Ltd was made known. BG announced record profits yesterday, together with a 76% rise in profit for the 1st quarter. BP closed down 2p to 611.25 despite a Credit Suisse upgrade to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and 720p target, whilst RD Shell closed down 15p to 2,027,5 despite a Credit Suisse 23-quid target.
Home Retail Group closed up over 21p at 264p after the retailer reported a 15% rise in full year profit, whcih was expected. This prompted Panmure Gordon to reiterate its 'buy' rating, saying Argos owner Home Retail delivered decent figures which were at the top end of expectations. It added that it felt HRG is better placed than most retailers for a hard ride in the High Street.
BSkyB closed up 4.5p to close at 545.25p after announcing a rise of 56,000 subscribers in th 3rd quarter, and said less people were defecting to rivals. It also said that 9 month sales were up 10% to £3.706 bln. ABN Amro liked the figures and news and reiterated its 'buy' rating. BSkyB's peer ITV closed up 1.6p to 66p.
Standard Life closed up nearly 23p to just shy of 231p after the Edinburgh-based insurer said UK sales for the 1st quarter were up 8%. Peer Admiral Group closed up 50.5p to 871.25p after a Citigroup upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
AstraZeneca closed up 36p to close at 2,128.5 after announcing it has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. FDA for approval of a new drug for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
PartyGaming closed down 2.25p to close at 24.25p on the back of rather mediocre 1st quarter figures, prompting broker Arbuthnot Securities to repeat its 'sell' stance and 15p target. The on-line gaming group announced 1st quarter revenues up to US$128.9m from US$106.2m last year for the same quarter, but this was really just as expected.
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Morning Market, 30th April 2008
The FTSE was about even at 6,089 in its first hour of trading, maybe down a point or so. The FTSE 250 was actually up over 40 points at 10,048. There is still some caution in the air until everyone hears what the Feds are going to do with interest rates.
Last night over the pond it was a similar scenario. The DJI closed down nearly 39 points at 12,831.94. The Fed Res is expected to cut rates by another 25 points, or 0.25%, to try and put more confidence back in to the US economy. We should hear about the time London closes later today. If rates do xcome down again that quarter per cent to 2% then economists believe they will stay there for a while. All this has helped the US Dollar, which is now a bit stronger than it weas last week. This has caused oil and metal prices to pull back a little too.
Brent crude (Jun del) has pulled back from recent record levels of above US$117 bbl and was trading at around the US$113.50 bbl in London this morning.
Back here in London, the miners took a hit due to the stronger dollar and a decent recent run. Rio was down 145p at 5,865, Vedanta down 90p to 2,260, BHP down 34p to 1,784p, Kazakhmys down 27p to 1,621 after it told of problems in its copper cathode production due to severe winter conditions, causing a fall in production, and Anto was down 4p to 779p.
UK house prices were 1.0 percent lower during April compared with a year earlier, the first year-on-year fall for 12 years, according to building society Nationwide.
Higher mortgage rates and tighter lending criteria are blamed for buyers staying away from the property market thsi month, causing the average house price to fall 1.1% from March to £178,555. Also, UK consumer confidence fell to its lowest level for nearly 16 years during the month. It's now quite obvious that there is a rather major economic slowdown building.
Back to stocks, where BSkyB had a decent start today, up 15p to 555p after announcing another new 56,000 customers for the 3rd quarter and added that it has seen an improvement in the number of customers leaving Sky for competitors. It also said that sales for 9 months was 10% up at £3.706 bln, but operating profit fell due to the cost of the move into broadband.
Home Retail Group, who own Argos, was up 9p at 251p after it reported an expected 15% rise in full year pre-tax profit, but added that Homebase, its home improvement business, had made a "weaker than anticipated" start to the new year. Broker Landsbanki retained its 'hold' rating.
Standard Life was 2.25p higher at 250p after the Edinburgh-based insurer said total sales for UK in the 1st quarter were up 8%, which was better than expected. Peer Admiral Group also had a good start, up 30p to 851p after a Broker Citigroup upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
BG Group didn't do so well, down 35p to 1,273p despite telling us of its 76% rise in net profit for Q1. Other related news may have affected the price as it was made known that BG made a £6 bln takeover bid overnight for Australia's Origin Energy Ltd.
Game Group was up another 7p to 271p after rumours of a bid form Texas-based Gamestop.
Partygaming was a penny down at 25p after reporting a 21% rise in 1st quarter revenues and added that it was confident about its prospects for 2008.
Bodycote International was up 30p to 242p after an upbeat trading statement, in which it it said it may sell its testing unit.
Last night over the pond it was a similar scenario. The DJI closed down nearly 39 points at 12,831.94. The Fed Res is expected to cut rates by another 25 points, or 0.25%, to try and put more confidence back in to the US economy. We should hear about the time London closes later today. If rates do xcome down again that quarter per cent to 2% then economists believe they will stay there for a while. All this has helped the US Dollar, which is now a bit stronger than it weas last week. This has caused oil and metal prices to pull back a little too.
Brent crude (Jun del) has pulled back from recent record levels of above US$117 bbl and was trading at around the US$113.50 bbl in London this morning.
Back here in London, the miners took a hit due to the stronger dollar and a decent recent run. Rio was down 145p at 5,865, Vedanta down 90p to 2,260, BHP down 34p to 1,784p, Kazakhmys down 27p to 1,621 after it told of problems in its copper cathode production due to severe winter conditions, causing a fall in production, and Anto was down 4p to 779p.
UK house prices were 1.0 percent lower during April compared with a year earlier, the first year-on-year fall for 12 years, according to building society Nationwide.
Higher mortgage rates and tighter lending criteria are blamed for buyers staying away from the property market thsi month, causing the average house price to fall 1.1% from March to £178,555. Also, UK consumer confidence fell to its lowest level for nearly 16 years during the month. It's now quite obvious that there is a rather major economic slowdown building.
Back to stocks, where BSkyB had a decent start today, up 15p to 555p after announcing another new 56,000 customers for the 3rd quarter and added that it has seen an improvement in the number of customers leaving Sky for competitors. It also said that sales for 9 months was 10% up at £3.706 bln, but operating profit fell due to the cost of the move into broadband.
Home Retail Group, who own Argos, was up 9p at 251p after it reported an expected 15% rise in full year pre-tax profit, but added that Homebase, its home improvement business, had made a "weaker than anticipated" start to the new year. Broker Landsbanki retained its 'hold' rating.
Standard Life was 2.25p higher at 250p after the Edinburgh-based insurer said total sales for UK in the 1st quarter were up 8%, which was better than expected. Peer Admiral Group also had a good start, up 30p to 851p after a Broker Citigroup upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
BG Group didn't do so well, down 35p to 1,273p despite telling us of its 76% rise in net profit for Q1. Other related news may have affected the price as it was made known that BG made a £6 bln takeover bid overnight for Australia's Origin Energy Ltd.
Game Group was up another 7p to 271p after rumours of a bid form Texas-based Gamestop.
Partygaming was a penny down at 25p after reporting a 21% rise in 1st quarter revenues and added that it was confident about its prospects for 2008.
Bodycote International was up 30p to 242p after an upbeat trading statement, in which it it said it may sell its testing unit.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 29th April 2008
The FTSE closed just a point down at 6,089.4 today, which was about 44 points off the day's high, and about 38 points up from the low. The FTSE 250 closed down 110.1 points at 10,007.4.
By the time London closed, the DJI was about 30 points down at 12,842, whilst the S&P500 was down about 5 points at 1,400, and the Nasdaq down about 6 points at 2,418. The Feds announce their interest rate decision tomorrow, and the feeling is one of caution after the economic data was fairly poor. The Standard & Poor's & Case Shiller home price index, which is for 20 cities, was down by 12.7% for February compared to last year, which is the worst figure since the index began in 2001. The US Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index came in at 62.3 in April, down from the revised 65.9 in March, but better than the 61.0 expected. However, this was still the weakest figure since March 2003.
Back here in London, the oil majors had the best day after both announcing decent 1st quarter figures. RD Shell closed up 112p at 2,035 after reporting a 25% rise in 1st quarter earnings, whilst BP closed up 34.5p at 613 after reporting a 63% rise in earnings. The BP figures were much better than expected. Peer BG Group closed up 10p at 1,308 on the back of the Shell & BP figures.
Insurance giant Friends Provident closed up 1p at 118.2 after an update that said its 1st quarter sales were up 11% on last year, which prompted Panmure Gordon to reiterate its 'buy' stance. Peer Admiral Group closed up 6.5p at 820.5 after also giving an upbeat trading statement in which it said its 1st quarter sales were up 14% on last year and it is on for full-year results at least in line with market expectations.
On to the banks, especially HBOS, where the proposed (or alleged) £4 bln rights issue was finally confirmed. The shares closed down 9p at just shy of 487p, despite starting the day positive. The bank said the rights issue was to build its reserves in preparation for a more challenging macroeconomic environment. This prompted broker Collins Stewart to reiterate its 'sell' stance. Peers were also down, with RBS clsoing down nearly 4p at just shy of 351p, and Barclays down 10.5p at 460p. barclays has yet to confirm a rights issue, which has been rumoured for a week or two now.
The miners also didn't do very well after Anglo gave a rather mediocre trading update. Gold and other metals fell, adding to the gloom. Anglo closed down 92p at 3,249 after it its said platinum and coal production fell in the 1st quarter, but blamed flooding and electricity problems in South Africa for most of the fall. This prompted Citigroup to downgrade Anglo to 'hold' from 'buy'. Peers were down too, with Kazakhmys having the worst day, closing down 77p to 1,648, whilst BHP closed down 59p at 1,818, and Rio closed down 216p at 6,010.
Pearson closed down 10p at 648p after Credit Suisse told clinets to move into Reed Elsevier as it reckons pearson will suffer in the US, where nearly 40% of its revenue comes from schools, which are having their budgets tightened. Pearson's US peer McGraw-Hill announced a 1st quarter drop in profit by 44%, which obviously didn't help. Thomson Reuters, recent joiner of the FTSE 100, closed down 10p at 1,583. They give an update this Thursday.
ARM Holdings closed up 11.5p at a quid-even after annoucning 1st quarter profits fairly flat, but adding that sales growth in 2008 would be simlar to 2007. Broker Arbuthnot reiterated its 'neutral' rating and 90p target for ARM.
Game Group closed up over 12p at 264.5p after reporting a 156% rise in underlying pre-tax profit and adding that trading so far in the current year was strong. This prompted ABN Amro to upgarde the computer games group to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon closed up 4p to 273p after an update which said that sales were down just 0.1% this last quarter. Broker Dresdner Kleinwort gave an upgrade to 'add' from 'hold', whilst broker Altium raised its rating to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Premier Foods closed down just over 7p at 126.5p after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' citing valuation grounds.
Genus closed down 48p to 795p after an update in which it said that whilst its dairy semen area was still strong, other areas of its business for non-dairy was challenging. This prompted a Panmure Gordon downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Taylor Nelson closed up 33p to 204p after confirming it's in talks with Germany's GfK about a possible merger. This prompted Investec to upgrade TNS to 'buy' from 'hold' and add a 230p target, up from 197p.
By the time London closed, the DJI was about 30 points down at 12,842, whilst the S&P500 was down about 5 points at 1,400, and the Nasdaq down about 6 points at 2,418. The Feds announce their interest rate decision tomorrow, and the feeling is one of caution after the economic data was fairly poor. The Standard & Poor's & Case Shiller home price index, which is for 20 cities, was down by 12.7% for February compared to last year, which is the worst figure since the index began in 2001. The US Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index came in at 62.3 in April, down from the revised 65.9 in March, but better than the 61.0 expected. However, this was still the weakest figure since March 2003.
Back here in London, the oil majors had the best day after both announcing decent 1st quarter figures. RD Shell closed up 112p at 2,035 after reporting a 25% rise in 1st quarter earnings, whilst BP closed up 34.5p at 613 after reporting a 63% rise in earnings. The BP figures were much better than expected. Peer BG Group closed up 10p at 1,308 on the back of the Shell & BP figures.
Insurance giant Friends Provident closed up 1p at 118.2 after an update that said its 1st quarter sales were up 11% on last year, which prompted Panmure Gordon to reiterate its 'buy' stance. Peer Admiral Group closed up 6.5p at 820.5 after also giving an upbeat trading statement in which it said its 1st quarter sales were up 14% on last year and it is on for full-year results at least in line with market expectations.
On to the banks, especially HBOS, where the proposed (or alleged) £4 bln rights issue was finally confirmed. The shares closed down 9p at just shy of 487p, despite starting the day positive. The bank said the rights issue was to build its reserves in preparation for a more challenging macroeconomic environment. This prompted broker Collins Stewart to reiterate its 'sell' stance. Peers were also down, with RBS clsoing down nearly 4p at just shy of 351p, and Barclays down 10.5p at 460p. barclays has yet to confirm a rights issue, which has been rumoured for a week or two now.
The miners also didn't do very well after Anglo gave a rather mediocre trading update. Gold and other metals fell, adding to the gloom. Anglo closed down 92p at 3,249 after it its said platinum and coal production fell in the 1st quarter, but blamed flooding and electricity problems in South Africa for most of the fall. This prompted Citigroup to downgrade Anglo to 'hold' from 'buy'. Peers were down too, with Kazakhmys having the worst day, closing down 77p to 1,648, whilst BHP closed down 59p at 1,818, and Rio closed down 216p at 6,010.
Pearson closed down 10p at 648p after Credit Suisse told clinets to move into Reed Elsevier as it reckons pearson will suffer in the US, where nearly 40% of its revenue comes from schools, which are having their budgets tightened. Pearson's US peer McGraw-Hill announced a 1st quarter drop in profit by 44%, which obviously didn't help. Thomson Reuters, recent joiner of the FTSE 100, closed down 10p at 1,583. They give an update this Thursday.
ARM Holdings closed up 11.5p at a quid-even after annoucning 1st quarter profits fairly flat, but adding that sales growth in 2008 would be simlar to 2007. Broker Arbuthnot reiterated its 'neutral' rating and 90p target for ARM.
Game Group closed up over 12p at 264.5p after reporting a 156% rise in underlying pre-tax profit and adding that trading so far in the current year was strong. This prompted ABN Amro to upgarde the computer games group to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon closed up 4p to 273p after an update which said that sales were down just 0.1% this last quarter. Broker Dresdner Kleinwort gave an upgrade to 'add' from 'hold', whilst broker Altium raised its rating to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Premier Foods closed down just over 7p at 126.5p after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' citing valuation grounds.
Genus closed down 48p to 795p after an update in which it said that whilst its dairy semen area was still strong, other areas of its business for non-dairy was challenging. This prompted a Panmure Gordon downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Taylor Nelson closed up 33p to 204p after confirming it's in talks with Germany's GfK about a possible merger. This prompted Investec to upgrade TNS to 'buy' from 'hold' and add a 230p target, up from 197p.
Morning Market, Tuesday 29th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 30 points this morning at 6,121, whislt the FTSE 250 was actually down 14 points at 10,103.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down just over 20 points to 12,871.75, whislt the S&P500 closed down just about 1.5 points at 1,396.37, and the Nasdaq did the opposite, up about 1.5 points at 2,424.40. The Feds speak tomorrow after thier 2-day meeting, in which they will decide whther inteest rates come down another 25 points. Or it doesn't.
In the Far East today, Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 280 points at 25,950 by its lunchtime.
Staying in the Far East with oil, the price of the blackstuff was backing off a little. Hopes of the Scottish refinary strike getting sorted sooner rather than later look on the cards, which may have helped pull the price back from those dizzy heights of US$120 bbl. Light Sweet (Jun del) was trading at US$118.50 bbl, down 25cents, whilst Brent (Jun del) was down a similar amount at US$116.50 bbl, 2-bucks cheaper.
Back here in London it was the oil majors that were strong, despite prices checking today, as recent strength in the oil price helped figures. BP was up 27p at 605p, RD Shell up 90p at 2,013p, BG Group was up 30p at 1,330, and cairn Energy was up 65p at 3,064p.
Insurer Friends Provident gave a decent update, saying sales up 11% on the same quarter last year, helping shares rise 1.1p to 118.3p.
Bank HBOS was up 2p at 498p despite this £4 bln rights issue that is coming. Apparently.
The Bank of England will be announcing mortgage lending figures today, which are expected to be rather downbeat, and much lower than last year.
The mining stocks were down this morning, with Anglo giving mediocre results, causing Citigroup to downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'. With metal prices also falling, others dropped too. Anglo was down 45p to 3,296, BHP down 38p to 1,839, and Rio down 110p to 6,116.
British Airways was down another 3p to 219.5p after press reports that the airline may have to come clean and issue a profit warnbing. Fuel prices and the Terminal 5 debacle causing massive costs to the airline.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon was up 12p to 281p after a decent trading update. Broker Altium gave an upgrade to Tim's Martin's pub group to added 'buy' from 'hold'.
Genus, the animal gene working group fell 45p to 798 after a rather lack-lustre trading statement.
Premier Foods was down 2p to 132p after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
Game Group was up nearly 20p to 271.5p after some decent results.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down just over 20 points to 12,871.75, whislt the S&P500 closed down just about 1.5 points at 1,396.37, and the Nasdaq did the opposite, up about 1.5 points at 2,424.40. The Feds speak tomorrow after thier 2-day meeting, in which they will decide whther inteest rates come down another 25 points. Or it doesn't.
In the Far East today, Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday, and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 280 points at 25,950 by its lunchtime.
Staying in the Far East with oil, the price of the blackstuff was backing off a little. Hopes of the Scottish refinary strike getting sorted sooner rather than later look on the cards, which may have helped pull the price back from those dizzy heights of US$120 bbl. Light Sweet (Jun del) was trading at US$118.50 bbl, down 25cents, whilst Brent (Jun del) was down a similar amount at US$116.50 bbl, 2-bucks cheaper.
Back here in London it was the oil majors that were strong, despite prices checking today, as recent strength in the oil price helped figures. BP was up 27p at 605p, RD Shell up 90p at 2,013p, BG Group was up 30p at 1,330, and cairn Energy was up 65p at 3,064p.
Insurer Friends Provident gave a decent update, saying sales up 11% on the same quarter last year, helping shares rise 1.1p to 118.3p.
Bank HBOS was up 2p at 498p despite this £4 bln rights issue that is coming. Apparently.
The Bank of England will be announcing mortgage lending figures today, which are expected to be rather downbeat, and much lower than last year.
The mining stocks were down this morning, with Anglo giving mediocre results, causing Citigroup to downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'. With metal prices also falling, others dropped too. Anglo was down 45p to 3,296, BHP down 38p to 1,839, and Rio down 110p to 6,116.
British Airways was down another 3p to 219.5p after press reports that the airline may have to come clean and issue a profit warnbing. Fuel prices and the Terminal 5 debacle causing massive costs to the airline.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon was up 12p to 281p after a decent trading update. Broker Altium gave an upgrade to Tim's Martin's pub group to added 'buy' from 'hold'.
Genus, the animal gene working group fell 45p to 798 after a rather lack-lustre trading statement.
Premier Foods was down 2p to 132p after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
Game Group was up nearly 20p to 271.5p after some decent results.
Monday, 28 April 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 28th April 2008
Despite being up as much as 43 points during the session, the FTSE ended the day down a point at 6,090.4, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 98.5 points at 10,117.5. It seems everyone is waiting for the interest rate news from the US on Wednesday.
By the time London closed the DJI was down about 8.5 points at 12,883, whilst the S&P500 was about even at 1,398, and the Nasdaq up 1.5 points at 2,424.5. All fairly flat.
With the price of the blackstuff so strong again, oil exploration stocks did well. Cairn Nergy closed up 93p at 2,999 on the back of a broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' on news from its Indian project at Rajasthan. Tullow Oil closed up another 7.5p at 764.5p, a new high. The two main heavyweights did ok, with RD shell down 4p at 1,941 after being higher during the day, and BOP closed up 1.5p at 578.5p. Shell and BP report 1st quarter results tomorrow. Brent crude (Jun del) hit US$117 bbl during the day.
The miners were strong as metals prices wwere up again. Copper giant Xstrata closed up 89p at 4,094 after a Credit Suisse 50-quid target, Anto up 20p at 802p, and Kazakhmys closed up 61p at 1,725.
On from this morning, Whitbread closed up 37p at 1,227 after decent resluts which were much bettre than expectations. Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'buy' stance.
On to retailers, where the non-food guys made up some of the ground lost recently. Home Retail Group closed up 11p at 251.25p, Next up 28p at 1,125, Kingfisher up 2.3p at 131p, and Marks & Sparks up nearly 15p to 375.25p.
The banks did ok today as well, with the planned (alleged?!) HBOS £4 bln rights issuse being taken well. HBOS closed down 1.25p at just shy of 496p, but this wasn't really taklen as negative. The bank may announce its plans tomorrow. RBS, who already announced the small matter of their own £12 bln rights issue, closed 5.5p higher at 354.5p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 15.5p at 530p.
Cadbury Schweppes was in talks with Wrigleys regaring their chewing gum departmnet. It appears there could be a deal to be done after the Cadburys de-merger of its beverage and confectionary parts of the business.
Shire Pharma closed down 37p to 903p after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'underperform' from 'neutral', with a 823p target, down from 930p.
And also on from this morning, financial software group Sage received a Morgan Stanley downgrade to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and a reduction in target from 255p to 185p, causing the price to close down nearly 4p at 201.25p.
After the Office of fair Trading alleged that tobacco firms were all in cahoots, the related shares were down. Imperial Tobacco closed down 7p at 2,543, and BAT was down 11p to 1,960. The major supermarkets were also affected, as they retail the said smokes too. Tesco closed down 6.5p to 420, Morrisons down 8.25p to just shy of 290p, and Sainsburys closed down nearly 9p at 384.
New FTSE 100 joiner Wood Group, the oil services company, closed down 19.5p at 434p after profit taking now that it's finally in the top flight. A decent run up to the joining of the index is usual.
Still having a good few days was Stagecoach Group, who climbed another 27.5p to close at just shy of 249p, up 12.5% on the day after announcing a decent update on business so far this year, which was far better than expected. Credit Suisse reiterated its 'outperform' stance and 275p target.
By the time London closed the DJI was down about 8.5 points at 12,883, whilst the S&P500 was about even at 1,398, and the Nasdaq up 1.5 points at 2,424.5. All fairly flat.
With the price of the blackstuff so strong again, oil exploration stocks did well. Cairn Nergy closed up 93p at 2,999 on the back of a broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' on news from its Indian project at Rajasthan. Tullow Oil closed up another 7.5p at 764.5p, a new high. The two main heavyweights did ok, with RD shell down 4p at 1,941 after being higher during the day, and BOP closed up 1.5p at 578.5p. Shell and BP report 1st quarter results tomorrow. Brent crude (Jun del) hit US$117 bbl during the day.
The miners were strong as metals prices wwere up again. Copper giant Xstrata closed up 89p at 4,094 after a Credit Suisse 50-quid target, Anto up 20p at 802p, and Kazakhmys closed up 61p at 1,725.
On from this morning, Whitbread closed up 37p at 1,227 after decent resluts which were much bettre than expectations. Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'buy' stance.
On to retailers, where the non-food guys made up some of the ground lost recently. Home Retail Group closed up 11p at 251.25p, Next up 28p at 1,125, Kingfisher up 2.3p at 131p, and Marks & Sparks up nearly 15p to 375.25p.
The banks did ok today as well, with the planned (alleged?!) HBOS £4 bln rights issuse being taken well. HBOS closed down 1.25p at just shy of 496p, but this wasn't really taklen as negative. The bank may announce its plans tomorrow. RBS, who already announced the small matter of their own £12 bln rights issue, closed 5.5p higher at 354.5p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 15.5p at 530p.
Cadbury Schweppes was in talks with Wrigleys regaring their chewing gum departmnet. It appears there could be a deal to be done after the Cadburys de-merger of its beverage and confectionary parts of the business.
Shire Pharma closed down 37p to 903p after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'underperform' from 'neutral', with a 823p target, down from 930p.
And also on from this morning, financial software group Sage received a Morgan Stanley downgrade to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and a reduction in target from 255p to 185p, causing the price to close down nearly 4p at 201.25p.
After the Office of fair Trading alleged that tobacco firms were all in cahoots, the related shares were down. Imperial Tobacco closed down 7p at 2,543, and BAT was down 11p to 1,960. The major supermarkets were also affected, as they retail the said smokes too. Tesco closed down 6.5p to 420, Morrisons down 8.25p to just shy of 290p, and Sainsburys closed down nearly 9p at 384.
New FTSE 100 joiner Wood Group, the oil services company, closed down 19.5p at 434p after profit taking now that it's finally in the top flight. A decent run up to the joining of the index is usual.
Still having a good few days was Stagecoach Group, who climbed another 27.5p to close at just shy of 249p, up 12.5% on the day after announcing a decent update on business so far this year, which was far better than expected. Credit Suisse reiterated its 'outperform' stance and 275p target.
Morning Market, Monday 28th April 2008
The FTSE was up baout 35 points at 6,128 in its first hour, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 120 points at 10,140.
Over the pond on Friday, things were looking more settled as the DJI closed up nearly 43 points at 12,891.86, whilst the S&P500 closed up 9 points at 1,397.84, and the Nasdaq actually closed down nearly 6 points at 2,422.93. It had started lower, but picked up as investors felt the week's satisfactory earnings reports, and that the Fed's cash input had helped to steady the economy. This week investors will be looking forward to the US Feds Open Market Committee meeting, which is expected to lower its benchmark borrowing rate. The Fed Res cut its key federal funds rate by 3/4% to 2.25% last month, and economists expect a further 1/4% fall this coming Wednesday, although this isn't certain.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 30.90 points at 13,894.37, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 95 points at 25,610 by lunchtime chow time.
Staying in the Far East, oil had almost hit that US$120 bbl figure today, wiht he new Grangemouth refinary problems in Scotland causing further concern. Light sweet (June del) was at US$119.93 bbl, whilst Brent North Sea crude (Jun del) was up nearly a buck at $117.25 bbl, about 30cents off its peak of the day.
Back here in London it was Oil stocks, Whitbread and the banks that were all chirping away this week. Whitbread was up 32p at 1,222 after reporting over a 26% rise in full-year earnings, which was much better than expected. It also said that it plans to increase the size of its Premier Inn hotel chain by 50% in the next five years. Pre-tax profit before exceptional items for year end 28Feb08 was up at £210.3m, up from £166.5m last year. Broker Merrills gave a 'buy' recommendation and a 23-quid target.
The banks were also doing well, with press reports that HBOS will be deciding today whether to take a £4 bln rights issue of its own, just to shore up its reserves. HBOS was up a penny at 498p, whilst peers were also doing ok - RBS up 6p at 355p, Barclays up 8p at 475p, and Alliance & Leicester gained 7 at 521-1/2.
As we emntioned above, with oil at nighg-on US$120 bbl, the oil majors were also up. RD Shell was up 23p at 1,949, BP was up 4p at 584p, BG Group was up 5p at 1,311, Cairn Energy was up 95p at 3,001, and Tullow Oil up 18p at 775.
The miners also did well, with Xstrata up 87p at 4,092, Lonmin up 69p at 3,264, Anto up 15p at 797p, and Vedanta up 32p at 2,389p.
Shire Pharma didn't have such a good start, though, down nearly 40p at 901p after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and a target cut to 823p, down from 930.
Financial software group Sage was down 4p to 201p after a Morgan Stanley downgrade to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and a target cut to 185p, down from 255p.
Stagecoach was up over 13p to 235p after a trading up0date that said this last quarter was much better than expected. Stagecoach said the JV with Virgin Rail had helped its earnings, which is hopes will be at about 20p. Its peers responded too, with Go-Ahead Group up 30p at 1,687p and National Express up 14p at 930p.
Centrica down a penny at 298p after a Societe Generale downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' and a target reduction to 260p from 295p.
Shaftesbury was down 10p to 523p after a Citigroup 'sell' rating and 5-quid target.
Over the pond on Friday, things were looking more settled as the DJI closed up nearly 43 points at 12,891.86, whilst the S&P500 closed up 9 points at 1,397.84, and the Nasdaq actually closed down nearly 6 points at 2,422.93. It had started lower, but picked up as investors felt the week's satisfactory earnings reports, and that the Fed's cash input had helped to steady the economy. This week investors will be looking forward to the US Feds Open Market Committee meeting, which is expected to lower its benchmark borrowing rate. The Fed Res cut its key federal funds rate by 3/4% to 2.25% last month, and economists expect a further 1/4% fall this coming Wednesday, although this isn't certain.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 30.90 points at 13,894.37, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 95 points at 25,610 by lunchtime chow time.
Staying in the Far East, oil had almost hit that US$120 bbl figure today, wiht he new Grangemouth refinary problems in Scotland causing further concern. Light sweet (June del) was at US$119.93 bbl, whilst Brent North Sea crude (Jun del) was up nearly a buck at $117.25 bbl, about 30cents off its peak of the day.
Back here in London it was Oil stocks, Whitbread and the banks that were all chirping away this week. Whitbread was up 32p at 1,222 after reporting over a 26% rise in full-year earnings, which was much better than expected. It also said that it plans to increase the size of its Premier Inn hotel chain by 50% in the next five years. Pre-tax profit before exceptional items for year end 28Feb08 was up at £210.3m, up from £166.5m last year. Broker Merrills gave a 'buy' recommendation and a 23-quid target.
The banks were also doing well, with press reports that HBOS will be deciding today whether to take a £4 bln rights issue of its own, just to shore up its reserves. HBOS was up a penny at 498p, whilst peers were also doing ok - RBS up 6p at 355p, Barclays up 8p at 475p, and Alliance & Leicester gained 7 at 521-1/2.
As we emntioned above, with oil at nighg-on US$120 bbl, the oil majors were also up. RD Shell was up 23p at 1,949, BP was up 4p at 584p, BG Group was up 5p at 1,311, Cairn Energy was up 95p at 3,001, and Tullow Oil up 18p at 775.
The miners also did well, with Xstrata up 87p at 4,092, Lonmin up 69p at 3,264, Anto up 15p at 797p, and Vedanta up 32p at 2,389p.
Shire Pharma didn't have such a good start, though, down nearly 40p at 901p after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and a target cut to 823p, down from 930.
Financial software group Sage was down 4p to 201p after a Morgan Stanley downgrade to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and a target cut to 185p, down from 255p.
Stagecoach was up over 13p to 235p after a trading up0date that said this last quarter was much better than expected. Stagecoach said the JV with Virgin Rail had helped its earnings, which is hopes will be at about 20p. Its peers responded too, with Go-Ahead Group up 30p at 1,687p and National Express up 14p at 930p.
Centrica down a penny at 298p after a Societe Generale downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' and a target reduction to 260p from 295p.
Shaftesbury was down 10p to 523p after a Citigroup 'sell' rating and 5-quid target.
Friday, 25 April 2008
Mark Wrap, Friday 25th April 2008
The FTSE ended the day up 40.7 poinst at 6,091.4, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 44.6 points at 10,019.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 83 points at 12,765, the S&P500 down 5 points at 1,384, and the Nasdaq down about 32 points at 2,397. Most of the bad feeling was due to Microsoft giving a disappointing forecast, but also the news that the consumer sentiment index was down to 62.6 from 69.5 for the previous month, which is the lowest level since the early 1980s. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of US economic activity, so this was a concern for investors.
Back here in London, it was the financials that did best today. News that Merrill Lynch was going to pay its usual dividend brought some cheers. The banks were also up, with Barclays clsing up 12p at 467.25, lloyds TSB up just over 6p at 442.25, HBOS up 8p at 497p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 21.5p at 514.5.
Staying with financials, the London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed up 40p to 1,144, whilst ICAP closed up 23.5p at 595.5, and Schroders closed up 35p at 1,055.
With oil nudging US$120 bbl, the stronger dollar helped check it back a little. This small retreat helped airlines and travel companies with aeroplanes, with British Airways closing up 8.5p at 221.25, and Thomas Cook close up 8.5p at 266p.
Transport firm Go-Ahead was up 207p at 1,657 said its 3rd quarter trading was strong and added that it expects this year to be as expected, and 'significantly' ahead of last year's record results. Peers followed up, with FirstGroup closing up 25p at 553, basically on the back of Go-Ahead, and Stagecoach closed up 18.25p at 221.25p.
Carphone Warehouse closed up 8p at 257p after a Morgan Stanley upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. The broker said it wasn't so concerned about cashflow as growth was very good.
Miners didn't do so well despite metals strong. Anto closoed down 26.5p at 782 on the back of an Evo downgrade to 'reduce' from 'add', Anglo down 27p to 3,381, and Kazakhmys closed down 27p to 1,664.
Shire pharma was down 42p at 940p after its recent strong run as investors took some profit. 1st quarter results this week had been as expected.
WPP closed down 37.5p at 592.5, off 6% on tha day, after the advertising and marketing group reported weaker than expected 1st quarter growth of 5% and added that revenues were affected by a slower March in Europe.
Mitchells & Butlers was down 3.5p at 309.25 after announcing it is not considered to be in an 'offer period' under Takeover Panel rules and added that it is continuing discussions with private equity investors in relation to a possible investment for a stake of up to 29.9 percent (just under the magic 30% rule figure) in the group at a premium to the current share price.
Game Group was nearly 8p up at just shy of 257p as investors await the full-year results next Tuesday where a 150% increase in pre-tax profit is expected.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down about 83 points at 12,765, the S&P500 down 5 points at 1,384, and the Nasdaq down about 32 points at 2,397. Most of the bad feeling was due to Microsoft giving a disappointing forecast, but also the news that the consumer sentiment index was down to 62.6 from 69.5 for the previous month, which is the lowest level since the early 1980s. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of US economic activity, so this was a concern for investors.
Back here in London, it was the financials that did best today. News that Merrill Lynch was going to pay its usual dividend brought some cheers. The banks were also up, with Barclays clsing up 12p at 467.25, lloyds TSB up just over 6p at 442.25, HBOS up 8p at 497p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 21.5p at 514.5.
Staying with financials, the London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed up 40p to 1,144, whilst ICAP closed up 23.5p at 595.5, and Schroders closed up 35p at 1,055.
With oil nudging US$120 bbl, the stronger dollar helped check it back a little. This small retreat helped airlines and travel companies with aeroplanes, with British Airways closing up 8.5p at 221.25, and Thomas Cook close up 8.5p at 266p.
Transport firm Go-Ahead was up 207p at 1,657 said its 3rd quarter trading was strong and added that it expects this year to be as expected, and 'significantly' ahead of last year's record results. Peers followed up, with FirstGroup closing up 25p at 553, basically on the back of Go-Ahead, and Stagecoach closed up 18.25p at 221.25p.
Carphone Warehouse closed up 8p at 257p after a Morgan Stanley upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. The broker said it wasn't so concerned about cashflow as growth was very good.
Miners didn't do so well despite metals strong. Anto closoed down 26.5p at 782 on the back of an Evo downgrade to 'reduce' from 'add', Anglo down 27p to 3,381, and Kazakhmys closed down 27p to 1,664.
Shire pharma was down 42p at 940p after its recent strong run as investors took some profit. 1st quarter results this week had been as expected.
WPP closed down 37.5p at 592.5, off 6% on tha day, after the advertising and marketing group reported weaker than expected 1st quarter growth of 5% and added that revenues were affected by a slower March in Europe.
Mitchells & Butlers was down 3.5p at 309.25 after announcing it is not considered to be in an 'offer period' under Takeover Panel rules and added that it is continuing discussions with private equity investors in relation to a possible investment for a stake of up to 29.9 percent (just under the magic 30% rule figure) in the group at a premium to the current share price.
Game Group was nearly 8p up at just shy of 257p as investors await the full-year results next Tuesday where a 150% increase in pre-tax profit is expected.
Morning Market, Friday 25th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 25 points at 6,076 this morning, whilst the FTSE 250 was up 50 points at 10,025. A fairly good day over the pond helped London this morning.
Last night on Wall Street the DJI closed up nearly 86 points at 12,848.95, whilst the S&P500 finished up nearly 9 points at 1,338.82, and the Nasdaq up nearly 24 points at 2,428.92.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed up 322.6 points at 13,863.47, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng closed 164 points down at 25,516.78.
Here in the UK the GDP figures are out today. It is expected that growth will fall by 0.5% in the last quarter, bringing annual growth to 2.6%, down from 2.8%.
On to stocks, whre here in london the banks tried a mini revival. Barclays was up 6p to 461p, Lloyds TSB up 8p to 444p, HBOS up 10p to 499p, and Alliance & leicester up 8p to 501p.
Oil had looked like breaking US$120 bbl, but with the US Dullar getting stronger it eased a little. So, with the oil price falling a little, the airlines and travel companies did better. British Airways was up 4p to 216.5, TUI Travel up 2p to 234, and Thomas Cook was up 3p to 260.5p.
Carphone Warehouse was up 39p to 1,598p on the back of a broker upgrade, as Morgan Stanley lifted its rating to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'.
Advertising & marketing group WPP was down 34p to 596p on announcing 5% growth for the 1st quarter, not as good as expected.
Insurance giant Aviva was down 11p to 615p after news of a 3% fall in sales in the UK weren't received well, despite decent results.
Pearson was down 2p to 663.5p after it said that it had made a decent start to the year. The education and newspaper publisher added trading was as expected.
Imperial Tobacco was down 17p to 2,524 after media reports that the competition watchdog will be on the warpath over price fixing between tobacco companies and retailers.
Thomson Reuters carried on from yesetrday, up 38p to 1,597p.
Go-Ahead was up 130p to 1,580 after it said it was doing well and that 3rd quarter trading was strong. It also said that the full year figures should be in line with expectations, which will be 'significantly ahead' of last year's record results. Peers Stagecoach and Firstgroup were up 9p at 212 and 22p to 550 respectively.
easyJet was down 2p to 286 after an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', citing fuel costs on the rise and the slowing of premium traffic and weakening consumer confidence. As part of a sector review, ABN said investors don't look like they want to touch airline stocks and it couldn't blame them.
Last night on Wall Street the DJI closed up nearly 86 points at 12,848.95, whilst the S&P500 finished up nearly 9 points at 1,338.82, and the Nasdaq up nearly 24 points at 2,428.92.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed up 322.6 points at 13,863.47, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng closed 164 points down at 25,516.78.
Here in the UK the GDP figures are out today. It is expected that growth will fall by 0.5% in the last quarter, bringing annual growth to 2.6%, down from 2.8%.
On to stocks, whre here in london the banks tried a mini revival. Barclays was up 6p to 461p, Lloyds TSB up 8p to 444p, HBOS up 10p to 499p, and Alliance & leicester up 8p to 501p.
Oil had looked like breaking US$120 bbl, but with the US Dullar getting stronger it eased a little. So, with the oil price falling a little, the airlines and travel companies did better. British Airways was up 4p to 216.5, TUI Travel up 2p to 234, and Thomas Cook was up 3p to 260.5p.
Carphone Warehouse was up 39p to 1,598p on the back of a broker upgrade, as Morgan Stanley lifted its rating to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'.
Advertising & marketing group WPP was down 34p to 596p on announcing 5% growth for the 1st quarter, not as good as expected.
Insurance giant Aviva was down 11p to 615p after news of a 3% fall in sales in the UK weren't received well, despite decent results.
Pearson was down 2p to 663.5p after it said that it had made a decent start to the year. The education and newspaper publisher added trading was as expected.
Imperial Tobacco was down 17p to 2,524 after media reports that the competition watchdog will be on the warpath over price fixing between tobacco companies and retailers.
Thomson Reuters carried on from yesetrday, up 38p to 1,597p.
Go-Ahead was up 130p to 1,580 after it said it was doing well and that 3rd quarter trading was strong. It also said that the full year figures should be in line with expectations, which will be 'significantly ahead' of last year's record results. Peers Stagecoach and Firstgroup were up 9p at 212 and 22p to 550 respectively.
easyJet was down 2p to 286 after an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', citing fuel costs on the rise and the slowing of premium traffic and weakening consumer confidence. As part of a sector review, ABN said investors don't look like they want to touch airline stocks and it couldn't blame them.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 24th April 2008
The FTSE 100 ended the day down nearly 33 points at 6,050.7, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 113.3 points at 9,974.4. The banks and miners didn't do very well, and some mediocre news from the US on house sales didn't help.
By the time London was closing, over the pond the DJI was actually up 39 points at 12,802, whilst the S&P500 was down just over 2 points at 1,377.6 and the Nasdaq was up nearly 10 points at 2,414. A mixed bunch, but it was mixed news. There was a drop in weekly unemployment claims, and some retailers were downbeat, but Ford Motor Company gave better than expected results.
Back here in London, the miners did the worst, really. Reversing recent gains, and noticing that Gold was sub US$900 again due the the dollar gaining some ground back on the €uro, we say ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) the worst of the bunch, falling 110p to 1,310 on that day, accompanied by an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'. Peer BHP was down 78p to 1,849p, Anglo down a quid to 3,408p, and Lonmins down 117p to 3,181p.
The stronger dollar also brought down the price of the black stuff, of course, with the oil heavyweights falling in sync. BP closed down 8.5p at 575p, RD Shell down 31p to 1,922, and Cairn Energy down 142p to 3,001p.
As we mentioned above, the banks also didn't have the best day. Collins Stewart downgraded Barclays to 'sell' from 'buy' after the AGM gave some concern. John Varley, the CEO, told investors that 1st quarter profit was down due to tough trading in March. He said that profits at Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors were well below the very strong profits of the equivalent period last year. barclays closed down 0.5p to just over 455p. Peers followed suit, with RBS down 4.25p to just shy of 341p, and HBOS down 11p to 489p.
Carrying on from this morning, fund manager Schroders closed down 73p in the end at 1,020p after it also gave lower figures. It said that its pre-tax profit for 1st quarter had fallen to £42.2m from £93.2m lat year, blaming lower private equity sales revenues on exit and other write-downs. Merrills didn't like it and couldn't resist telling us that Schroders' PBIT was nearly 50% down on what had been expected.
Onto housebuilders, where Persimmons closed down 41.5p to 608.5p after saying its total sales revenue of £1.37 bln so far this year was down a quarter, or 24%, on the same peiod last year, and added that it sees the market becoming even more challenging. Peers followed, with rumours of a possible rights issue at Barratts, who closed down nearly 37p to 294.25p. Peer Taylor Wimpey closed down 8p to 137.5p, whilst Redrow closed down 5.5p at 268.5p.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca reversed its positive start, closing down 12p to 2,120p, after its own 1st quarter earnings were lower than expectations.
Reckitt Benckiser had a nice day, up 2-quid to 2,980p, after it reported 1st quarter figures well ahead of expectations and that it expected a decent year this year.
BAE Systems closed up 9.5p to just shy of 482p, and Rolls Royce closed up 6.5p at 436p after some upbat news from good news from US peer Raytheon, who had increasing defence contract volume helped lift its first-quarter profit 15%, ahead of expectations.
Autonomy closed down 146p to 844p after some poor 1st quarter results, which were merely in-line with market expectations. Panmure Gordon promptly downgraded Autonomy to 'hold' from 'buy' with a lower target of 1,076p from 1,125p.
Bookie William Hill closed up 4.75p at 395.75p after announcing a bullish interim update to investors. It said it has seen no evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending affecting its business and added that its total gross win for the quarter to 22Apr was in line with expectations, up 5% on last year. Landsbanki reiterated its 'buy' rating and 510p target.
Punch Taverns didn't do so well, down 46.5p to 539p after saying it expects trading conditions to 'remain challenging'. Landsbanki reiterated its 'reduce' stance and 530p target price.
By the time London was closing, over the pond the DJI was actually up 39 points at 12,802, whilst the S&P500 was down just over 2 points at 1,377.6 and the Nasdaq was up nearly 10 points at 2,414. A mixed bunch, but it was mixed news. There was a drop in weekly unemployment claims, and some retailers were downbeat, but Ford Motor Company gave better than expected results.
Back here in London, the miners did the worst, really. Reversing recent gains, and noticing that Gold was sub US$900 again due the the dollar gaining some ground back on the €uro, we say ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) the worst of the bunch, falling 110p to 1,310 on that day, accompanied by an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'. Peer BHP was down 78p to 1,849p, Anglo down a quid to 3,408p, and Lonmins down 117p to 3,181p.
The stronger dollar also brought down the price of the black stuff, of course, with the oil heavyweights falling in sync. BP closed down 8.5p at 575p, RD Shell down 31p to 1,922, and Cairn Energy down 142p to 3,001p.
As we mentioned above, the banks also didn't have the best day. Collins Stewart downgraded Barclays to 'sell' from 'buy' after the AGM gave some concern. John Varley, the CEO, told investors that 1st quarter profit was down due to tough trading in March. He said that profits at Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors were well below the very strong profits of the equivalent period last year. barclays closed down 0.5p to just over 455p. Peers followed suit, with RBS down 4.25p to just shy of 341p, and HBOS down 11p to 489p.
Carrying on from this morning, fund manager Schroders closed down 73p in the end at 1,020p after it also gave lower figures. It said that its pre-tax profit for 1st quarter had fallen to £42.2m from £93.2m lat year, blaming lower private equity sales revenues on exit and other write-downs. Merrills didn't like it and couldn't resist telling us that Schroders' PBIT was nearly 50% down on what had been expected.
Onto housebuilders, where Persimmons closed down 41.5p to 608.5p after saying its total sales revenue of £1.37 bln so far this year was down a quarter, or 24%, on the same peiod last year, and added that it sees the market becoming even more challenging. Peers followed, with rumours of a possible rights issue at Barratts, who closed down nearly 37p to 294.25p. Peer Taylor Wimpey closed down 8p to 137.5p, whilst Redrow closed down 5.5p at 268.5p.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca reversed its positive start, closing down 12p to 2,120p, after its own 1st quarter earnings were lower than expectations.
Reckitt Benckiser had a nice day, up 2-quid to 2,980p, after it reported 1st quarter figures well ahead of expectations and that it expected a decent year this year.
BAE Systems closed up 9.5p to just shy of 482p, and Rolls Royce closed up 6.5p at 436p after some upbat news from good news from US peer Raytheon, who had increasing defence contract volume helped lift its first-quarter profit 15%, ahead of expectations.
Autonomy closed down 146p to 844p after some poor 1st quarter results, which were merely in-line with market expectations. Panmure Gordon promptly downgraded Autonomy to 'hold' from 'buy' with a lower target of 1,076p from 1,125p.
Bookie William Hill closed up 4.75p at 395.75p after announcing a bullish interim update to investors. It said it has seen no evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending affecting its business and added that its total gross win for the quarter to 22Apr was in line with expectations, up 5% on last year. Landsbanki reiterated its 'buy' rating and 510p target.
Punch Taverns didn't do so well, down 46.5p to 539p after saying it expects trading conditions to 'remain challenging'. Landsbanki reiterated its 'reduce' stance and 530p target price.
Morning Market, Thursday 24th April 2008
The FTSE was down about 54 points this morning at 6,030, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 135 points at 9,953.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up nearly 43 points at 12,763.22, down about 70 points from its peak during the day, whilst the S&P500 closed up just about 4 points at 1,379.93, and the Nasdaq up over 28 points at 2,405.21. As we mentioned last night, Boeing's figures helping the day there.
Back here in London this morning, the banks were down again. Barclays was off 11p at 445p after sayuing that its 1st quarter profit would be down on last year. Profits at Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors were well below the very strong profits of the equivalent period in 2007, as trading was tougher, the CEO reported.
Collins Stewart downgraded the shares to 'sell' from 'buy'. RBS, was down anotehr 11p at 334p after the £12 bln rights issue sunk in further, and HBOS was down 13p at 487.
Fund manager Schroders was 38p lower at 1,055p after the company said its pre-tax profit for the 1st quarter of 2008 was £42.2m, down from £93.2m last year, mainly due to lower private equity sales exit levels and write-downs. Funds under management were £130.6 bln as at 31Mar08, compared with £139.1 bln at 31Dec07.
Onto housebuilders, where Persimmons fell 45p to 605, a 12-month low, after it said its total sales revenue in 2008 to date declined 24% over the same period last year to £1.37 bln. This was mainly due to increased cancellation rates as tightening in the mortgage market caused a further deterioration of the housing market. The company said it sees the market becoming more challenging with the continuation of current conditions. Against the current backdrop it has postponed the start of scheduled new sites until the mortgage market improves. Peers were also down, with midcap housebuilders also following after the Persimmon's warning. Barratt Developments was down 32p at 299, Redrow off 189p to 255p, and Taylor Wimpeys was down 12p to 133.5p.
Meanwhile, oil prices, despite a slight dip in Asia this morning, are still near record levels, with Brent crude at more than US$116 a barrel. This helped Tullow Oil continue its run, up another 10p to 771.5, which is a new high.
Autonomy was 111p, or 11.2%, lower at 879, after it reported higher first-quarter net profit but investors focused on a cautious outlook statement. Panmure downgraded the shares to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the target to 1,076, from 1,125.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up nearly 43 points at 12,763.22, down about 70 points from its peak during the day, whilst the S&P500 closed up just about 4 points at 1,379.93, and the Nasdaq up over 28 points at 2,405.21. As we mentioned last night, Boeing's figures helping the day there.
Back here in London this morning, the banks were down again. Barclays was off 11p at 445p after sayuing that its 1st quarter profit would be down on last year. Profits at Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors were well below the very strong profits of the equivalent period in 2007, as trading was tougher, the CEO reported.
Collins Stewart downgraded the shares to 'sell' from 'buy'. RBS, was down anotehr 11p at 334p after the £12 bln rights issue sunk in further, and HBOS was down 13p at 487.
Fund manager Schroders was 38p lower at 1,055p after the company said its pre-tax profit for the 1st quarter of 2008 was £42.2m, down from £93.2m last year, mainly due to lower private equity sales exit levels and write-downs. Funds under management were £130.6 bln as at 31Mar08, compared with £139.1 bln at 31Dec07.
Onto housebuilders, where Persimmons fell 45p to 605, a 12-month low, after it said its total sales revenue in 2008 to date declined 24% over the same period last year to £1.37 bln. This was mainly due to increased cancellation rates as tightening in the mortgage market caused a further deterioration of the housing market. The company said it sees the market becoming more challenging with the continuation of current conditions. Against the current backdrop it has postponed the start of scheduled new sites until the mortgage market improves. Peers were also down, with midcap housebuilders also following after the Persimmon's warning. Barratt Developments was down 32p at 299, Redrow off 189p to 255p, and Taylor Wimpeys was down 12p to 133.5p.
Meanwhile, oil prices, despite a slight dip in Asia this morning, are still near record levels, with Brent crude at more than US$116 a barrel. This helped Tullow Oil continue its run, up another 10p to 771.5, which is a new high.
Autonomy was 111p, or 11.2%, lower at 879, after it reported higher first-quarter net profit but investors focused on a cautious outlook statement. Panmure downgraded the shares to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the target to 1,076, from 1,125.
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 23rd April 2008
The FTSE 100 ended the day up nearly 49 points at 6,083.6, about 105 points off its low of the day, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up just over 18 points at 10,087.7. The turn up came after some decent news, at last, from the US where Boeing and EMC announced some decent figures, and news from Liberty Mutual that they were to be acquiring safeco, subject to the usual, was also taken very well.
By the time London closed the DJI was up about 82 points at 12,802, whilst the S&P500 was up nearly 10 points at 1,385, and the Nasdaq up 29 points at 2,405.
Back here in London the pharmas had a good day with Shire up 60.5p at 979p after FDA approval for drug Vyvanse arrived. Vyvanse is for the treatment of adults with Attention Defcit Hyperactivity Disorder. Shire Pharma also give us their figures on Friday, which are expected to be good. Peer Glaxo closed up 18p at 1,120 after announcing 1st quarter figures about where they should be. AstraZeneca also did well, clsoing up 55p at 2,132.
With oil up near US$120 bbl the oil heavyweights took on some steam. RD Shell closed up 55p to 1,976 as HSBC also raised its target price 10p to 2,030, BP closed up 7.5p at 583.5p, Cairn Energy closed up 93p at 3,143, and Tullow Oil up 29.5p at 761.5.
The miners were also strong as metal prices were up again. Platinum producer Lonmin was up 16p at 3,297 after annoucing its production levels as expected, whilst BHP closed up 45p at 1,927, despite many getting tired of this obsession with taking over for Rio Tinto. With Lehman giving that decent report on the sector, with special mentions for copper, most other miners had a strong day too. Xstrata closed up 103p at 4,101 after going ex-div too, Anglo closed up 59p to 3,508, Anto up 21p at 851, and ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) had a decent day, gaining 109p to close at 1,420.
JP Morgan gave an 'overweight' rating and 1,935 target to Thomson Reuters, who gained 31p on the day to close at 1,563. This after such a poor start since its merger last week. As well as this, Bear Stearns Intnl Trading also said that it had taken its holding up to 3.5%.
The banks didn;t have such a good day. Rumoyurs that a German bank has some bad news were about, and the fact that the LIBOR rate hasn't moved despite the fact that £50 bln will be pumped into the markets to help the banks was also seen as negative. there is definily more bad news to come. RBS closed down 13p at 345p, this as a reaction to the £12 bln rights issue news confirmation yesterday, we expect, as well as a Dresdner downgrade to 'reduce' from 'hold' and 310p target, down from 5-quid target, was also reason to move cash elsewhere. Alliance & Leicester closed down 39.5p at 491p after going ex-div, Barclays closed down just over 5p to just shy of 456p, and HBOS closed down 20p to 500p.
After Merrill's downbeat statement for the sector yesterday, which included some lower targets, the housebuilders had a poor day, with Barratts falling nearly 16p to close at 331p after going ex-div, and Redrow closing down over 12p to 274p.
Johnson Matthey closed down 47p to 1,976 after a UBS downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' and Evo from 'add' to 'reduce' from 'add'.
By the time London closed the DJI was up about 82 points at 12,802, whilst the S&P500 was up nearly 10 points at 1,385, and the Nasdaq up 29 points at 2,405.
Back here in London the pharmas had a good day with Shire up 60.5p at 979p after FDA approval for drug Vyvanse arrived. Vyvanse is for the treatment of adults with Attention Defcit Hyperactivity Disorder. Shire Pharma also give us their figures on Friday, which are expected to be good. Peer Glaxo closed up 18p at 1,120 after announcing 1st quarter figures about where they should be. AstraZeneca also did well, clsoing up 55p at 2,132.
With oil up near US$120 bbl the oil heavyweights took on some steam. RD Shell closed up 55p to 1,976 as HSBC also raised its target price 10p to 2,030, BP closed up 7.5p at 583.5p, Cairn Energy closed up 93p at 3,143, and Tullow Oil up 29.5p at 761.5.
The miners were also strong as metal prices were up again. Platinum producer Lonmin was up 16p at 3,297 after annoucing its production levels as expected, whilst BHP closed up 45p at 1,927, despite many getting tired of this obsession with taking over for Rio Tinto. With Lehman giving that decent report on the sector, with special mentions for copper, most other miners had a strong day too. Xstrata closed up 103p at 4,101 after going ex-div too, Anglo closed up 59p to 3,508, Anto up 21p at 851, and ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) had a decent day, gaining 109p to close at 1,420.
JP Morgan gave an 'overweight' rating and 1,935 target to Thomson Reuters, who gained 31p on the day to close at 1,563. This after such a poor start since its merger last week. As well as this, Bear Stearns Intnl Trading also said that it had taken its holding up to 3.5%.
The banks didn;t have such a good day. Rumoyurs that a German bank has some bad news were about, and the fact that the LIBOR rate hasn't moved despite the fact that £50 bln will be pumped into the markets to help the banks was also seen as negative. there is definily more bad news to come. RBS closed down 13p at 345p, this as a reaction to the £12 bln rights issue news confirmation yesterday, we expect, as well as a Dresdner downgrade to 'reduce' from 'hold' and 310p target, down from 5-quid target, was also reason to move cash elsewhere. Alliance & Leicester closed down 39.5p at 491p after going ex-div, Barclays closed down just over 5p to just shy of 456p, and HBOS closed down 20p to 500p.
After Merrill's downbeat statement for the sector yesterday, which included some lower targets, the housebuilders had a poor day, with Barratts falling nearly 16p to close at 331p after going ex-div, and Redrow closing down over 12p to 274p.
Johnson Matthey closed down 47p to 1,976 after a UBS downgrade to 'sell' from 'neutral' and Evo from 'add' to 'reduce' from 'add'.
Morning Market, Wednesday 23rd April 2008
The FTSE was at 6,063 after its first hour of trading, up 17 points on the open. The FTSE 250 was at 10,056, down 6 points for the open.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down nearly 105 points at 12,720.23, whilst the S&P500 closed down over 12 points at 1,375.94, and the Nasdaq down 31.1 poinst at 2,376.94. The poor day on the US markets was after some more downbeat figures from companies. The only exception, it seemed was from Yahoo, who did better than expected.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed at 13,579.16, up over 31 points on the day, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng up just over 350 points at 25,289.24. Oil was trading up near US$120 bbl over there, following on from the Nigerian concerns and OPEC's refusal to 'up' production.
Back here in London this morning it was the miners doing well, with Lonmin doing the best so far, up 130p at 3,412 after cutting its full-year platinum sales forecast to 775,000 ounces, which was in line with analysts' forecasts. Electrical problems in South Africa have affected production, which was all explained a few months ago, so no suprises there. Peer and fellow platinum producer BHP was up 35p at 1,917p.
Broker Lehman gave copper the nod, with Xstrata rising 75p to 4,073p on the bullish forecast for the copper miners. Anglo was also up 55p at 3,054 and Anto was up 22p at 852p.
Oil was also doing well, and so were the majors. RD Shell as up 24p at 1,945p, also helped by HSBC target upped another 10p to 2,030p, Cairn Energy up 45p at 3,095, and Tullow Oil added 10p at 742p.
Phrama giant will announce some figures at lunchtime, and was up 23p at 1,125 this morning. Peer AstraZeneca was up 30p at 2,107. Astra announce their figures tomorrow.
Thomson Reuters was up 18p to 1,550, reclaiming some of the first few days trading it suffered last week. JP Morgan gave an 'overweight' rating and 1,935p target, which was received well.
AB Foods was up 15p at 886p after its downbeat statement and poor day yesterday.
RBS has its AGM today, and after the £12 bln news yesterday it was down 17p at 341p this morning. Dresdner gave the bank a 'reduce' rating, down from 'hold', and added a lower traget of 310p, down from a fiver. Peers also had a poor start. Alliance & Leicester was down 40p at 490p, but was now ex-div, whilst HBOS was down 23p at 497p, Barclays down 23p at 497 also, all due to investors' concerns about rights issues that may follow RBS's confirmation yesterday.
Johnson Matthey was down 40p at 1,984 after UBS cut its stance to 'sell' from 'neutral', whilst Evo also downgraded its stance to 'reduce'.
After Merrill's downgrade to most of the sector yesterday, housebuilders were down again. Barratts down 23p at 323p (ex-div), Bovis down 20p at 474p, and Redrow down 14p at 272p.
Maybe St. George could have helped today. Or for the whole of this year, maybe.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down nearly 105 points at 12,720.23, whilst the S&P500 closed down over 12 points at 1,375.94, and the Nasdaq down 31.1 poinst at 2,376.94. The poor day on the US markets was after some more downbeat figures from companies. The only exception, it seemed was from Yahoo, who did better than expected.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed at 13,579.16, up over 31 points on the day, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng up just over 350 points at 25,289.24. Oil was trading up near US$120 bbl over there, following on from the Nigerian concerns and OPEC's refusal to 'up' production.
Back here in London this morning it was the miners doing well, with Lonmin doing the best so far, up 130p at 3,412 after cutting its full-year platinum sales forecast to 775,000 ounces, which was in line with analysts' forecasts. Electrical problems in South Africa have affected production, which was all explained a few months ago, so no suprises there. Peer and fellow platinum producer BHP was up 35p at 1,917p.
Broker Lehman gave copper the nod, with Xstrata rising 75p to 4,073p on the bullish forecast for the copper miners. Anglo was also up 55p at 3,054 and Anto was up 22p at 852p.
Oil was also doing well, and so were the majors. RD Shell as up 24p at 1,945p, also helped by HSBC target upped another 10p to 2,030p, Cairn Energy up 45p at 3,095, and Tullow Oil added 10p at 742p.
Phrama giant will announce some figures at lunchtime, and was up 23p at 1,125 this morning. Peer AstraZeneca was up 30p at 2,107. Astra announce their figures tomorrow.
Thomson Reuters was up 18p to 1,550, reclaiming some of the first few days trading it suffered last week. JP Morgan gave an 'overweight' rating and 1,935p target, which was received well.
AB Foods was up 15p at 886p after its downbeat statement and poor day yesterday.
RBS has its AGM today, and after the £12 bln news yesterday it was down 17p at 341p this morning. Dresdner gave the bank a 'reduce' rating, down from 'hold', and added a lower traget of 310p, down from a fiver. Peers also had a poor start. Alliance & Leicester was down 40p at 490p, but was now ex-div, whilst HBOS was down 23p at 497p, Barclays down 23p at 497 also, all due to investors' concerns about rights issues that may follow RBS's confirmation yesterday.
Johnson Matthey was down 40p at 1,984 after UBS cut its stance to 'sell' from 'neutral', whilst Evo also downgraded its stance to 'reduce'.
After Merrill's downgrade to most of the sector yesterday, housebuilders were down again. Barratts down 23p at 323p (ex-div), Bovis down 20p at 474p, and Redrow down 14p at 272p.
Maybe St. George could have helped today. Or for the whole of this year, maybe.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 22nd April 2008
The FTSE had a bit of a weird day, really, as not too much happened. A high of 6,072, and low of 6,007, a 65-point range with a finish at 6,034.7, down 18.3 points on the day. The FTSE 250 closed down 68.2 points at 10,069.6.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 74 points at 12,751, the S&P500 down about 8 points at 1,380, and the Nasdaq down about 18 points at 2,390, which was all quite suprising considering McDonalds and chemical giant Du Pont gave figures that were better than expected. McDonalds announced earnings of US$946.1m, but this was seen not good enough for such a high profile company.
Back here in London we nearly went sub 6k again, with the banking worries still in everone's thoughts. RBS closed down 14.5p at 358p after it confirmed it was after £12 bln through a rights issue and said it had written back nearly £6 bln in bad debt. Peer Barclays closed down 17.5p at 461, and HBOS was down 20p to close at 520p.
Associated British Foods ended up down 19p at 871p despite decent results, but it has had a good run recently so some profit taking was in order, it seems, as well as the cautious statment by the company adding to seller's reasons for moving elsewhere.
Onto Shire phrama, who closed down 37.5p at 918.5p after news that the American Heart Association released a recommendation that could affect one of Pharma's drugs to do with heart treatment on children. Apparently they suggested that children should be given a heart ECG (electrocardiogram) before taking any Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder stimulant drugs. Shire's leading treatment Adderall falls into this category.
In to the High Street, where Marks & Sparks closed down 12.25p at 357.25, Home Retail Group down nearly 11p at just shy of 246p, and DSG Intnl down nearly 6p at 62.25p.
With oil up at US$117 bbl for light sweet and US$115 bbl for Brent, the oil majors were doing ok. BP closed up 2.5p at 576p, Tullow Oil closed up 11p at a new high of 732p, whilst Cairn Energy closed up 35p at 3,050. RD Shell, though, closed down 16p at 1,921p ahead of BP and RD Shell's results due this time next week.
The miners did best today. ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) did the best, closing up 105p at 1,311, Rio closed up 148p at 6,385, Kazakhmys up 62p at 1,694, Anto up 28p at 830p, and Xstrata closed up 85p at 3,998.
Housebuilders were down aftre Merrills downgraded most of them to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Persimmons was down 37p to 662p, bottom of the 100 today, whilst Barratts closed down 18.5p at just shy of 347p, Taylor Wimpey down 9p to just shy of 151p, Redrow down nearly 10p at 283p, and Bellway closed down 26p at 764.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 74 points at 12,751, the S&P500 down about 8 points at 1,380, and the Nasdaq down about 18 points at 2,390, which was all quite suprising considering McDonalds and chemical giant Du Pont gave figures that were better than expected. McDonalds announced earnings of US$946.1m, but this was seen not good enough for such a high profile company.
Back here in London we nearly went sub 6k again, with the banking worries still in everone's thoughts. RBS closed down 14.5p at 358p after it confirmed it was after £12 bln through a rights issue and said it had written back nearly £6 bln in bad debt. Peer Barclays closed down 17.5p at 461, and HBOS was down 20p to close at 520p.
Associated British Foods ended up down 19p at 871p despite decent results, but it has had a good run recently so some profit taking was in order, it seems, as well as the cautious statment by the company adding to seller's reasons for moving elsewhere.
Onto Shire phrama, who closed down 37.5p at 918.5p after news that the American Heart Association released a recommendation that could affect one of Pharma's drugs to do with heart treatment on children. Apparently they suggested that children should be given a heart ECG (electrocardiogram) before taking any Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder stimulant drugs. Shire's leading treatment Adderall falls into this category.
In to the High Street, where Marks & Sparks closed down 12.25p at 357.25, Home Retail Group down nearly 11p at just shy of 246p, and DSG Intnl down nearly 6p at 62.25p.
With oil up at US$117 bbl for light sweet and US$115 bbl for Brent, the oil majors were doing ok. BP closed up 2.5p at 576p, Tullow Oil closed up 11p at a new high of 732p, whilst Cairn Energy closed up 35p at 3,050. RD Shell, though, closed down 16p at 1,921p ahead of BP and RD Shell's results due this time next week.
The miners did best today. ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) did the best, closing up 105p at 1,311, Rio closed up 148p at 6,385, Kazakhmys up 62p at 1,694, Anto up 28p at 830p, and Xstrata closed up 85p at 3,998.
Housebuilders were down aftre Merrills downgraded most of them to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Persimmons was down 37p to 662p, bottom of the 100 today, whilst Barratts closed down 18.5p at just shy of 347p, Taylor Wimpey down 9p to just shy of 151p, Redrow down nearly 10p at 283p, and Bellway closed down 26p at 764.
Morning Market, Tuesday 22nd April 2008
The FTSE was just about even in its first hour today, at around 6,054. The FTSE 250 was down about 28 points at 10,110.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down over 24 points at 12,825.02, whilst the S&P500 closed down just over 2 poinbts at 1,388.17, and the Nadaq closed up 5 points at 2,408.04. The Dow had been down about 100 points at one stage early doors. The Bank of America news had investors on the back foot.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 148.73 points at 13,547.82, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index was down 85 points at 24,637.
Oil was showing strength, and with further Nigerian problems with sabotage on pipelines we can expect these prices to continue. Light Sweet (May del) was trading at US$117.40 bbl, down a few cents, but still strong. Brent (June del) was up a few cents at US$114.5 bbl in Far East trading, and had been again up at its new high on New York trading last night.
Back here in London the banks were taking some weight, with RBS down 6p at 366.5p after confirming it needed £12 bln to build up its resevres again, with a rights issue to briong the cash in. It also added that another £4 bln will be raised via the sale of its insurance arm and other assets. Peers followed downwards, with Barclays down 10p at 468.5p, and HBOS down 12p at 528p. Bradford & Bingley, however, bucked this pressure and was up 2p at 167p as rumours that Virgin Money may be moving in with a bid. B&B had said its figures and tarding was on target for the year so far.
Tate & Lyle was down 17p at 507p thismonring, foillowing on from the news yesterday, whilst Associated British Foods was down 21p at 869 after a cautious outlook statement despite figures as expected.
The housebuilders were down after broker Merrills downgraded most oif them to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Persimmons was down 26p at 673p, Barratts down 15p at 350p, Taylor Wimpeys off 7p at 153p, Redrow down 6p at 286.5p, and Bellway down 24p at 766p.
With metals strong agaion the miners did well. With Gold moving back up again towarsd its recent highs, trading back into miners continued. The mining sector has had an excellent 12 months compared to the rest of the FTSE. Rio was up 110p at 6,347p, BHP up 28p at 1,873, Anto up 10p at 812.5p and Kazakhmys up 14p at 1,646.
With oil still above US$117 bbl, the oil heavyweights were alsoi in demand. BP was up 7p at 580p, Cairn Energy up 50p at 3,065p, and BG Group up 6.5p at 1,286.5p.
Moneysupermarket.com Group was 6p to the good at 111p after a decent update, which included a 30% rise in revenue.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down over 24 points at 12,825.02, whilst the S&P500 closed down just over 2 poinbts at 1,388.17, and the Nadaq closed up 5 points at 2,408.04. The Dow had been down about 100 points at one stage early doors. The Bank of America news had investors on the back foot.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 148.73 points at 13,547.82, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index was down 85 points at 24,637.
Oil was showing strength, and with further Nigerian problems with sabotage on pipelines we can expect these prices to continue. Light Sweet (May del) was trading at US$117.40 bbl, down a few cents, but still strong. Brent (June del) was up a few cents at US$114.5 bbl in Far East trading, and had been again up at its new high on New York trading last night.
Back here in London the banks were taking some weight, with RBS down 6p at 366.5p after confirming it needed £12 bln to build up its resevres again, with a rights issue to briong the cash in. It also added that another £4 bln will be raised via the sale of its insurance arm and other assets. Peers followed downwards, with Barclays down 10p at 468.5p, and HBOS down 12p at 528p. Bradford & Bingley, however, bucked this pressure and was up 2p at 167p as rumours that Virgin Money may be moving in with a bid. B&B had said its figures and tarding was on target for the year so far.
Tate & Lyle was down 17p at 507p thismonring, foillowing on from the news yesterday, whilst Associated British Foods was down 21p at 869 after a cautious outlook statement despite figures as expected.
The housebuilders were down after broker Merrills downgraded most oif them to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Persimmons was down 26p at 673p, Barratts down 15p at 350p, Taylor Wimpeys off 7p at 153p, Redrow down 6p at 286.5p, and Bellway down 24p at 766p.
With metals strong agaion the miners did well. With Gold moving back up again towarsd its recent highs, trading back into miners continued. The mining sector has had an excellent 12 months compared to the rest of the FTSE. Rio was up 110p at 6,347p, BHP up 28p at 1,873, Anto up 10p at 812.5p and Kazakhmys up 14p at 1,646.
With oil still above US$117 bbl, the oil heavyweights were alsoi in demand. BP was up 7p at 580p, Cairn Energy up 50p at 3,065p, and BG Group up 6.5p at 1,286.5p.
Moneysupermarket.com Group was 6p to the good at 111p after a decent update, which included a 30% rise in revenue.
Monday, 21 April 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 21st April 2008
The FTSE closed down 3.5 points at 6,053 today, which was about 36 points off the session's high, and up about 32 points from the session low. The FTSe 250 closed down 103.3 points at 10,137.8.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 55 points at 12,794, whilst the S&P500 was down about 7 points at 1,383 and the Nasdaq off about 3 points at 10,138. The Bank of America results didn't help the US, and also pulled the UK banks down too.
But we'll start with the gainers. Here in London it was the miners who kept the FTSE up at a reasonable level. Metal prices have been strong, which was reflected on the mining giants. Anto was up 23p at 802p, Vedanta up 54p at 2,402, BHP up 54p at 1,845, and Kazakhmys closed up 22p at 1,632.
With oil up at US$117 bbl, BP closed up 5.5p at just over 573p, RD Shell up 24p at 1,905, and Tullow Oil up 11p at a shade over 721p.
Staying with the better news, British Energy was up another 17p to 740p after weekend press said there were 7 possible bidders in the frame, with the Fench giant Suez now sniffing with intent.
Others that did well were the Pharma giants, with AstraZeneca and Glaxo up 16p to 2,099.5 and 12p to 1,098 respectively. News from Switxerland that Swiss phrama king Novartis gave a decent report and figures for thier first quasrter that was ahead of expectations. Credit Suisse also gave a 1,080 target for Glaxo, up from 1,035 as it hopes some decent figures will be announced on Wednesday.
Now to the fallers, where it was the banks that took a hit. the Bank of America figures gave a downbeat feeling as everyone reckons more and more bad news will be released. The £50 bln input by the BoE (UK Govenrment Bonds) to the financial market players to build thier confidence and help them to loan cash amongst themselves had been taken well at first, but once the terms were out as well the excitement died down somewhat. Barclays closed down 17.5p at 478.5p after Merrills gave a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Then broker Collins Stewart said that it was felt that further writedowns will come from RBS and it reckons that Barclays will raise its initial £1.6 bln write downs up to about £6 bln in the end. Very worrying, and will almost certainly cause a Barclays rights issue too. Desipte this it still said it liked Barclays but couldn't ignore the scale of the write downs. Peer RBS closed down 11.5p at 372.5p as others also followed. Lloyds TSB closed down amost 11p at 442.5p and HBOS closed down 18p at 540p.
Onto property where some downgrades were about. HSBC came out with a complete sector downgrade on all the players except Land Securities, who it felt was already turning, so it upgarded it to 'neutral' from 'underweight' and gave a 15-quid target, down from 1,565. British Land received a new target of 8-quid, down from 945p, Hammerson's target lowered to 7-quid from 765p, Liberty Intnl down to 680p from 750p, and Segro down to 425p from 450p. The stock prices heeded the bank's thoughts and all fell. Hammerson's closed down 54p to 1,019, Liberty Intnl down 20p to 1,012.5p, British Land down 30.5p to 840.5p, and Land Securities down 44p to 1,509.5p despite being singled out as the only one of the bunch worth punting on at the moment.
National Grid closed down 10.5p to just shy of 702p after a broker cazenove downgrade to 'in-line' from 'outperform', with a 775p target, down from 780p.
Carrying on from this morning, broadcaster and media outfit ITV closed up nearly 4p at 67.9p, or 6% up on the day, as it was said in the weekend press that there are 2 groups wishing to buy the BskyB 17.9% of ITV that has become a subject of disapporoval from the monopolies commission.
Publisher Trinity Mirror closed down nearly 11p at 294.5p after a Deutsche Bank downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' saying that it believes the advertising revenue will continue to fall and added that trinity Mirror will soon be stopping its buyback programme.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed up 11.5p at just shy of 699p after a broker upgarde to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Arriva closed down 19.5p at 661.25p after a UBS cut a quid off its target from 830p down to 730p.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 55 points at 12,794, whilst the S&P500 was down about 7 points at 1,383 and the Nasdaq off about 3 points at 10,138. The Bank of America results didn't help the US, and also pulled the UK banks down too.
But we'll start with the gainers. Here in London it was the miners who kept the FTSE up at a reasonable level. Metal prices have been strong, which was reflected on the mining giants. Anto was up 23p at 802p, Vedanta up 54p at 2,402, BHP up 54p at 1,845, and Kazakhmys closed up 22p at 1,632.
With oil up at US$117 bbl, BP closed up 5.5p at just over 573p, RD Shell up 24p at 1,905, and Tullow Oil up 11p at a shade over 721p.
Staying with the better news, British Energy was up another 17p to 740p after weekend press said there were 7 possible bidders in the frame, with the Fench giant Suez now sniffing with intent.
Others that did well were the Pharma giants, with AstraZeneca and Glaxo up 16p to 2,099.5 and 12p to 1,098 respectively. News from Switxerland that Swiss phrama king Novartis gave a decent report and figures for thier first quasrter that was ahead of expectations. Credit Suisse also gave a 1,080 target for Glaxo, up from 1,035 as it hopes some decent figures will be announced on Wednesday.
Now to the fallers, where it was the banks that took a hit. the Bank of America figures gave a downbeat feeling as everyone reckons more and more bad news will be released. The £50 bln input by the BoE (UK Govenrment Bonds) to the financial market players to build thier confidence and help them to loan cash amongst themselves had been taken well at first, but once the terms were out as well the excitement died down somewhat. Barclays closed down 17.5p at 478.5p after Merrills gave a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy'. Then broker Collins Stewart said that it was felt that further writedowns will come from RBS and it reckons that Barclays will raise its initial £1.6 bln write downs up to about £6 bln in the end. Very worrying, and will almost certainly cause a Barclays rights issue too. Desipte this it still said it liked Barclays but couldn't ignore the scale of the write downs. Peer RBS closed down 11.5p at 372.5p as others also followed. Lloyds TSB closed down amost 11p at 442.5p and HBOS closed down 18p at 540p.
Onto property where some downgrades were about. HSBC came out with a complete sector downgrade on all the players except Land Securities, who it felt was already turning, so it upgarded it to 'neutral' from 'underweight' and gave a 15-quid target, down from 1,565. British Land received a new target of 8-quid, down from 945p, Hammerson's target lowered to 7-quid from 765p, Liberty Intnl down to 680p from 750p, and Segro down to 425p from 450p. The stock prices heeded the bank's thoughts and all fell. Hammerson's closed down 54p to 1,019, Liberty Intnl down 20p to 1,012.5p, British Land down 30.5p to 840.5p, and Land Securities down 44p to 1,509.5p despite being singled out as the only one of the bunch worth punting on at the moment.
National Grid closed down 10.5p to just shy of 702p after a broker cazenove downgrade to 'in-line' from 'outperform', with a 775p target, down from 780p.
Carrying on from this morning, broadcaster and media outfit ITV closed up nearly 4p at 67.9p, or 6% up on the day, as it was said in the weekend press that there are 2 groups wishing to buy the BskyB 17.9% of ITV that has become a subject of disapporoval from the monopolies commission.
Publisher Trinity Mirror closed down nearly 11p at 294.5p after a Deutsche Bank downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' saying that it believes the advertising revenue will continue to fall and added that trinity Mirror will soon be stopping its buyback programme.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed up 11.5p at just shy of 699p after a broker upgarde to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Arriva closed down 19.5p at 661.25p after a UBS cut a quid off its target from 830p down to 730p.
Morning Market, Monday 21st April 2008
The FTSE was up about 25 points at 6,080 in its first hour this morning, with the FTSE 250 up nearly 40 points at 10,280. This was expected as the US closed with a rally on Friday and weekend press news was fairly bouyant, even the RBS rights issue news, as well as news that there will be £50 bln cash given to the financial markets by the British Government so to help the current crisis. The cash will be taken against mortgages held by the banks.
Over the pond on Friday it was Citigroup who helped mostly with their 'only' US$5 bln loss for the quarter, down from US$10 bln on the previous quarter. Google also made an upbeat statement, causing the price to gap up significantly, which was also taken well by investors. The DJI closed up nearly 298 points at 12,849.40 on Friday, whilst the S&P500 closed up nearly 25 points at 1,390.33, and the Nasdaq up over 61 points at 2,402.97. Basically, all 3 US major markets gained over 4% on the week.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed up just over 220 points at 13,696.55, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up over 600 points at 24,800 by lunchtime chow.
On to the black stuff, where OPEC have refused to up production levels meaning the price per bbl looks to get even stronger. In Far East trading light sweet (May del) was off 8c at US$116.60 bbl, but had closed in New York on Nymex at a record level on Friday of $116.69 bbl, and this after actually hitting an all time high of $117.05 during the session.
Back here in London this morning, the price of oil was helping the majors, with RD Shell up 4p at 1,885 and BP up 4p at 572p.
The banks also did well this morning. Weekend press said that RBS had £6 bln in write offs due to the credit crunch and had met the FSA to tell them they were considering a rights issue. It is now thought that up to £12 bln could be the call. RBS is also expected to announce the £3.5 bln sale of Angel Trains this week, as well as the confirmed figure for the rights issue. RBS was up 11p at 394p this morning, whilst Barclays, who may even be considering its own rights issue we hear, was up 5p at 501p. Peer HBOS was up 21p at 579p and Lloyds TSB up 8p at 461p.
The miners did ok too, with BHP up 40p at 1,831p, Rio up 74p at 6,194, Anglo up 30p at 3,402, and Vedanta up 21p at 2,369.
Pharmas were doing ok, with AstraZeneca and Glaxo up 6p at 2,090 and 11p to 1,097 respectively after Swiss peer Novartis was up 5% on decent quarterly figures.
Broadcaster and media group ITV was up nearly 5p at 68.9p after weekend reports that RTL and Saban were looking to buy BskyB's 17.9% stake in ITV. Haim Saban is a media guy with big pull in the US. BSkyB was up 3.5p at 558p on the news.
British Energy was up 2p at 725p after more news that the bidding war for the nuclear energy group is getting nearer to a deal. There are now apparently 7 possible bids, with each one sounding others out at the moment on valuation levels and carrying out due-diligence.
Imperial Tobacco was up 31p this morning at 2,560p on the back of broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold', and a higher target of 2,980p, up from 2,530p. Cazenove said Imperial Tobacco is down 7% this year, compared to British American Tobacco who were doing 9% better.
Over the pond on Friday it was Citigroup who helped mostly with their 'only' US$5 bln loss for the quarter, down from US$10 bln on the previous quarter. Google also made an upbeat statement, causing the price to gap up significantly, which was also taken well by investors. The DJI closed up nearly 298 points at 12,849.40 on Friday, whilst the S&P500 closed up nearly 25 points at 1,390.33, and the Nasdaq up over 61 points at 2,402.97. Basically, all 3 US major markets gained over 4% on the week.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed up just over 220 points at 13,696.55, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up over 600 points at 24,800 by lunchtime chow.
On to the black stuff, where OPEC have refused to up production levels meaning the price per bbl looks to get even stronger. In Far East trading light sweet (May del) was off 8c at US$116.60 bbl, but had closed in New York on Nymex at a record level on Friday of $116.69 bbl, and this after actually hitting an all time high of $117.05 during the session.
Back here in London this morning, the price of oil was helping the majors, with RD Shell up 4p at 1,885 and BP up 4p at 572p.
The banks also did well this morning. Weekend press said that RBS had £6 bln in write offs due to the credit crunch and had met the FSA to tell them they were considering a rights issue. It is now thought that up to £12 bln could be the call. RBS is also expected to announce the £3.5 bln sale of Angel Trains this week, as well as the confirmed figure for the rights issue. RBS was up 11p at 394p this morning, whilst Barclays, who may even be considering its own rights issue we hear, was up 5p at 501p. Peer HBOS was up 21p at 579p and Lloyds TSB up 8p at 461p.
The miners did ok too, with BHP up 40p at 1,831p, Rio up 74p at 6,194, Anglo up 30p at 3,402, and Vedanta up 21p at 2,369.
Pharmas were doing ok, with AstraZeneca and Glaxo up 6p at 2,090 and 11p to 1,097 respectively after Swiss peer Novartis was up 5% on decent quarterly figures.
Broadcaster and media group ITV was up nearly 5p at 68.9p after weekend reports that RTL and Saban were looking to buy BskyB's 17.9% stake in ITV. Haim Saban is a media guy with big pull in the US. BSkyB was up 3.5p at 558p on the news.
British Energy was up 2p at 725p after more news that the bidding war for the nuclear energy group is getting nearer to a deal. There are now apparently 7 possible bids, with each one sounding others out at the moment on valuation levels and carrying out due-diligence.
Imperial Tobacco was up 31p this morning at 2,560p on the back of broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold', and a higher target of 2,980p, up from 2,530p. Cazenove said Imperial Tobacco is down 7% this year, compared to British American Tobacco who were doing 9% better.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 18th April 2008
The FTSE closed up 76.1 points at 6,056.5, just 5 or 6 points off the high of the session, and about 160 points on the week. The FTSE 250 closed up 151.7 points at 10,241.1.
Over the pond things looked ok too, with Citigroup's results being received well, after annoucing a US$5.1 bln loss for the 1st quarter, but was only half of the US$10 bln what was lost in the previous quarter, the 4th of the previous year. Google also had some good news, with expectations higher than predictions, the search engine giant said. By the time London closed the DJI was up 222 points at 12,843, whilst the S&P 500 was up nearly 25 points at 1,390, and the Nasdaq up about 60 points at 2,402.
Oil was up at US$116 bbl on Nymex.
Back here in London, the Citigroup's lower loss and the possible rights issue by RBS helped the UK. The banks finished the day on the rise, with rumours that Barclays was even going to knock out a quick Rights Issue before RBS could manage theirs. The RBS news, which could be up to a £12 bln rights issue, could have been taken quite badly by the markets, but investors soon realised that the bank was doing something positive and would come through stronger. RBS ended the day at 384p, up 18p on the day, whilst Barclays closed up just over 17p at 496p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 23p at 533p. Panmure Gordon maintained its 'sell' stance on RBS, though.
Staying with financials, Asset manager Schroders closed up 57p at 1,066, up 5.75% on the day, as investors moved back in after recent weakness. A 22% fall since the New Year has made the financial house look cheap, it seems.
Tate & Lyle was sweet, closing up 14p at 530.5p after press reports that the firm's sugar business could be sold. Citigroup raised its target to 5-quid, up from 470p, but stayed with its 'hold' stance for now.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 16.5p at 573.5p after broker Lehman Brothers upgarded the confectionary and beverage group to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight', and stuck on a 660p target.
Oil heavyweight BP closed up 6p on the day at 568p.
The High Street was doing ok, boucing after yesterday's poor day, with Kingfisher closing up 6.4p at 129.5 and Next up 42p at 1,145p. Home Retail closing up over 12p at 263p, an Marks & Sparks also up 12p at just over 372p after news of a JV with Reliance Industries, which will break it into India as a major brand, they hope.
The miners didn't do well, with Kazakhstani miners doing the worst. Kazakhmys closed down 1,102p at 1,610 and Eurasian Natural Resources closed down 57p at 1,215 after Kazakhstan is apparently going to announce details of an export duty on its metals and mining industry of something like 5%-7%. Whether these two Kazakh mining giants merge yet is speculative, but ENRC have been given a 'put up or shut up' yell from Kazakhmys. Peers were also down, with Xstrata closing down 55p at 3,850, Vedanta down 52p at 2,348, and as BHP may no longer be able to raise its offer for Rio, it seems, they subsequently closed down 24p at 1,791 and 20p at 6,120p respectively.
And our London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed down 17p at 1,195 after rumours of a profit warning from Deutsche Boerse.
Punch Taverns also confirmed today that they have ended talks with Mitchell & Butlers about any possible deal that may have been rumoured recently.
Over the pond things looked ok too, with Citigroup's results being received well, after annoucing a US$5.1 bln loss for the 1st quarter, but was only half of the US$10 bln what was lost in the previous quarter, the 4th of the previous year. Google also had some good news, with expectations higher than predictions, the search engine giant said. By the time London closed the DJI was up 222 points at 12,843, whilst the S&P 500 was up nearly 25 points at 1,390, and the Nasdaq up about 60 points at 2,402.
Oil was up at US$116 bbl on Nymex.
Back here in London, the Citigroup's lower loss and the possible rights issue by RBS helped the UK. The banks finished the day on the rise, with rumours that Barclays was even going to knock out a quick Rights Issue before RBS could manage theirs. The RBS news, which could be up to a £12 bln rights issue, could have been taken quite badly by the markets, but investors soon realised that the bank was doing something positive and would come through stronger. RBS ended the day at 384p, up 18p on the day, whilst Barclays closed up just over 17p at 496p, and Alliance & Leicester closed up 23p at 533p. Panmure Gordon maintained its 'sell' stance on RBS, though.
Staying with financials, Asset manager Schroders closed up 57p at 1,066, up 5.75% on the day, as investors moved back in after recent weakness. A 22% fall since the New Year has made the financial house look cheap, it seems.
Tate & Lyle was sweet, closing up 14p at 530.5p after press reports that the firm's sugar business could be sold. Citigroup raised its target to 5-quid, up from 470p, but stayed with its 'hold' stance for now.
Cadbury Schweppes closed up 16.5p at 573.5p after broker Lehman Brothers upgarded the confectionary and beverage group to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight', and stuck on a 660p target.
Oil heavyweight BP closed up 6p on the day at 568p.
The High Street was doing ok, boucing after yesterday's poor day, with Kingfisher closing up 6.4p at 129.5 and Next up 42p at 1,145p. Home Retail closing up over 12p at 263p, an Marks & Sparks also up 12p at just over 372p after news of a JV with Reliance Industries, which will break it into India as a major brand, they hope.
The miners didn't do well, with Kazakhstani miners doing the worst. Kazakhmys closed down 1,102p at 1,610 and Eurasian Natural Resources closed down 57p at 1,215 after Kazakhstan is apparently going to announce details of an export duty on its metals and mining industry of something like 5%-7%. Whether these two Kazakh mining giants merge yet is speculative, but ENRC have been given a 'put up or shut up' yell from Kazakhmys. Peers were also down, with Xstrata closing down 55p at 3,850, Vedanta down 52p at 2,348, and as BHP may no longer be able to raise its offer for Rio, it seems, they subsequently closed down 24p at 1,791 and 20p at 6,120p respectively.
And our London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed down 17p at 1,195 after rumours of a profit warning from Deutsche Boerse.
Punch Taverns also confirmed today that they have ended talks with Mitchell & Butlers about any possible deal that may have been rumoured recently.
Morning Market, Friday 18th April 2008
The FTSE was up a little early on at 5,990, whilst the FTSE 250 was even at about 10,089. Things fell back after invstors thought about the Citigroup figures due and the rumours of an RBS rights issue.
Last night over the pond, the DJI closed up just over a point at 12,620.49 after a volatile session, having been 41 points lower at London's close Thursday. The broader S&P 500 index ended 0.85 points firmer at 1,365.56, but the Nasdaq composite index shed 8.28 points to close at 2,341.83.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed 78.15 points up at 13,476.45, whilst in Hong Kong the the Hang Seng was up about 15 points at 24,274 by its lunchtime chow.
Oil was over US$115 bbl in Far east trading, mainly due to the weaker USD.
Back here in London, the UK banks were off due to the speculation around RBS, which was down 4.5p at 361.5, whilst HBOS was down 8p at 542p, Barclays down 6p at 473p, and Lloyds TSB down 8p at 435. Press reports that RBS is planning a rights issue for up to £12 bln so to help its rather under pressure balance sheet gave the sector the uneasy feeling. RBS did say that it noted speculation about the possible rights issue but would only confirm it will cover its trading performance and any possible capital issues in its interim statement on 23rd April. Panmure Gordon didn't like this as reiterated its 'sell' stance on RBS.
REIT Liberty International was down 7p at 1,015p after saying weaker it expects adjusted NAV in the quarter to end March to be off 6.65% as commercial property valuation yields continue to rise. Peer Hammerson was also off, down 14p at 1,035p after a broker UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' in a sector review. It did, however, up its stance on British Land to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying it likd its focus on it out-of-town operations.
Miners were down as metal prices were down and news from Australia overnight that BHP may no longer be raising its bid for peer Rio Tinto. BHP was down 7p at 1,808 and Rio was down 20p at 6,120. Others didn't do so bad, with ENRC up 26p at 1,298, Lonmin up 2p at 63p, and Anto up 10p at 798.
Tate & Lyle was up 20p at 537p as news in the FT that it may sell its sugar operations was seen as positive.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca was up 18p at 943p ahead of its quartely update and further rumours of a bid for Shire Pharma were about.
Recently merged media outfit Thomson Reuters was down another 37p at 1,523p, this after a 15% drop on its opening day yesterday. ABN Amro gave the group a 'sell' rating and 15-quid target.
Last night over the pond, the DJI closed up just over a point at 12,620.49 after a volatile session, having been 41 points lower at London's close Thursday. The broader S&P 500 index ended 0.85 points firmer at 1,365.56, but the Nasdaq composite index shed 8.28 points to close at 2,341.83.
In the Far East the Nikkei 225 closed 78.15 points up at 13,476.45, whilst in Hong Kong the the Hang Seng was up about 15 points at 24,274 by its lunchtime chow.
Oil was over US$115 bbl in Far east trading, mainly due to the weaker USD.
Back here in London, the UK banks were off due to the speculation around RBS, which was down 4.5p at 361.5, whilst HBOS was down 8p at 542p, Barclays down 6p at 473p, and Lloyds TSB down 8p at 435. Press reports that RBS is planning a rights issue for up to £12 bln so to help its rather under pressure balance sheet gave the sector the uneasy feeling. RBS did say that it noted speculation about the possible rights issue but would only confirm it will cover its trading performance and any possible capital issues in its interim statement on 23rd April. Panmure Gordon didn't like this as reiterated its 'sell' stance on RBS.
REIT Liberty International was down 7p at 1,015p after saying weaker it expects adjusted NAV in the quarter to end March to be off 6.65% as commercial property valuation yields continue to rise. Peer Hammerson was also off, down 14p at 1,035p after a broker UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' in a sector review. It did, however, up its stance on British Land to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying it likd its focus on it out-of-town operations.
Miners were down as metal prices were down and news from Australia overnight that BHP may no longer be raising its bid for peer Rio Tinto. BHP was down 7p at 1,808 and Rio was down 20p at 6,120. Others didn't do so bad, with ENRC up 26p at 1,298, Lonmin up 2p at 63p, and Anto up 10p at 798.
Tate & Lyle was up 20p at 537p as news in the FT that it may sell its sugar operations was seen as positive.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca was up 18p at 943p ahead of its quartely update and further rumours of a bid for Shire Pharma were about.
Recently merged media outfit Thomson Reuters was down another 37p at 1,523p, this after a 15% drop on its opening day yesterday. ABN Amro gave the group a 'sell' rating and 15-quid target.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Morning Market, Wednesday 16th April 2008
The FTSE was up another 30 points this morning at 5,937, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about 70 points at 9,975.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up over 60 points at 12,362.47, whilst the S&P500 closed up 6 points at 1,334.43 and the Nasdaq up just over 10 points at 2,286.04. Manufacturing data was better than expected over there, which helped investors move in a little and the market take a breath.
Wall Street closed the session higher, after stronger-than-expected New York region manufacturing data, which helped ease concerns about the U.S. economy. Investors were also encouraged by earnings news from Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 155.55 points at 13,146.13, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang seng was actually down nearly 30 points at 23,872.
Staying in the Far East the oil price was down about 20c for light sweet (May del) at US$113.6 bbl, whilst Brent was down about 30c at US$111.3 bbl. The US stockpilefigure will be out later on today.
Back here in London it was the miners doing well, with Rio up 65p at 6,071, Lonmins up 74p at 3,179, Kazakhmys up 40p at 1,714, Vedanta up 50p at 2,424, BHP up 28p at 1,798, and Eurasian Natural Resources up 40p at 1,300. Rio said today that its iron ore sales were at record levels in the 1st quarter, but production was lower than the final quarter of 2007 due to adverse aussie weather. It added that aluminium output was also at a new high, mainly due to the contribution from Canada's Alcan Inc, which Rio took over last year in a fdeal worth over US$38 bln.
Banks also had a good start today, with news that Gordon Brown will be meeting Wall Street bankers. Barclays was up 11p at 460p RBS up 9p at 357.5p, HBOS up 9p at 523.5p, and Lloyds TSB up 5p at 432p.
The biggest riser this morning was credit checker Experian, who were up 24p at 380p, or 6.7%, after annoucing 2% growth, whcih was better than expected.
Phrama giant AstraZeneca was up 8p at 2,130 after an ING upgarde to 'hold' from 'sell', adding a 22-quid target, up from 1,760p.
Supermarket Morrison was up 4.5p at 288p after a Deutsche Bank upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Legal & General didn't do as well though, down 5p at 125.9 after a dpwnbeat statement regarding annuity purchases and a harder 2008 expected, despite new business worth over £372m, up from £368m.
Brewer SABMiller was down 13p at 1,091 after the drinks giant said slow 4th quarter volume growth in China and Latin America was holding things back, but added that the year's rise in lager volume growth increased 7% on the previous year.
Housebuilders were strong, with Bellway up 20p at 781p and Redrow up 8p at 285p.
Aquarius Platinum was down 46.5p at 804 after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' after the recent strong performance was felt to be at its peak.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up over 60 points at 12,362.47, whilst the S&P500 closed up 6 points at 1,334.43 and the Nasdaq up just over 10 points at 2,286.04. Manufacturing data was better than expected over there, which helped investors move in a little and the market take a breath.
Wall Street closed the session higher, after stronger-than-expected New York region manufacturing data, which helped ease concerns about the U.S. economy. Investors were also encouraged by earnings news from Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 155.55 points at 13,146.13, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang seng was actually down nearly 30 points at 23,872.
Staying in the Far East the oil price was down about 20c for light sweet (May del) at US$113.6 bbl, whilst Brent was down about 30c at US$111.3 bbl. The US stockpilefigure will be out later on today.
Back here in London it was the miners doing well, with Rio up 65p at 6,071, Lonmins up 74p at 3,179, Kazakhmys up 40p at 1,714, Vedanta up 50p at 2,424, BHP up 28p at 1,798, and Eurasian Natural Resources up 40p at 1,300. Rio said today that its iron ore sales were at record levels in the 1st quarter, but production was lower than the final quarter of 2007 due to adverse aussie weather. It added that aluminium output was also at a new high, mainly due to the contribution from Canada's Alcan Inc, which Rio took over last year in a fdeal worth over US$38 bln.
Banks also had a good start today, with news that Gordon Brown will be meeting Wall Street bankers. Barclays was up 11p at 460p RBS up 9p at 357.5p, HBOS up 9p at 523.5p, and Lloyds TSB up 5p at 432p.
The biggest riser this morning was credit checker Experian, who were up 24p at 380p, or 6.7%, after annoucing 2% growth, whcih was better than expected.
Phrama giant AstraZeneca was up 8p at 2,130 after an ING upgarde to 'hold' from 'sell', adding a 22-quid target, up from 1,760p.
Supermarket Morrison was up 4.5p at 288p after a Deutsche Bank upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold'.
Legal & General didn't do as well though, down 5p at 125.9 after a dpwnbeat statement regarding annuity purchases and a harder 2008 expected, despite new business worth over £372m, up from £368m.
Brewer SABMiller was down 13p at 1,091 after the drinks giant said slow 4th quarter volume growth in China and Latin America was holding things back, but added that the year's rise in lager volume growth increased 7% on the previous year.
Housebuilders were strong, with Bellway up 20p at 781p and Redrow up 8p at 285p.
Aquarius Platinum was down 46.5p at 804 after a UBS downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' after the recent strong performance was felt to be at its peak.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 15th April 2008
The FTSE closed up over 75 points today at 5,906.9, about 38 points off the session high. The FTSE 250 closed up nearly 59 points at 9,904.2. The fallback cam eafter the US opened.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down over 26 points at 12,276, whilst the S&P500 was down 4 points at 1,324, and the Nasdaq down 7 points at 2,269.
Back to the UK, where we saw... wait for it... US$114 bbl for the black stuff. What? Yes, $114. The weaker dollar and lower reserves and stock piles causing some concern, it seems. Blimey. The we heard that there are some rumours, or even reports, that there has been a rather significant discovery in Brazil of something over 30 bln bbl, which would mean it would be the largest find in 30 years if it's proved genuine. It just so happens that our very own BG Group has an interest over there, so they had some extra interest themselves as a result. They closed up 66p at 1,288. Broker Evo promptly upgraded the group to a 'Buy' from a 'hold'. Peers also liked the news... BP closed up 3.5p at 552.25p, RD Shell closed up 31p at 1,863.5p, and Cairn Energy closed up 78p at 3,040.5.
With commodities getting stronger, the miners were up too. Anglo had their AGM and announced to shareholders that it expects 4%-5% growth in demand each year for the main key commodities over the next 10 years, with the Chinese buying up what they can get. Oh, and India wanting some too. Investors liked this attitude, and Anglo closed up 43p at 3,261p. Peers did too, now we mention it, with Rio closing up 185p at 6,007, BHP closing up 64p at 1,770, and ENRC up 60p at 1,260, as investors see Kazahkstan as having siome decent potential now it's more known and accessible.
And to the retailers, where Tesco jumped 28.5p to close at 419.25p after announcing some encouraging profit figures for last year, with a nigh-on 12% increase in pre-tax profits at £2.85 bln, and said it had started this year on a positive foot too. Peers liked the news too, with Sainsburys up 7p at 366.25p, and Morrisons up 6.5p at just shy of 284p.
Carrying on from this monring, Pharma giant AstraZeneca closed up 141p at 2,122 after the group said it has signed a settlement agreement in its Nexium patent infringement litigation against Ranbaxy Labs. Broker Cazenove then upgraded the stock to 'in-line' from 'underperform'.
Carphone Warehouse didn't have such a good day, though, closing down 35.5p at 231p after a downbeat forecast regarding its 4th quarter profit citing bad debt. Dresdner Kleinwort kept its 'buy' stance but promptly cut its target to 335p, down from 38p.
Home Retail closed down 9.25p at 240p after we all heard that the UK Office of Fair Trading will be approving Home Retail's Focus deal providing divestment is proved and in place.
Housebuilders suffered as reports that house prices fell in March to its highest level since records began. Blue chip Persimmon closed down 16p at just shy of 660p, whilst peers followed suit. Taylor Wimpey closed down 3.5p at 158.5p, Barratts closed down 10p to 350.25p, and Bovis Homes closed down 16.5p at just shy of 529p.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down over 26 points at 12,276, whilst the S&P500 was down 4 points at 1,324, and the Nasdaq down 7 points at 2,269.
Back to the UK, where we saw... wait for it... US$114 bbl for the black stuff. What? Yes, $114. The weaker dollar and lower reserves and stock piles causing some concern, it seems. Blimey. The we heard that there are some rumours, or even reports, that there has been a rather significant discovery in Brazil of something over 30 bln bbl, which would mean it would be the largest find in 30 years if it's proved genuine. It just so happens that our very own BG Group has an interest over there, so they had some extra interest themselves as a result. They closed up 66p at 1,288. Broker Evo promptly upgraded the group to a 'Buy' from a 'hold'. Peers also liked the news... BP closed up 3.5p at 552.25p, RD Shell closed up 31p at 1,863.5p, and Cairn Energy closed up 78p at 3,040.5.
With commodities getting stronger, the miners were up too. Anglo had their AGM and announced to shareholders that it expects 4%-5% growth in demand each year for the main key commodities over the next 10 years, with the Chinese buying up what they can get. Oh, and India wanting some too. Investors liked this attitude, and Anglo closed up 43p at 3,261p. Peers did too, now we mention it, with Rio closing up 185p at 6,007, BHP closing up 64p at 1,770, and ENRC up 60p at 1,260, as investors see Kazahkstan as having siome decent potential now it's more known and accessible.
And to the retailers, where Tesco jumped 28.5p to close at 419.25p after announcing some encouraging profit figures for last year, with a nigh-on 12% increase in pre-tax profits at £2.85 bln, and said it had started this year on a positive foot too. Peers liked the news too, with Sainsburys up 7p at 366.25p, and Morrisons up 6.5p at just shy of 284p.
Carrying on from this monring, Pharma giant AstraZeneca closed up 141p at 2,122 after the group said it has signed a settlement agreement in its Nexium patent infringement litigation against Ranbaxy Labs. Broker Cazenove then upgraded the stock to 'in-line' from 'underperform'.
Carphone Warehouse didn't have such a good day, though, closing down 35.5p at 231p after a downbeat forecast regarding its 4th quarter profit citing bad debt. Dresdner Kleinwort kept its 'buy' stance but promptly cut its target to 335p, down from 38p.
Home Retail closed down 9.25p at 240p after we all heard that the UK Office of Fair Trading will be approving Home Retail's Focus deal providing divestment is proved and in place.
Housebuilders suffered as reports that house prices fell in March to its highest level since records began. Blue chip Persimmon closed down 16p at just shy of 660p, whilst peers followed suit. Taylor Wimpey closed down 3.5p at 158.5p, Barratts closed down 10p to 350.25p, and Bovis Homes closed down 16.5p at just shy of 529p.
Morning Market, Tuesday 15th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 45 points in its first hour today at 5,876. The FTSE 250 was up about 50 points at 9,995.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down over 23 points at 12,302.06, whilst the S&P500 closed dopwn nearly 64 points at 5,831.6, and the Nasdaq down 14.42 ponts at 2,275.82. The manufacturing data from Empire State Survey is released today for April, which is quite indicative of conditions, whilst the Producer Price Index, which is the inlflaton figure quide, is also released. We also see the April homebuilders figures too, which is expected to show that the housing market is still very weak.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up over 73 points at 12,990.58, whislt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up nearly 94 points at 23,904.80. Investors seem to feel there are some bargains around, after such a poor recent performance by the markets.
On to oil, where trading in the Far East was at record levels again. Light Sweet (May del) was at US$112 bbl, whilst Brent (May del) was at US$110 bbl.
Back here in the UK, inflation is on the up, still, with March's figure at 2.6%, up from 2.5% in Feb. Keeping inflation down is one of the reasons why interest rates can't be cut too quickly.
Retails sales fgures for the UK showed a fall for the first time in 2 years for March as well, this despite Easter falling so early this year. Figures were down 1.6% on the same time last year.
On to stocks, where unsuprisingly Tesco was up 17p at 408p after releasing its figures that showed a near 12% increase in pre-tax profit to £2.846 bln and said it hade also made a strong start to the current year. Peers followed the good news reaction with Morrison up 2.5p at just shy of 280p and sainsburys up 3p at 362p.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca was up 166p at 2,147 after annoucing a settlement agreement in its Nexium patent infringement litigation against Ranbaxy Labs. Peer Glaxo was up 12p at 1,079 too.
With oil up at record levels the oil stocks followed. BP was up 9p at 559p, RD Shell up 33p at 1,867, and BG Group was up 94 at 1,316. Theer were also press reports that a Chinese fund has accumulated a 1% stake in BP worth about £1 bln.
Miners also did well too, with Anglo up 40p at 3,261, BHP up 46p at 1,752, Rio up 88p at 5,910, and Eurasian Natural Resources up 45p at 1,245p.
On to communications, where Carphone Warehouse fell 23p to 243p in early trade after it announced said it connected 12% more mobile customers in the 3rd quarter as well as adding 109k broadband customers which took its customer base to over 2.7m. A pre-tax profit in the region of £215m is expected.
The banks were under the cosh again too, with HBOS down 5p to 508p after getting a downgrade to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight' and lowered target to 535p from 715p. Peers were also off, with RBS down 2.5p at 349p, Alliance & Leicester down 7p at 473p, and Lloyds TSB off 2p at 419p.
The house builders were also down, with Persimmons down 14p at 661p, Taylor Wimpey down over 4p at 157.5p, Bovis down 13p at 531p, Redrow down 7p at 277p, and Barratt Developments down 9p at 351p.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed down over 23 points at 12,302.06, whilst the S&P500 closed dopwn nearly 64 points at 5,831.6, and the Nasdaq down 14.42 ponts at 2,275.82. The manufacturing data from Empire State Survey is released today for April, which is quite indicative of conditions, whilst the Producer Price Index, which is the inlflaton figure quide, is also released. We also see the April homebuilders figures too, which is expected to show that the housing market is still very weak.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up over 73 points at 12,990.58, whislt in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up nearly 94 points at 23,904.80. Investors seem to feel there are some bargains around, after such a poor recent performance by the markets.
On to oil, where trading in the Far East was at record levels again. Light Sweet (May del) was at US$112 bbl, whilst Brent (May del) was at US$110 bbl.
Back here in the UK, inflation is on the up, still, with March's figure at 2.6%, up from 2.5% in Feb. Keeping inflation down is one of the reasons why interest rates can't be cut too quickly.
Retails sales fgures for the UK showed a fall for the first time in 2 years for March as well, this despite Easter falling so early this year. Figures were down 1.6% on the same time last year.
On to stocks, where unsuprisingly Tesco was up 17p at 408p after releasing its figures that showed a near 12% increase in pre-tax profit to £2.846 bln and said it hade also made a strong start to the current year. Peers followed the good news reaction with Morrison up 2.5p at just shy of 280p and sainsburys up 3p at 362p.
Pharma giant Astrazeneca was up 166p at 2,147 after annoucing a settlement agreement in its Nexium patent infringement litigation against Ranbaxy Labs. Peer Glaxo was up 12p at 1,079 too.
With oil up at record levels the oil stocks followed. BP was up 9p at 559p, RD Shell up 33p at 1,867, and BG Group was up 94 at 1,316. Theer were also press reports that a Chinese fund has accumulated a 1% stake in BP worth about £1 bln.
Miners also did well too, with Anglo up 40p at 3,261, BHP up 46p at 1,752, Rio up 88p at 5,910, and Eurasian Natural Resources up 45p at 1,245p.
On to communications, where Carphone Warehouse fell 23p to 243p in early trade after it announced said it connected 12% more mobile customers in the 3rd quarter as well as adding 109k broadband customers which took its customer base to over 2.7m. A pre-tax profit in the region of £215m is expected.
The banks were under the cosh again too, with HBOS down 5p to 508p after getting a downgrade to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight' and lowered target to 535p from 715p. Peers were also off, with RBS down 2.5p at 349p, Alliance & Leicester down 7p at 473p, and Lloyds TSB off 2p at 419p.
The house builders were also down, with Persimmons down 14p at 661p, Taylor Wimpey down over 4p at 157.5p, Bovis down 13p at 531p, Redrow down 7p at 277p, and Barratt Developments down 9p at 351p.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 14th April 2008
The FTSE closed dopwn nearly 64 points at 5,831.6, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down nearly 86 points at 9,845.5. Friday's fall in the US promoting bears to reign as the GE news seems to be the thin end of the wedge.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down another 34 points at 12,290, whilst the S&P500 was down a point at 1,332, and the Nasdaq down about 12 points at 2,278.
Back here in London the top loser or the day was insurer Friends Provident, down over 14p at 116.5p, who were given an ultimatum by US private equity group JC Flowers, who tiold them that the £3.5 bln bid would be taken from the table unless talks start this week.
Accounting software giant Sage closed down over 6p at 192.4p after anm in-line trading update. Broker Seymour Pierce reiterated its 'sell' stance, citing concerns about Sage's US healthcare business.
The miners were under pressure again, with copper prices weaker. Anto was down 21p at 750.5p, Anglo down 102p at 3,221, and Xstrata closed down 125p at 3,731.
Banks joined the slide, with RBS closing down 7.5p at 351.5p, A&L down nearly 9p at 480.25p, Lloyds TSB closing down 12p at 421p, and Bradford & Bingley down nearly 2p at 165.5p, despite saying it wasn't planning a Right Issue, as reported in the press. HBOS gained some strength, though, seen as the bargain of the sector at the moment, closing up 6p at 513.
Supermarket Tesco closed up over 3p at 391p the day before its results are announced. Some 'better than expected' news expected there, then.
BAE Systems closed up 0.75p at just shy of 476p after Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'buy' stance and raised its target to 545p, up from 515p.
Mitchells & Butlers closed up 8p at 340p after it confirmed it had indeed approached Punch Taverns over possibility acquiring its managed pubs arm, Spirit. Punch Taverns was 20.5p up at 608.5p on the day, too.
By the time London closed, over the pond the DJI was down another 34 points at 12,290, whilst the S&P500 was down a point at 1,332, and the Nasdaq down about 12 points at 2,278.
Back here in London the top loser or the day was insurer Friends Provident, down over 14p at 116.5p, who were given an ultimatum by US private equity group JC Flowers, who tiold them that the £3.5 bln bid would be taken from the table unless talks start this week.
Accounting software giant Sage closed down over 6p at 192.4p after anm in-line trading update. Broker Seymour Pierce reiterated its 'sell' stance, citing concerns about Sage's US healthcare business.
The miners were under pressure again, with copper prices weaker. Anto was down 21p at 750.5p, Anglo down 102p at 3,221, and Xstrata closed down 125p at 3,731.
Banks joined the slide, with RBS closing down 7.5p at 351.5p, A&L down nearly 9p at 480.25p, Lloyds TSB closing down 12p at 421p, and Bradford & Bingley down nearly 2p at 165.5p, despite saying it wasn't planning a Right Issue, as reported in the press. HBOS gained some strength, though, seen as the bargain of the sector at the moment, closing up 6p at 513.
Supermarket Tesco closed up over 3p at 391p the day before its results are announced. Some 'better than expected' news expected there, then.
BAE Systems closed up 0.75p at just shy of 476p after Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'buy' stance and raised its target to 545p, up from 515p.
Mitchells & Butlers closed up 8p at 340p after it confirmed it had indeed approached Punch Taverns over possibility acquiring its managed pubs arm, Spirit. Punch Taverns was 20.5p up at 608.5p on the day, too.
Morning Market, Monday 14th April 2008
The FTSE was down about 45 points at about 5,850 in its first hour of the week's markets. The FTSE 250 was around 90 points down at 9,841.
Over the pond on Friday all 3 major Indicies down over 2% on the day. The DJI ended the day down 256.56 points at 12,325.42, whilst the S&P500 closed down 27.72 points at 1,332.83, and the Nasdaq down 61.46 at 2,290.24. The 1st quarter report from General Electric frightened weverybody, it seems, with many feeling we are still only a short way into world financial crisis, as more and more seeps out almost daily.
In the Far East today the mod was also negaive, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing down over 3%, or 406.22 pointsat 12,917.51. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed at 23,811.2, down over 856 points on the day, or 3.5%. Concerns about the Shanghai's market fall helping sellers to come out there.
Back here in London it was the banks yet again that were pulling the FTSE down. The rather large write-downs by many US banks, and the downbeat GE news on Friday, all adding to the woe. Barclays was down 11p at 442p, Alliance & Leicester down 15p at 473p, Lloyds TSB down 9p at 424p, RBS off 8p at 350.5p, and Bradford & Bingley down 5p at 162p as weekend reports that a Rights Issue may be forthcoming was denied.
Sage was down another 3p at 195.5p as the accounting software specialist said that its interims to 31st March would be in line with forecasts.
Airline British Airways was down another 8p at 215p after broker Morgan Stanley gave the recently troubled airtline a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight'. It seems fuel copsts and Terminal 5 are taking their toll, and the news at the weekend that the long-haul side of the operations will not be joining the Termainal 5 home for another few weeks is causing investors to look elsewhere.
Miners were also down this morning, with Xstrata down 80p at 3,776 and Anglo off 90p at 2,233. Gold and copper was weaker in teh Far East this morning, causing a knock-on effect.
British Energy, however, was up 3p at 744p after further speculation on a possible takeover was in the press over the weekend. Now it's the Swedish state-owned power giant Vattenfall that is looking to make a bid. Citigroup have been appointed to advise on it. That's a few in the framne now, with Germany's RWE and EDF of France were both looking to take out the UK nuclear power operator.
Punch Taverns was up 20p at 608p after Mitchells & Butlers (up 4p at 336p) said it had indeed approached the pub group regaring a possible acquisition Sprit, its managed-pubs arm.
Over the pond on Friday all 3 major Indicies down over 2% on the day. The DJI ended the day down 256.56 points at 12,325.42, whilst the S&P500 closed down 27.72 points at 1,332.83, and the Nasdaq down 61.46 at 2,290.24. The 1st quarter report from General Electric frightened weverybody, it seems, with many feeling we are still only a short way into world financial crisis, as more and more seeps out almost daily.
In the Far East today the mod was also negaive, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing down over 3%, or 406.22 pointsat 12,917.51. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed at 23,811.2, down over 856 points on the day, or 3.5%. Concerns about the Shanghai's market fall helping sellers to come out there.
Back here in London it was the banks yet again that were pulling the FTSE down. The rather large write-downs by many US banks, and the downbeat GE news on Friday, all adding to the woe. Barclays was down 11p at 442p, Alliance & Leicester down 15p at 473p, Lloyds TSB down 9p at 424p, RBS off 8p at 350.5p, and Bradford & Bingley down 5p at 162p as weekend reports that a Rights Issue may be forthcoming was denied.
Sage was down another 3p at 195.5p as the accounting software specialist said that its interims to 31st March would be in line with forecasts.
Airline British Airways was down another 8p at 215p after broker Morgan Stanley gave the recently troubled airtline a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight'. It seems fuel copsts and Terminal 5 are taking their toll, and the news at the weekend that the long-haul side of the operations will not be joining the Termainal 5 home for another few weeks is causing investors to look elsewhere.
Miners were also down this morning, with Xstrata down 80p at 3,776 and Anglo off 90p at 2,233. Gold and copper was weaker in teh Far East this morning, causing a knock-on effect.
British Energy, however, was up 3p at 744p after further speculation on a possible takeover was in the press over the weekend. Now it's the Swedish state-owned power giant Vattenfall that is looking to make a bid. Citigroup have been appointed to advise on it. That's a few in the framne now, with Germany's RWE and EDF of France were both looking to take out the UK nuclear power operator.
Punch Taverns was up 20p at 608p after Mitchells & Butlers (up 4p at 336p) said it had indeed approached the pub group regaring a possible acquisition Sprit, its managed-pubs arm.
Friday, 11 April 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 11th April 2008
The FTSE 100 closed down 69.6 poinst today at 5,895.5, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 81.6 points at 9,931.4. The FTSE 100 actually fell back about 100 points after the US opened, and spent the last two hours of the session at the minus 75 level, and therabouts.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was about 141 down at 12,441, whilst the S&P500 was off 15 points at 1,345 and the Nasdaq down 31 points at 2,320. Wall Street was a bit takenaback by the GE announcment saying their financial division is having it hard of late due to the current US economy situation, and lowered its forecasts for the year.
Back here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was the banks that wer eunde rpressure. lloyds TSB closed down over 13p at 433p, Barclays down a penny at 453, HBOS off nearly 10p at 507p, and RBS down over 3p at 359p.
Also on from this morning, Friends Provident closed nearly 5p down at 130.6p after the FT said that the insurer was quite possibnly no longer a £3.5 bln bid target for US private equity group, JC Flowers, as the life assurer is playing hard to get and won't talk as it says the bid is too low.
BAE Systems closed down over 24p, or 5%, at 475 after media reports that the defence company will bring in a new Chief Executive after the previous corruption rumours and allegations have damaged the buisness. BAE is still under investigation over four international deals, with the High Court ruling on Thursday that the Serious Fraud Office should not have ended the investigation into the saudi Arabian deals BAe did, and that the case may need to be reopened.
Cadbury Schweppes closed down 15p at 563.5p after giving a tarding statement that failed to impress broker Numis. Whilst 1st quarter sales in the UK were up 3%, it was noted that this included the very early easter figures.
Recently troubled airline British Airways closed down nearly 5p at 223.5p on the back of even more nagative about the newly opened £4.3 bln Terminal 5. BA and airport operator BAA said that they have put back the planned move of the airline's long-haul flights to Terminal 5 from Terminal 4 until June.
British Energy was up another 1.5p at 741 on the back of further rumors regaring the RWE possible bid. £7.75 a share is doing the rounds, which is 75p higher than the EDF French bid of 7-quid. Peers still liked it, though, with International Power up 12.5p at 432.5p, and Scottish & Southern Energy closing up 30p at 1,390.
Oil services provider AMEC closed up 20.5p at 741 after broker UBS gave an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying it looked quite cheap on fundamental valuation grounds. Peer Wood Group closed up 10p at 415p.
The miners did ok in general, with Vedanta closing up 85p at 2,365 after Goldman Sachs raised its price target to 2,660 from 2,630 and reitereated its buy 'stance'.
Oil was doing ok, with the price of the black stuff at US$110 bbl some of the 2nd liners were climbing. Petrofac closed up 45p at 632p, JKX Oil & Gas up 23p at 491.5p, and Dana Petroleum closed up 28p at 1,313.
Currys and PC World owner DSG International closed down another 1.25p at 58.25p after yesterday's 2nd profit warning in 4 months and SG Securities downgraded it target to 46p from 60p and reiterated its 'sell' stance on the high street retailer.
Arriva closed down 10.5p at 679.5p after Credit Suisse said it didn't fancy it and cut its target to 675p from 8-quid and reiterated its 'underperform' rating.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was about 141 down at 12,441, whilst the S&P500 was off 15 points at 1,345 and the Nasdaq down 31 points at 2,320. Wall Street was a bit takenaback by the GE announcment saying their financial division is having it hard of late due to the current US economy situation, and lowered its forecasts for the year.
Back here in London, and carrying on from this morning, it was the banks that wer eunde rpressure. lloyds TSB closed down over 13p at 433p, Barclays down a penny at 453, HBOS off nearly 10p at 507p, and RBS down over 3p at 359p.
Also on from this morning, Friends Provident closed nearly 5p down at 130.6p after the FT said that the insurer was quite possibnly no longer a £3.5 bln bid target for US private equity group, JC Flowers, as the life assurer is playing hard to get and won't talk as it says the bid is too low.
BAE Systems closed down over 24p, or 5%, at 475 after media reports that the defence company will bring in a new Chief Executive after the previous corruption rumours and allegations have damaged the buisness. BAE is still under investigation over four international deals, with the High Court ruling on Thursday that the Serious Fraud Office should not have ended the investigation into the saudi Arabian deals BAe did, and that the case may need to be reopened.
Cadbury Schweppes closed down 15p at 563.5p after giving a tarding statement that failed to impress broker Numis. Whilst 1st quarter sales in the UK were up 3%, it was noted that this included the very early easter figures.
Recently troubled airline British Airways closed down nearly 5p at 223.5p on the back of even more nagative about the newly opened £4.3 bln Terminal 5. BA and airport operator BAA said that they have put back the planned move of the airline's long-haul flights to Terminal 5 from Terminal 4 until June.
British Energy was up another 1.5p at 741 on the back of further rumors regaring the RWE possible bid. £7.75 a share is doing the rounds, which is 75p higher than the EDF French bid of 7-quid. Peers still liked it, though, with International Power up 12.5p at 432.5p, and Scottish & Southern Energy closing up 30p at 1,390.
Oil services provider AMEC closed up 20.5p at 741 after broker UBS gave an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying it looked quite cheap on fundamental valuation grounds. Peer Wood Group closed up 10p at 415p.
The miners did ok in general, with Vedanta closing up 85p at 2,365 after Goldman Sachs raised its price target to 2,660 from 2,630 and reitereated its buy 'stance'.
Oil was doing ok, with the price of the black stuff at US$110 bbl some of the 2nd liners were climbing. Petrofac closed up 45p at 632p, JKX Oil & Gas up 23p at 491.5p, and Dana Petroleum closed up 28p at 1,313.
Currys and PC World owner DSG International closed down another 1.25p at 58.25p after yesterday's 2nd profit warning in 4 months and SG Securities downgraded it target to 46p from 60p and reiterated its 'sell' stance on the high street retailer.
Arriva closed down 10.5p at 679.5p after Credit Suisse said it didn't fancy it and cut its target to 675p from 8-quid and reiterated its 'underperform' rating.
Morning Market, Friday 11th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 40 points in its first hour at 6,005, thru' that 6k level, whilst the FTSE 250 was up 65 points at 10,078.
Last night over the pond investors moved back in after 2 days of falls, as employment claims fell. The DJI closed up 54.72 to 12,581.98 the S&P500 up just over 6 points at 1,360.55, and the Nasdaq up 29.58 points at 2,351.70. Sme confidence was returning to the retail sector over there as well, as the biger stores said things were picking up.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 378.43 poinst at 13,323.73, whilst in Honmg Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 2% or 480.69 points at 24,667.79.
Here in London this morning it was oil services and support provider AMEC that was up over 30p at 751p after a UBS broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral', stating that it reckoned it was now good alue compared to its peers.
Oil prices were up at nearly US$109 bbl for Brent, and US$110 for light Sweet (both Mat del). This spread on to the oil stocks, which were also up, with BP 8p to the better at 558p after a JP Morgan upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral', and added a 625p traget, up from 6-quid, after saying the upping of the divvy was nice and that resructuring was going well within the oil giant. Citigroup also upped its target for BP from 530p to 535p, and also upped targets on RD Shell and Tullows too. RD Shell was up 23p at 1,850, and Tullows up 12p at 684p.
Cadburys was down nearly 7p at 572p after announcing some decent figures for 1st quarter sweetie sales, which showed a 7% growth, but broker Numis Securities said Cadbury's performance was rather disappointing. This caused the nagtive feeling for shareholders, as most of the good nbews was already built into the price, it seems.
Insurer Friends Provident was 1.2p down at 134.2p after press reports that US private equity fiorm JC Flowers was off the prowl again, saying that the £3.5 bln bid may be off again now as Friends Prov say the bid is too low and don't want to know.
Currys and PC World owners DSG International were down another penny this morning at 58.5p after SG Securities gave the retailing group a 'sell' rating and 46p target, down from 60p. DSG have given 2 profit warnings in 4 months, and fell heavily yetserday.
Sage Group, the software company, was down 5.5p at 190.2p after a Citigroup downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Game Group was down 6 pence to 228p after HSBC gave the group an 'underweight' rating, saying the firm's 'premium sector' rating is now no longer justified.
Last night over the pond investors moved back in after 2 days of falls, as employment claims fell. The DJI closed up 54.72 to 12,581.98 the S&P500 up just over 6 points at 1,360.55, and the Nasdaq up 29.58 points at 2,351.70. Sme confidence was returning to the retail sector over there as well, as the biger stores said things were picking up.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 378.43 poinst at 13,323.73, whilst in Honmg Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 2% or 480.69 points at 24,667.79.
Here in London this morning it was oil services and support provider AMEC that was up over 30p at 751p after a UBS broker upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral', stating that it reckoned it was now good alue compared to its peers.
Oil prices were up at nearly US$109 bbl for Brent, and US$110 for light Sweet (both Mat del). This spread on to the oil stocks, which were also up, with BP 8p to the better at 558p after a JP Morgan upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral', and added a 625p traget, up from 6-quid, after saying the upping of the divvy was nice and that resructuring was going well within the oil giant. Citigroup also upped its target for BP from 530p to 535p, and also upped targets on RD Shell and Tullows too. RD Shell was up 23p at 1,850, and Tullows up 12p at 684p.
Cadburys was down nearly 7p at 572p after announcing some decent figures for 1st quarter sweetie sales, which showed a 7% growth, but broker Numis Securities said Cadbury's performance was rather disappointing. This caused the nagtive feeling for shareholders, as most of the good nbews was already built into the price, it seems.
Insurer Friends Provident was 1.2p down at 134.2p after press reports that US private equity fiorm JC Flowers was off the prowl again, saying that the £3.5 bln bid may be off again now as Friends Prov say the bid is too low and don't want to know.
Currys and PC World owners DSG International were down another penny this morning at 58.5p after SG Securities gave the retailing group a 'sell' rating and 46p target, down from 60p. DSG have given 2 profit warnings in 4 months, and fell heavily yetserday.
Sage Group, the software company, was down 5.5p at 190.2p after a Citigroup downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy'.
Game Group was down 6 pence to 228p after HSBC gave the group an 'underweight' rating, saying the firm's 'premium sector' rating is now no longer justified.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 10th April 2008
The FTSE closed down 18.8 points at 5,965.1, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 58.8 points at 10,013, but these were up form there lows - boosted by the BoE's expected decision to cut interest rates by 25 points, from 5.25% to 5%, but still not in positive territory as rumours of further write-down by Merrill Lynch were doing the rounds.
Over the pond, by the time London was closing the the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,607, the S&P500 up 8 points at 1,363, and the Nasdaq up 33 points at 2,355. It was retail giant Wal-Mart that was doing well, with employment figures better than expected that gave the positive feeling. This, coupled with the UK's interest rate cut, gave London a lift from the day's lows.
Back here in London the Bank of England gave the rate cut news at lunchtime, although it was expected, giving a boost the the under pressure economy. Interest rates haven't been as low as 5% since January 2007.
In Europe, the ECB left its rate unchanged at 4%, showing it wasn't too bothered about how strong the €uro was getting. In fact, they are probably enjoying every minute of it.
Here it was the banking shares that got hit as Merrills look like announcing another sub-prime related write down, accompanied by an ING Economy review on the Uk that basically said it was doom and gloom coming - BIG style. Baclays closed down over 7p at 463.25p, Alliance & Leicester over 30p down at 495.5p, RBS down 7p at 362.25p, and HBOS down 10p at 516.5p.
The miners were also down, partly due to profit taking on yesterday's good day, and also due to BHP's announcement that it didn't know anything about the Chinese apparnet stake building. BHP closed down 46p at 1,758 on the strgnth of that comment. Peers also fell, with vedanta closing down 52p at 2,280p as despite announcing some decent production figures everyone felt the miners should fall, it seems. Xstrata joined, with a 32p fall to 3,940 as ABN Amro said it was now a 'hold' and not a 'by', whilst Anto was down 18p to 768p, and Lonmins down 28p at 3,217p. Eurasian Natural Resources, however, sw some of the money moving their way as they closed up 74p at 1,180p after yesterday's not-so-good day and help from an ABN Amro sector upgrade for those with exposure to bulk commodities. ENRC, of course, has bulk commodities for 2008 EBITDA exposure nearing 90%.
On to retailers, where DSG International gave a 2nd profit warning in about 4 months citing UK trading conditions causing a 5.5p close down at 59.5p. Kingfisher were off 3.4p at 127.1p after the CEO said profits would be down 30%. Sainsburys closed down over 10p at 354p whilst Marks & Sparks closed down over 6p at 367p as JP Morgan cut its target from 370p to 350p and reminded everyone its stance was 'underweight'.
Oil & gas was up as the black stuff was at US$110 for Light Sweet and Brent was not far under US$109 bbl (both May del). Cairn Energy did the best in the sctor, up a healthy 50p at 3,010p.
British Energy Group was up 38p at 739.5p on news that RWE, the German utility group, was bidding, or was just about to bid 7-quid a share for the UK nuclear firm, valuing it at about £11 bln. EDF and Centrica were supposed to be doing a joiunt bid, so with the Germans now in the frame investors felt there could be a bit of a bidding war kicking off.
Staying with enrgy, International Power closed up 3p at 420p after its somewhat popular Investor Day, which promptly saw Deutsche Bank remind everyone it was long on the expanding firm by shouting its stance was still 'buy' and that it had a 450p target too, with mentions of Asia and Australia as growth markets.
Food equipment maker Enodis jumped nearly 52% or 78.5p to 230p after news that the group has received a cash offer proposal at 260p a share from Manitowoc. It's pleasing that insider trading hasn't been driving this one up lately. For a change.
Staying with bid hopes, Mitchells & Butlers closed up over 16p at nearly 335p aftre press reports that private equity groups CVC and Blackstone are moving in with a JV bid proposal to take acquire just under the 30% controlling level of the pub group.
Over the pond, by the time London was closing the the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,607, the S&P500 up 8 points at 1,363, and the Nasdaq up 33 points at 2,355. It was retail giant Wal-Mart that was doing well, with employment figures better than expected that gave the positive feeling. This, coupled with the UK's interest rate cut, gave London a lift from the day's lows.
Back here in London the Bank of England gave the rate cut news at lunchtime, although it was expected, giving a boost the the under pressure economy. Interest rates haven't been as low as 5% since January 2007.
In Europe, the ECB left its rate unchanged at 4%, showing it wasn't too bothered about how strong the €uro was getting. In fact, they are probably enjoying every minute of it.
Here it was the banking shares that got hit as Merrills look like announcing another sub-prime related write down, accompanied by an ING Economy review on the Uk that basically said it was doom and gloom coming - BIG style. Baclays closed down over 7p at 463.25p, Alliance & Leicester over 30p down at 495.5p, RBS down 7p at 362.25p, and HBOS down 10p at 516.5p.
The miners were also down, partly due to profit taking on yesterday's good day, and also due to BHP's announcement that it didn't know anything about the Chinese apparnet stake building. BHP closed down 46p at 1,758 on the strgnth of that comment. Peers also fell, with vedanta closing down 52p at 2,280p as despite announcing some decent production figures everyone felt the miners should fall, it seems. Xstrata joined, with a 32p fall to 3,940 as ABN Amro said it was now a 'hold' and not a 'by', whilst Anto was down 18p to 768p, and Lonmins down 28p at 3,217p. Eurasian Natural Resources, however, sw some of the money moving their way as they closed up 74p at 1,180p after yesterday's not-so-good day and help from an ABN Amro sector upgrade for those with exposure to bulk commodities. ENRC, of course, has bulk commodities for 2008 EBITDA exposure nearing 90%.
On to retailers, where DSG International gave a 2nd profit warning in about 4 months citing UK trading conditions causing a 5.5p close down at 59.5p. Kingfisher were off 3.4p at 127.1p after the CEO said profits would be down 30%. Sainsburys closed down over 10p at 354p whilst Marks & Sparks closed down over 6p at 367p as JP Morgan cut its target from 370p to 350p and reminded everyone its stance was 'underweight'.
Oil & gas was up as the black stuff was at US$110 for Light Sweet and Brent was not far under US$109 bbl (both May del). Cairn Energy did the best in the sctor, up a healthy 50p at 3,010p.
British Energy Group was up 38p at 739.5p on news that RWE, the German utility group, was bidding, or was just about to bid 7-quid a share for the UK nuclear firm, valuing it at about £11 bln. EDF and Centrica were supposed to be doing a joiunt bid, so with the Germans now in the frame investors felt there could be a bit of a bidding war kicking off.
Staying with enrgy, International Power closed up 3p at 420p after its somewhat popular Investor Day, which promptly saw Deutsche Bank remind everyone it was long on the expanding firm by shouting its stance was still 'buy' and that it had a 450p target too, with mentions of Asia and Australia as growth markets.
Food equipment maker Enodis jumped nearly 52% or 78.5p to 230p after news that the group has received a cash offer proposal at 260p a share from Manitowoc. It's pleasing that insider trading hasn't been driving this one up lately. For a change.
Staying with bid hopes, Mitchells & Butlers closed up over 16p at nearly 335p aftre press reports that private equity groups CVC and Blackstone are moving in with a JV bid proposal to take acquire just under the 30% controlling level of the pub group.
Morning Market, Thursday 10th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 10 points in its first hour of trading at 5,996, close to the psycological 6k level. The FTSE 250 was about 20 points at 10,092. Everyone seems to be waiting for the Bank of England interest rate decision, which we think may come out with a 0.25% drop, but we all hope for a 0.5% to give the market and money markets a boost. The recent news of 2.5% drop on house prices in UK for March wasn't taken well.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down nearly 50 points at 12,527.26, whilst the S&P500 closed down just over 11 points at 1,354.49, and the Nasdaq down nearly 27 points at 2,322.12. Nasdaq had the worst day as the tech stocks were losing support after AMD's recent profit warning, although mail giant UPS's prfot warning and the less than expect US oil reserves helped all 3 indicies fall.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 166.59 points at 12,945.30, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was actually up nearly 50 points at 24,034 by its lunchtime chow.
Oil was up slightly at US$110.80 bbl in Far East trade after the US reserves news, couple with the weaker dollar. Brent (May del) was also up slightly from last night's trading at US$108.50 bbl.
Back to London stocks where British Energy Group was up again on bid hopes, with the FT telling us all that RWE has bid about 7-quid a share in cash for the nuclear operator. Shares were tradintg at 730, up 28p on the day.
With oil up so were the majors. RD Shell was up a penny at 1,829, BP up 3p at 548p, and Cairn Energy up 26p at 2,986.
Mining stocks didn't fair as well this morning, with BHP down after saying it new nothing about any Chinese stake building in the company. Peers were also down, with Xstrata down nearly 35p at 3,936.5 on the back of an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', whilst Anto was off 10p at 776p, Kazakhmys down 24p at 1,659, Lonmin down 35p at 3,210, and Vedanta down nearly 25p at 2,307. 24 at 2,308 despite reporting full-year production figures that pleased brokers.
On to travel where Thomas Cook was up 1.5p at 308.5p after announcing it is on track for its forecasts this year with booking sin-line with expectations so far.
On to the High Street, where Marks & Spencer was down another 1.5p at 372p after JP Morgan cut its target to 350p from 370p and reiterated its 'underweight' stance. Other peers were down too, with Kingfisher was down a penny at 129.6p, Sainsburys down 2p at 4,648, and DSG Intnl also down 2p at 63p after announcing another profit warning.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down nearly 50 points at 12,527.26, whilst the S&P500 closed down just over 11 points at 1,354.49, and the Nasdaq down nearly 27 points at 2,322.12. Nasdaq had the worst day as the tech stocks were losing support after AMD's recent profit warning, although mail giant UPS's prfot warning and the less than expect US oil reserves helped all 3 indicies fall.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down 166.59 points at 12,945.30, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was actually up nearly 50 points at 24,034 by its lunchtime chow.
Oil was up slightly at US$110.80 bbl in Far East trade after the US reserves news, couple with the weaker dollar. Brent (May del) was also up slightly from last night's trading at US$108.50 bbl.
Back to London stocks where British Energy Group was up again on bid hopes, with the FT telling us all that RWE has bid about 7-quid a share in cash for the nuclear operator. Shares were tradintg at 730, up 28p on the day.
With oil up so were the majors. RD Shell was up a penny at 1,829, BP up 3p at 548p, and Cairn Energy up 26p at 2,986.
Mining stocks didn't fair as well this morning, with BHP down after saying it new nothing about any Chinese stake building in the company. Peers were also down, with Xstrata down nearly 35p at 3,936.5 on the back of an ABN Amro downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy', whilst Anto was off 10p at 776p, Kazakhmys down 24p at 1,659, Lonmin down 35p at 3,210, and Vedanta down nearly 25p at 2,307. 24 at 2,308 despite reporting full-year production figures that pleased brokers.
On to travel where Thomas Cook was up 1.5p at 308.5p after announcing it is on track for its forecasts this year with booking sin-line with expectations so far.
On to the High Street, where Marks & Spencer was down another 1.5p at 372p after JP Morgan cut its target to 350p from 370p and reiterated its 'underweight' stance. Other peers were down too, with Kingfisher was down a penny at 129.6p, Sainsburys down 2p at 4,648, and DSG Intnl also down 2p at 63p after announcing another profit warning.
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 9th April 2008
The FTSE ended the day down 6.3 points at 5,983.9, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down almost 37 points at 10,071.8. It seems there is some apprehension around prior to the Bank of England's interest rate decision tomorrow. We feel there will be a cut. We feel there has to be. Over to you, Bank of England. And Mr Darling, we expect, who will have fed his thoughts to the powers that be, we're sure.
By the time London closed the DJI was down about 66 points at 12,510, whilst the S&P 500 was down around 8 points at 1,357, and the Nasdaq down 24 points at 2,325. Concerns about Freight and postal giant UPS, who lowered their 1st quarter forecast, gave investors the nerves again.
Back here in London, the banks took a bit of a pasting. Credit Suisse downgraded HBOSto 'underweight' from 'neutral', causing a 23p fall to close at 526.5p. Peers followed, with Barclays down over 7p at 470.5p, RBS down 5p to close at just over 369p, and Lloyds TSB down nearly 3p to a shade over 454p. credit Suisse also added that it expect house prices to fall by 10% this year, which will definitely have further effect to the banks' bottom lines. let's see how interest rates go tomorrow.
Carrying on from this morning, SABMiller closed down 26p at 1,089.5 after a CitiGroup downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' and a 1,245p target. SAB's 4th quarter figures are due next week.
Scottish & Southern Energy closed down 47p at 1,358.5 after it announced it had agreed to take a 20% stake Geothermal International for something like £15m in cash.
Oil majors had a strong day. RD Shell was up 19p to 1,826, BP up 10.5p to just over 547p, BG Group was 16p up at 1,212.5, and Cairn Energy was up nearly 4.5% to 2,960, or up 127p on the day, as the price of the black stuff got stronger. US oil stocks reserves were not as high as expected, being down a mere 3.2m bbl, so the oil majors were up. Analysts expected a 2.5m bbl rise. Just 5.7m bbl out.
The miners were up as well as metals prices were stronger due to the weaker US dollar. Vedanta closed up 63p at 2,332, BHP up 42p at 1,804, Anglo closed up 76p at 3,370, and Rio closed up nearly a quid at 60-quid even. Recent FTSE joiner Eurasian Natural Resources closed up 11p at 1,106 after a decent set of results with a 52% rise in profits to US$1.91 before exceptional items, up from $1.26 bln the presvious year.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed up 3p at just shy of 690p after yesterday's falls but ahead of the BoE's interest rate decision tomorrow. Feeling is we could see a drop in interest rates. Whether the building societies lower mortgage rates is another matter. Peers also recovered some of the ground lost yetserday, with Taylor Wimpey up 1.5p at 171.5 after receiving a broker upgrade from Goldman Sachs, who also increased its target to 163p from 130p.
Some stocks went ex-div, with Hammeron down 37p to 1,074p, the Pru down 9p at just shy of 683p, Pearson down 21.5p at 673.5, and Admiral Group down 36.5p at 759.5p.
By the time London closed the DJI was down about 66 points at 12,510, whilst the S&P 500 was down around 8 points at 1,357, and the Nasdaq down 24 points at 2,325. Concerns about Freight and postal giant UPS, who lowered their 1st quarter forecast, gave investors the nerves again.
Back here in London, the banks took a bit of a pasting. Credit Suisse downgraded HBOSto 'underweight' from 'neutral', causing a 23p fall to close at 526.5p. Peers followed, with Barclays down over 7p at 470.5p, RBS down 5p to close at just over 369p, and Lloyds TSB down nearly 3p to a shade over 454p. credit Suisse also added that it expect house prices to fall by 10% this year, which will definitely have further effect to the banks' bottom lines. let's see how interest rates go tomorrow.
Carrying on from this morning, SABMiller closed down 26p at 1,089.5 after a CitiGroup downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' and a 1,245p target. SAB's 4th quarter figures are due next week.
Scottish & Southern Energy closed down 47p at 1,358.5 after it announced it had agreed to take a 20% stake Geothermal International for something like £15m in cash.
Oil majors had a strong day. RD Shell was up 19p to 1,826, BP up 10.5p to just over 547p, BG Group was 16p up at 1,212.5, and Cairn Energy was up nearly 4.5% to 2,960, or up 127p on the day, as the price of the black stuff got stronger. US oil stocks reserves were not as high as expected, being down a mere 3.2m bbl, so the oil majors were up. Analysts expected a 2.5m bbl rise. Just 5.7m bbl out.
The miners were up as well as metals prices were stronger due to the weaker US dollar. Vedanta closed up 63p at 2,332, BHP up 42p at 1,804, Anglo closed up 76p at 3,370, and Rio closed up nearly a quid at 60-quid even. Recent FTSE joiner Eurasian Natural Resources closed up 11p at 1,106 after a decent set of results with a 52% rise in profits to US$1.91 before exceptional items, up from $1.26 bln the presvious year.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed up 3p at just shy of 690p after yesterday's falls but ahead of the BoE's interest rate decision tomorrow. Feeling is we could see a drop in interest rates. Whether the building societies lower mortgage rates is another matter. Peers also recovered some of the ground lost yetserday, with Taylor Wimpey up 1.5p at 171.5 after receiving a broker upgrade from Goldman Sachs, who also increased its target to 163p from 130p.
Some stocks went ex-div, with Hammeron down 37p to 1,074p, the Pru down 9p at just shy of 683p, Pearson down 21.5p at 673.5, and Admiral Group down 36.5p at 759.5p.
Morning Market, Wednesday 9th April 2008
The FTSE was down 20 points in its first hour at 5,970, with the FTSE 250 was actually up 25 points at 10,134.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down almost 36 points in the end at 12,576.44, whilst the S&P500 closed down 7 points at 1,365.54 and the Nasdaq down just over 16 points at 2,348.76. Concenrs over the 1st quarter earnings that we mentioned yesterday took their toll on investors' attitudes on the market.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down over 138 points at 13,111.89, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down over 327 points at 23,984.57, breaking the 24k level again. It seems investors have been taking profits. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed 327.12 points lower at 23,984.57
Back here in London, HBOS took a bash from Credit Suisse as they downgraded the bank to 'underperform' from 'neutral' during a sector review. It was soon down 17p at 532p with investors concerned about house prices falling and the first tiome buyers not asking banks for mortgages at the moment. During its sector review, Credit Suisse said that it expectes house prices to fall 10% this year, which will impact on the banks' earnings. Peers were also down, with RBS off 8p at 366p, Barclays down 9p at 469p, and Standard Chartered down 20p at 1,778.
Brewer SABMiller was down 15p at 1,101 after Citigroup downgraded it to a 'hold' from 'buy', adding a price target cut to 1,245p, as it expects the cost pressures SAB had mentioned will take their toll ahead of the brewer's 4th quarter results next week. Peer Marston's was up 5p at 206p after the same broker upped its stance to 'buy' from 'hold', as was Mitchells & Butlers, who were up 9p at 337p after a strong trading update.
BG Group was up 14p at 1,210 on the back of a strong oil price. RD Shell was up 14p at 1,821, with BP up 2p at 539, Tullows up 3p at 658.5, and Cairn Energy up 60p at 2,894.
On to mining, where ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) was up 18p at 1,113 on th back of some better than expected results. ENRC posted a 52% rise in EBITDA for the year of US$1.91 bln, which was up from $1.26 bln the year before.
BT Group continued to gain strength after yesterday's CEO news, up another 4p at 237p.
Housebuilder Persimmons was up 21p at 708, reversing yesterday's fall as investors were expecting a cut in interest rates to be announced tomorrow. Peers also did well, with Taylor Wimpey up 7p at 177p (also receiving a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' and 163p target, up from 130p), and Barratts up 13p at 390p (helped by a Panmure Gordon upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell').
Unilever was up 10p to 1,735 after press reports that the firm has received a couple of bids for its American detergents business that has been up for sale for 6 months.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed down almost 36 points in the end at 12,576.44, whilst the S&P500 closed down 7 points at 1,365.54 and the Nasdaq down just over 16 points at 2,348.76. Concenrs over the 1st quarter earnings that we mentioned yesterday took their toll on investors' attitudes on the market.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed down over 138 points at 13,111.89, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed down over 327 points at 23,984.57, breaking the 24k level again. It seems investors have been taking profits. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed 327.12 points lower at 23,984.57
Back here in London, HBOS took a bash from Credit Suisse as they downgraded the bank to 'underperform' from 'neutral' during a sector review. It was soon down 17p at 532p with investors concerned about house prices falling and the first tiome buyers not asking banks for mortgages at the moment. During its sector review, Credit Suisse said that it expectes house prices to fall 10% this year, which will impact on the banks' earnings. Peers were also down, with RBS off 8p at 366p, Barclays down 9p at 469p, and Standard Chartered down 20p at 1,778.
Brewer SABMiller was down 15p at 1,101 after Citigroup downgraded it to a 'hold' from 'buy', adding a price target cut to 1,245p, as it expects the cost pressures SAB had mentioned will take their toll ahead of the brewer's 4th quarter results next week. Peer Marston's was up 5p at 206p after the same broker upped its stance to 'buy' from 'hold', as was Mitchells & Butlers, who were up 9p at 337p after a strong trading update.
BG Group was up 14p at 1,210 on the back of a strong oil price. RD Shell was up 14p at 1,821, with BP up 2p at 539, Tullows up 3p at 658.5, and Cairn Energy up 60p at 2,894.
On to mining, where ENRC (Eurasian Natural Resources) was up 18p at 1,113 on th back of some better than expected results. ENRC posted a 52% rise in EBITDA for the year of US$1.91 bln, which was up from $1.26 bln the year before.
BT Group continued to gain strength after yesterday's CEO news, up another 4p at 237p.
Housebuilder Persimmons was up 21p at 708, reversing yesterday's fall as investors were expecting a cut in interest rates to be announced tomorrow. Peers also did well, with Taylor Wimpey up 7p at 177p (also receiving a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' and 163p target, up from 130p), and Barratts up 13p at 390p (helped by a Panmure Gordon upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell').
Unilever was up 10p to 1,735 after press reports that the firm has received a couple of bids for its American detergents business that has been up for sale for 6 months.
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Market Wrap, Tuesday 9th April 2008
The FTSE closed down 24.6 points today at 5,990.2, which was up about 48 points from the day's low. the FTSE 250 closed down 135.8 points at 10,108.7.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 13 points at 12,599, whilst the S&P500 was down about 3 points at 1,369, and the Nasdaq down around 7 points at 2,358. Miner Alcoa and Techie pc chip maker AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) gave 1st quarter results and statement that were not very positive. US home sales were also down 21% on this time last year, which also didn't help.
Back here in London, news that house prices were 2.5% lower for march saw the banks and housebuilders get some pressure. We expect an interest rate cut next time out. The biggest house price monthly fall in 15 years was accompanied by news that the number of mortgages completed in the UK in February was at a record low. It seems first time buyers aren't joining the ladder.
The reaction to all this was housebuilder Persimmon closed down 19p on the day at 687p, barratts down 17.5p at 377p, Bovis down 21p at 563.5, and Bellway down 23p at 817.5.
Banks joined the train south with Barclays down over 8p at just shy of 478p, HBOS down 10.5p at 549.5p, and Lloyds TSB down 4.5p at 467. A couple bucked the trend, though, with Alliance & Leicester closing up 6p at 531.5, and Bradford & Bingley closing up 2p at just shy of 190p. Aliance & Leicester seems to have been heavily sold this year, and now coming off the floor.
The miners did ok today, though, with BHP closing up up 77p at 1,762 n rumours that the Chinese want to raise their stake in BHP. Rio closed up 61p at 5,901, and Xstrata up 87p at 3,954.
With oil at US$109 bbl the oilers did ok too, RD Shell up 14p at 1,837, and BP up 1.5p at 537. Tomorrow's we hear the U.S. fuel stocks figures too, so watch for them.
Sage, the accounting software firm, had the worst day, though, closing down 11.4p at 196.6p as investors felt the tech market could be in for a hard time.
British Airways was down another 9p at 231.5p after the costs of the £4.3 bln Heathrow Terminal 5 debacle were weighed up as well as the cost of the black stuff. BA spends £2 bln a year on fuel, so a 10% rise in fuel costs could make all the difference to the bottom line.
Our London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed down 62p at 1,321 as bid hopes were falling off.
Fund manager Schroders shed 27 pence to 1,049, and insurer Standard life dropped 7 pence at 265.
Suger and sweetner firm Tate & Lyle closed down 11.5p at 513.5 after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'neutral' from 'outperform' as the bank said it was fully valued, if not overvalued.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 13 points at 12,599, whilst the S&P500 was down about 3 points at 1,369, and the Nasdaq down around 7 points at 2,358. Miner Alcoa and Techie pc chip maker AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) gave 1st quarter results and statement that were not very positive. US home sales were also down 21% on this time last year, which also didn't help.
Back here in London, news that house prices were 2.5% lower for march saw the banks and housebuilders get some pressure. We expect an interest rate cut next time out. The biggest house price monthly fall in 15 years was accompanied by news that the number of mortgages completed in the UK in February was at a record low. It seems first time buyers aren't joining the ladder.
The reaction to all this was housebuilder Persimmon closed down 19p on the day at 687p, barratts down 17.5p at 377p, Bovis down 21p at 563.5, and Bellway down 23p at 817.5.
Banks joined the train south with Barclays down over 8p at just shy of 478p, HBOS down 10.5p at 549.5p, and Lloyds TSB down 4.5p at 467. A couple bucked the trend, though, with Alliance & Leicester closing up 6p at 531.5, and Bradford & Bingley closing up 2p at just shy of 190p. Aliance & Leicester seems to have been heavily sold this year, and now coming off the floor.
The miners did ok today, though, with BHP closing up up 77p at 1,762 n rumours that the Chinese want to raise their stake in BHP. Rio closed up 61p at 5,901, and Xstrata up 87p at 3,954.
With oil at US$109 bbl the oilers did ok too, RD Shell up 14p at 1,837, and BP up 1.5p at 537. Tomorrow's we hear the U.S. fuel stocks figures too, so watch for them.
Sage, the accounting software firm, had the worst day, though, closing down 11.4p at 196.6p as investors felt the tech market could be in for a hard time.
British Airways was down another 9p at 231.5p after the costs of the £4.3 bln Heathrow Terminal 5 debacle were weighed up as well as the cost of the black stuff. BA spends £2 bln a year on fuel, so a 10% rise in fuel costs could make all the difference to the bottom line.
Our London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closed down 62p at 1,321 as bid hopes were falling off.
Fund manager Schroders shed 27 pence to 1,049, and insurer Standard life dropped 7 pence at 265.
Suger and sweetner firm Tate & Lyle closed down 11.5p at 513.5 after a Credit Suisse downgrade to 'neutral' from 'outperform' as the bank said it was fully valued, if not overvalued.
Morning Market, Tuesday 8th April 2008
The FTSE was down 50 points at 5,964 in its first hour of trading this morning, back under the 6k level that we got through again yesterday. The FTSE 250 was down nearly 135 points at 10,111.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up only 3 points at 12,612.4, whilsy the S&P500 closed up just over 2 points at 1,372.54 and the Nasdaq closed down just over 6 points at 2,364.83. A rather lack-lustre day.
In the Far East today the mood was also down a little, as the Nikkei 225 closed down almost 200 points at 13,251.17 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed at 24,243.25, down some 335 poijnts on the day.
Staying with the Far east, oil was trading at US$108.8 bbl for light sweet (May del), which was down about 25c on the clisung New York price last night.
Back here in London we all heard that house prices in the UK fell 2.5% in March, which is the worst performance in 15 years, and significantly wose than the 0.4% expected. Persimmons immediately fell 4%, or nearly 30p to 677p, with peers following too. Barratts was down 18p at 376.5, Bovis down 24p at 560p, and Bellway down 38p to 802p.
Onto travel, where British Airways was down 3.5p to 502p as the price of oil hit US$109 bbl and the Terminal 5 farce continued with snow disruptions adding to cancellations at the weekend. The airline has said that it hopes to run its full schedule of services from the new terminal today Tuesday. £4.3 bln well spent.
The banks were down again, as continued concern about world markets and the high LIBOR rate didn't do much for confidence. HBOS was down 25p at at 535, RBS down 12p at 364p, Barclays down 17p at 469, and Lloyds TSB off 12p at 449.
The miners were also down, with Rio down over 80p at 5,758, Anto down 12p at 769p, BHP down 25p at 1,660, and Vedanta down 40p at 2,247p. One problem was Alcoa, the US giant, whose figures came in under expectations, with over a 50% drop in 1st quarter earnings, blaming the weak USD.
Onto Phramas, where the Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' saw Astrazeneca drop 30p to 2,055p.
Suger and sweetner Tate & Lyle was down on the back of a Credit Suisse downgrade, with the shares off 12p at 513p.
BT Group was up 1.5p at 231p as comment that the appointment of Ian Livingstone as chief executive looks unlikely to change much.
British Energy Group continued up another 5p to 718p on the back of the recent press reports of the Centrica and French EDF are going for a joint bid worth £10 bln.
Last night over the pond the DJI closed up only 3 points at 12,612.4, whilsy the S&P500 closed up just over 2 points at 1,372.54 and the Nasdaq closed down just over 6 points at 2,364.83. A rather lack-lustre day.
In the Far East today the mood was also down a little, as the Nikkei 225 closed down almost 200 points at 13,251.17 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed at 24,243.25, down some 335 poijnts on the day.
Staying with the Far east, oil was trading at US$108.8 bbl for light sweet (May del), which was down about 25c on the clisung New York price last night.
Back here in London we all heard that house prices in the UK fell 2.5% in March, which is the worst performance in 15 years, and significantly wose than the 0.4% expected. Persimmons immediately fell 4%, or nearly 30p to 677p, with peers following too. Barratts was down 18p at 376.5, Bovis down 24p at 560p, and Bellway down 38p to 802p.
Onto travel, where British Airways was down 3.5p to 502p as the price of oil hit US$109 bbl and the Terminal 5 farce continued with snow disruptions adding to cancellations at the weekend. The airline has said that it hopes to run its full schedule of services from the new terminal today Tuesday. £4.3 bln well spent.
The banks were down again, as continued concern about world markets and the high LIBOR rate didn't do much for confidence. HBOS was down 25p at at 535, RBS down 12p at 364p, Barclays down 17p at 469, and Lloyds TSB off 12p at 449.
The miners were also down, with Rio down over 80p at 5,758, Anto down 12p at 769p, BHP down 25p at 1,660, and Vedanta down 40p at 2,247p. One problem was Alcoa, the US giant, whose figures came in under expectations, with over a 50% drop in 1st quarter earnings, blaming the weak USD.
Onto Phramas, where the Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' saw Astrazeneca drop 30p to 2,055p.
Suger and sweetner Tate & Lyle was down on the back of a Credit Suisse downgrade, with the shares off 12p at 513p.
BT Group was up 1.5p at 231p as comment that the appointment of Ian Livingstone as chief executive looks unlikely to change much.
British Energy Group continued up another 5p to 718p on the back of the recent press reports of the Centrica and French EDF are going for a joint bid worth £10 bln.
Monday, 7 April 2008
Market Wrap, Monday 7th April 2008
The FTSE closed up nearly 68 points today at 6,014.8, which was the high of the day, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up nearly 80 points at 10,244.5. It was nice to see the break of 6,000 again for the FTSE. It seems the commodity stocks have helped, with the miners all pushing on.
By the time London closed the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,690, whilst the S&P500 was up just over 7 points at 1,377 and the Nasdaq up 11 points at 2,382.
Back here in London it was the miners that helped the FTSE through the 6k level. Broket Goldman sachs gave a sector review and upped its rating to 'attractive' from 'neutral'. Anglo received a special mention and closed up 125p at 3,287, whicst peer Vedanta got an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' and closed up 106p to 2,287. Otehrs also rallied, with Lomins up 114p at 3,302, Anto up 32.5p at 781p, BHP up 68p at 1,685, Kazakhmys up 106p at 1,697 and recent FTSE joiner ENR up 90p at 11-quid a share.
Carrying on from this morning, British Energy closed up 2.5p at 714.5 after the press reports that Germany's RWE were also joining in with interest to bid. It appears that the German firm was talking with British firm Centrica about a possible joint bid for British Energy, the UK nuclear energy company. Other weekend press had said that Centrica were talking with France's EDF, so there's definitely something going on. the Feench joint deal was said to be worth £10 bln. Centrica closed up 12.25p at just shy of 316p as interest grew.
Onto travel, where Thomas Cook Group closed up 6p at 305 after announcing it had purchased Elegant Resorts, and then added that it plans to expand into Russia and China. Broker Numis gave it an upgrade to 'hold' from 'reduce'. Peer TUI Travel followed up with a 9p rise to close at 373.5p
carrying on from this morning, insurance giant Friends Provident closed up over 3p at just shy of 137p on the back of a possible raised bid for the group by US private equity outfit JC Flowers, who were said to be considering a 150p per share bid. Broker Shore Capital reiterated its 'buy' stance.
Onto the downside of the market, where the banks took some pressure. Barclays closed down 3.5p at 486, Alliance & leicester down 8.5p at 525.5p, and HBOS had the worst day, closing down 13p at 560p.
Astrazeneca, the Phranma giant, closed down 25p at 2,085, mainly due to the rather large rise on Friday. Some short-term profits there.
ARM Holdings closed up 4.5p at 94.25p after broker Goldman Sachs gave it an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' after reviewing the technology sector in general. Peer CSR also climbed nearly 36p to close at 368.25p.
easyJet closed up ovber 8p at just shy of 383p aftre annoucing some decent passenger numbers for March, with over 20% more punters carried compared to the same month last year. Broker ABN Amro reiterated its buy stance.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels closed up 14p at 442.5 after it announced the appointment of Richard Hartman as chief executive. Hartman came from Intercontinental hotels, where he was MD for Europe, Middle East and Africa, covering over 600 hotels in his patch. Broker Landsbanki reiterated its 'buy' stance on the hotel group.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon closed up 9p at 273.5p after the same broker, Landsbanki, also reiterated its 'buy' stance. We also feel that this one has bottomed out.
By the time London closed the DJI was up about 80 points at 12,690, whilst the S&P500 was up just over 7 points at 1,377 and the Nasdaq up 11 points at 2,382.
Back here in London it was the miners that helped the FTSE through the 6k level. Broket Goldman sachs gave a sector review and upped its rating to 'attractive' from 'neutral'. Anglo received a special mention and closed up 125p at 3,287, whicst peer Vedanta got an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' and closed up 106p to 2,287. Otehrs also rallied, with Lomins up 114p at 3,302, Anto up 32.5p at 781p, BHP up 68p at 1,685, Kazakhmys up 106p at 1,697 and recent FTSE joiner ENR up 90p at 11-quid a share.
Carrying on from this morning, British Energy closed up 2.5p at 714.5 after the press reports that Germany's RWE were also joining in with interest to bid. It appears that the German firm was talking with British firm Centrica about a possible joint bid for British Energy, the UK nuclear energy company. Other weekend press had said that Centrica were talking with France's EDF, so there's definitely something going on. the Feench joint deal was said to be worth £10 bln. Centrica closed up 12.25p at just shy of 316p as interest grew.
Onto travel, where Thomas Cook Group closed up 6p at 305 after announcing it had purchased Elegant Resorts, and then added that it plans to expand into Russia and China. Broker Numis gave it an upgrade to 'hold' from 'reduce'. Peer TUI Travel followed up with a 9p rise to close at 373.5p
carrying on from this morning, insurance giant Friends Provident closed up over 3p at just shy of 137p on the back of a possible raised bid for the group by US private equity outfit JC Flowers, who were said to be considering a 150p per share bid. Broker Shore Capital reiterated its 'buy' stance.
Onto the downside of the market, where the banks took some pressure. Barclays closed down 3.5p at 486, Alliance & leicester down 8.5p at 525.5p, and HBOS had the worst day, closing down 13p at 560p.
Astrazeneca, the Phranma giant, closed down 25p at 2,085, mainly due to the rather large rise on Friday. Some short-term profits there.
ARM Holdings closed up 4.5p at 94.25p after broker Goldman Sachs gave it an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' after reviewing the technology sector in general. Peer CSR also climbed nearly 36p to close at 368.25p.
easyJet closed up ovber 8p at just shy of 383p aftre annoucing some decent passenger numbers for March, with over 20% more punters carried compared to the same month last year. Broker ABN Amro reiterated its buy stance.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels closed up 14p at 442.5 after it announced the appointment of Richard Hartman as chief executive. Hartman came from Intercontinental hotels, where he was MD for Europe, Middle East and Africa, covering over 600 hotels in his patch. Broker Landsbanki reiterated its 'buy' stance on the hotel group.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon closed up 9p at 273.5p after the same broker, Landsbanki, also reiterated its 'buy' stance. We also feel that this one has bottomed out.
Morning Market, Monday 7th April 2008
The FTSE was up this morning, as expected, as the US doing better than expected Friday and the Far East was doing ok today too.
Over the pond on Friday the DJI closed down 16.61 at 12,609.42, whilst the S&P500 closed up 1 point at 1,370.4 and the Nasdaq closed up 7.68 points at 2,370.98. This depsite the non-farm payroll figures down 80k jobs.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed up 157 points at 13,450.23, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up over 267 points at 24,532 by lunchtime chow time.
Oil was on the up again, almost at US$107 bbl in Far East trading for Light Sweet (May del).
Back here in London the FTSE was up 40 points in its first hour at 5,988, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about the same at 10,206. It was the miners leading the way this week.
Anglo was up 125p at 3,287, whilst Anto was up 23p at 772, Kazakhmys up 50p at 1,641, Vedanta up 55p at 2,236, and BHP up 40p at 1,657.
British Energy was up nearly 20p at 732p as further press news on on the possible Centrica and French power giant, EDF, buying of the government's 35% of British Energy.
Friends Provident was up 4p at 137.9p on press reports that US private equity group are sniffing wiuth intent on a £3.5bln takeover. Prices of 155p or 160p a share look likley, which is up on the rejected 150p a share bid last week.
Onto property, where Hammersons was up 13p at 1,132 after press reports of a possible Middle Eastern takeover looming. Abu Dhabi outfit, Aldar, was the name in the frame.
Onto the negatives, where phrama giant AstraZeneca was down 30p at 2,080, and peer GlaxoSmithKline off 11p at 1,124p.
Airline easyJet was up 6p at 381p after delivering its traffic figures today. News that it had carried 20% more punters last mointh than it did a year ago was taken positively.
ARM Holdings was up 3p at 93p after a Goldman Sachs upgrade 'buy' from 'neutral'.
Over the pond on Friday the DJI closed down 16.61 at 12,609.42, whilst the S&P500 closed up 1 point at 1,370.4 and the Nasdaq closed up 7.68 points at 2,370.98. This depsite the non-farm payroll figures down 80k jobs.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 closed up 157 points at 13,450.23, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up over 267 points at 24,532 by lunchtime chow time.
Oil was on the up again, almost at US$107 bbl in Far East trading for Light Sweet (May del).
Back here in London the FTSE was up 40 points in its first hour at 5,988, whilst the FTSE 250 was up about the same at 10,206. It was the miners leading the way this week.
Anglo was up 125p at 3,287, whilst Anto was up 23p at 772, Kazakhmys up 50p at 1,641, Vedanta up 55p at 2,236, and BHP up 40p at 1,657.
British Energy was up nearly 20p at 732p as further press news on on the possible Centrica and French power giant, EDF, buying of the government's 35% of British Energy.
Friends Provident was up 4p at 137.9p on press reports that US private equity group are sniffing wiuth intent on a £3.5bln takeover. Prices of 155p or 160p a share look likley, which is up on the rejected 150p a share bid last week.
Onto property, where Hammersons was up 13p at 1,132 after press reports of a possible Middle Eastern takeover looming. Abu Dhabi outfit, Aldar, was the name in the frame.
Onto the negatives, where phrama giant AstraZeneca was down 30p at 2,080, and peer GlaxoSmithKline off 11p at 1,124p.
Airline easyJet was up 6p at 381p after delivering its traffic figures today. News that it had carried 20% more punters last mointh than it did a year ago was taken positively.
ARM Holdings was up 3p at 93p after a Goldman Sachs upgrade 'buy' from 'neutral'.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Market Wrap, Friday 4th April 2008
The FTSE closed up nearly 56 points at 5,947.1, but the FTSE 250 index closed down just over 12 points at 10,165.1.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 28 points as 12,598, whilst the S&P500 was up a point at 1,370 and the Nasdaq up 3 points at 2,366. The non-farm payroll figures weren't good, as 80k jobs were lost in march, 30k worse than expected. Jobs are being lost, and unemployment is at its highest in 2 and a half years, sitting at 5.1%, up from 4.8%.
Back here in London it was the miners and oil that was doing well. Oil was strong, with BP closing up 5.5p at just shy of 538, RD Shell up 23p at 1,799.5, and Tullow Oil up 13p at 662.5p. British Energy had the best day, though, closing up 48.5p at 711p, or over 7% on the day, as press reports said there could be an offer for the nuclear power producer by EDF. BG Group was also strong again, closing up 16p at 1,178.5p after a UBS research note gave it the thumbs up to do well in the European oil and gas sector. Imperial Energy closed up 87p at 10-quid after a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell'.
The miners wer also strong, as broker upgrade on the majors helped inevstors decide to move there. Xstrata gave a decent annula report, which said it was very confident for the year, and closed up 127p at 3,707, with BHP closing up 57p at 1,617 and Rio closing up 252p at 5,694.
Pharmas were also popular, with Glaxo closing up 14p at 1,135.5 after the US FDA gave approval to Rotarix, the infant rotavirus gastroenteritis prevention drug. Peer AstraZeneca closed up 60p at 2,110.5 on the back of a Morgan Stanley lift of its target to 22-quid, up 50p.
Banks were continuing there uncertaincy, with HBOS off 1.5p at 573p, Lloyds TSB down over 5p at 457.5, and HSBC clsoing down 2.5p at 850.5.
On to retail, where Marks & Sparks closed down nearly 7p at 385.5 as investors didn't like the commotion over Sir Stuart Rose's promotion to the executive chairman role.
Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down about 28 points as 12,598, whilst the S&P500 was up a point at 1,370 and the Nasdaq up 3 points at 2,366. The non-farm payroll figures weren't good, as 80k jobs were lost in march, 30k worse than expected. Jobs are being lost, and unemployment is at its highest in 2 and a half years, sitting at 5.1%, up from 4.8%.
Back here in London it was the miners and oil that was doing well. Oil was strong, with BP closing up 5.5p at just shy of 538, RD Shell up 23p at 1,799.5, and Tullow Oil up 13p at 662.5p. British Energy had the best day, though, closing up 48.5p at 711p, or over 7% on the day, as press reports said there could be an offer for the nuclear power producer by EDF. BG Group was also strong again, closing up 16p at 1,178.5p after a UBS research note gave it the thumbs up to do well in the European oil and gas sector. Imperial Energy closed up 87p at 10-quid after a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell'.
The miners wer also strong, as broker upgrade on the majors helped inevstors decide to move there. Xstrata gave a decent annula report, which said it was very confident for the year, and closed up 127p at 3,707, with BHP closing up 57p at 1,617 and Rio closing up 252p at 5,694.
Pharmas were also popular, with Glaxo closing up 14p at 1,135.5 after the US FDA gave approval to Rotarix, the infant rotavirus gastroenteritis prevention drug. Peer AstraZeneca closed up 60p at 2,110.5 on the back of a Morgan Stanley lift of its target to 22-quid, up 50p.
Banks were continuing there uncertaincy, with HBOS off 1.5p at 573p, Lloyds TSB down over 5p at 457.5, and HSBC clsoing down 2.5p at 850.5.
On to retail, where Marks & Sparks closed down nearly 7p at 385.5 as investors didn't like the commotion over Sir Stuart Rose's promotion to the executive chairman role.
Silver - the next Gold run...?
Demand for silver is from three main sources; industrial and decorative uses, photography and jewellery & silverware. Together, these three categories represent more than 95 percent of annual silver consumption. In 2006, 430.3 million ounces of silver were used for industrial applications, while over 145.8 million ounces of silver were committed to the photographic sector, 165.8 million ounces were consumed in the jewellery market, and 59.1 million ounces were consumed in the silverware market.
Silver has a number of unique properties including strength, malleability and ductility, its electrical and thermal conductivity, its sensitivity to and high reflectance of light and its ability to endure extreme temperature ranges. Silver’s unique properties restrict its substitution in most applications and it can be found in all of the following: batteries, bearings, brazing and soldering, catalysts, coins, electronic components, electroplating, photography, medical applications, jewellery and silverware, mirrors and coatings, solar energy and water purification (source: www.silverinstitute.org).
Analysts have recently been forecasting that silver prices would rise to the $15-30/oz range and it has indeed risen to a current band of £17-$20.
Silver, which is revered by some investors as the “poor man’s gold,” is in for some interesting price action in 2008, with analysts forecasting annual average silver prices as high as $30/oz this year.
Analysts see silver as relatively recession proof. The pace in industrial demand for silver is not going to slow down, given eastern Asia’s economic growth, and a weakening of Western currencies will only fuel investment demand for the metal as a “safe haven” from inflation and currency depreciation.
We see Silver using the current level as a support line, and a steady run north from here. Breaking the $18 level will see the price break back through the 50 & 20 MAs, which could be seen as the confirmation required.
Silver has a number of unique properties including strength, malleability and ductility, its electrical and thermal conductivity, its sensitivity to and high reflectance of light and its ability to endure extreme temperature ranges. Silver’s unique properties restrict its substitution in most applications and it can be found in all of the following: batteries, bearings, brazing and soldering, catalysts, coins, electronic components, electroplating, photography, medical applications, jewellery and silverware, mirrors and coatings, solar energy and water purification (source: www.silverinstitute.org).
Analysts have recently been forecasting that silver prices would rise to the $15-30/oz range and it has indeed risen to a current band of £17-$20.
Silver, which is revered by some investors as the “poor man’s gold,” is in for some interesting price action in 2008, with analysts forecasting annual average silver prices as high as $30/oz this year.
Analysts see silver as relatively recession proof. The pace in industrial demand for silver is not going to slow down, given eastern Asia’s economic growth, and a weakening of Western currencies will only fuel investment demand for the metal as a “safe haven” from inflation and currency depreciation.
We see Silver using the current level as a support line, and a steady run north from here. Breaking the $18 level will see the price break back through the 50 & 20 MAs, which could be seen as the confirmation required.
Morning Market, Friday 4th April 2008
The FTSE was up about 15 points this morning at 5,907, whilst the FTSE 250 was down about 25 points at 10,150.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up just over 20 points at 12,626, whilst the S&P500 closed up nealry 2 points at 1,369, and the Nasdaq also up nearly 2 points at 2,363. Fed Red Chairman, Ben Bernanke, gave a reassuring statement to Congress in that he said he hoped to recover all of the US$29 bln loans that had been inputted into Bear Sterns, to stop it going under. Today's non-farm payroll figures will give the US a kick if they are better than hoped, or less than the drop last month, as analysts over in the US also think the worst may be out in the open with the sub-prime problems. We don't. We think that there is more to come, especially with the markets stabilising taking more time that most people think. There are some serious revaluations required with some of the bigger financials, with fundamentals taking a bigger part. Unemployment in the US is at 5% for March, up from 4.8% in February.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 was down about 45 points on the day at 13,345, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was having a public holiday.
Oil was up again in Far East trade, with light sweet (May del) up over 40c at US$104.25 bbl, and Brent (May del) up 40c at nearly US$103 bbl.
Here in London this morning there were bid rumours out again on British Energy Group, who were up 35p at 698. The energy group also received a broker upgrade to buy, which helped interest too.
MIners were up, with Xstrata up 36p to 3,616 after an upbeat statment, whilst BHP was also up 4p at 1,564 and Rio Tinto up 30p to 5,473 on brokers upgrades.
BG Group was up nearly 10p 1,174 after a broker statment saying it expected the oil to do well in the European oil and gas sector.
The banks weren't doing as well, though, with Barclays off 5p at 482p, HBOS down 3p at 572p, RBS down 3p at 365p, and lloyds TSB down over 5p at 456.5p.
Over the pond last night the DJI closed up just over 20 points at 12,626, whilst the S&P500 closed up nealry 2 points at 1,369, and the Nasdaq also up nearly 2 points at 2,363. Fed Red Chairman, Ben Bernanke, gave a reassuring statement to Congress in that he said he hoped to recover all of the US$29 bln loans that had been inputted into Bear Sterns, to stop it going under. Today's non-farm payroll figures will give the US a kick if they are better than hoped, or less than the drop last month, as analysts over in the US also think the worst may be out in the open with the sub-prime problems. We don't. We think that there is more to come, especially with the markets stabilising taking more time that most people think. There are some serious revaluations required with some of the bigger financials, with fundamentals taking a bigger part. Unemployment in the US is at 5% for March, up from 4.8% in February.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 was down about 45 points on the day at 13,345, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was having a public holiday.
Oil was up again in Far East trade, with light sweet (May del) up over 40c at US$104.25 bbl, and Brent (May del) up 40c at nearly US$103 bbl.
Here in London this morning there were bid rumours out again on British Energy Group, who were up 35p at 698. The energy group also received a broker upgrade to buy, which helped interest too.
MIners were up, with Xstrata up 36p to 3,616 after an upbeat statment, whilst BHP was also up 4p at 1,564 and Rio Tinto up 30p to 5,473 on brokers upgrades.
BG Group was up nearly 10p 1,174 after a broker statment saying it expected the oil to do well in the European oil and gas sector.
The banks weren't doing as well, though, with Barclays off 5p at 482p, HBOS down 3p at 572p, RBS down 3p at 365p, and lloyds TSB down over 5p at 456.5p.
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Market Wrap, Thursday 3rd April 2008
The FTSE closed down nearly 25 points at 5,891.3, whilst the FTSe 250 closed almost 195 points at 10,177.2. The market had been lower during the day.
Over the pond by the time London was closing the DJI was off about 40 points at 12,565, whilst the S&P500 was down just about 3.5 points at 1,364, and the Nasdaq down about 12.5 points to 2,349. News over there that jobless claims had risen by 38,000 to 407,000 didn't help, and this was above estimated for 366k. Claims were up to 2.937m, up 97k, which is the worst in about 4 years. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is repeatedly referring to the weakness of the US economy, basially confirming fears of a recession.
Back here in London the retailers didn't fair too good. Marks & Sparks closed down 6p at 392.5 and Home Retail Group down 11p to 269.5.
The banks also fell back, with Lloyds TSB getting a downgrade from Goldman Sachs to 'sell' from 'neutral', resulting in a 20.5p fall to close at just shy of 463p, RBS down over 13p to 368.25p, and Barclays closed down 17p to 487p.
British Airways fell another 9.25p to 238.25 after announcing its March traffic figures fell by 2.8%, with a fall in load factor to 75.4%, down 0.9% on last year. BA said it reckoned the Terminal 5 fiasco would cost them about £16m.
Onto land and property, where British Land closed down 36p to 912p after a Lehman Brothers downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight', and gave the sector a cut to 'neutral' from 'positive'. Peers Derwent London was down 61p to 1,499p and Great Portland Estates down 25p to 518p aftre they were also downgraded to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'. Housing also suffered, with Persimmons down 37p to close at 741p and building materials company Wolseley down 32p at 531.5p, top of the loser board for the day.
TUI Travel closed down nearly 9p to just shy of 263p after bearish comment.
Oil was on the up, though, with Brent crude (May del) at US$103.5 bbl, whilst Light sweet (May del) was at US$106 bbl. BG Group closed up 39p at 1,164 after a broker 'buy' reiteration, RD Shell up 35p at 1,746p, and Tullow Oil up 11p 649.5p.
Miners were up as metal prices were up again. Anglo closed up 69p at 3,087, BHP up 32p at 1,560, Anto up 14.5p at 719.5p, Rio up 82p at 5,442, and Lonmins was up 65p at 3,121.
Severn Trent closed up 39p at 1,453 after a broker upgrade to 'overweight', but peer Northumbrian Water closed down 2p to just shy of 339p aftre the same broker downgraded it to 'equalweight'
Over the pond by the time London was closing the DJI was off about 40 points at 12,565, whilst the S&P500 was down just about 3.5 points at 1,364, and the Nasdaq down about 12.5 points to 2,349. News over there that jobless claims had risen by 38,000 to 407,000 didn't help, and this was above estimated for 366k. Claims were up to 2.937m, up 97k, which is the worst in about 4 years. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is repeatedly referring to the weakness of the US economy, basially confirming fears of a recession.
Back here in London the retailers didn't fair too good. Marks & Sparks closed down 6p at 392.5 and Home Retail Group down 11p to 269.5.
The banks also fell back, with Lloyds TSB getting a downgrade from Goldman Sachs to 'sell' from 'neutral', resulting in a 20.5p fall to close at just shy of 463p, RBS down over 13p to 368.25p, and Barclays closed down 17p to 487p.
British Airways fell another 9.25p to 238.25 after announcing its March traffic figures fell by 2.8%, with a fall in load factor to 75.4%, down 0.9% on last year. BA said it reckoned the Terminal 5 fiasco would cost them about £16m.
Onto land and property, where British Land closed down 36p to 912p after a Lehman Brothers downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight', and gave the sector a cut to 'neutral' from 'positive'. Peers Derwent London was down 61p to 1,499p and Great Portland Estates down 25p to 518p aftre they were also downgraded to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'. Housing also suffered, with Persimmons down 37p to close at 741p and building materials company Wolseley down 32p at 531.5p, top of the loser board for the day.
TUI Travel closed down nearly 9p to just shy of 263p after bearish comment.
Oil was on the up, though, with Brent crude (May del) at US$103.5 bbl, whilst Light sweet (May del) was at US$106 bbl. BG Group closed up 39p at 1,164 after a broker 'buy' reiteration, RD Shell up 35p at 1,746p, and Tullow Oil up 11p 649.5p.
Miners were up as metal prices were up again. Anglo closed up 69p at 3,087, BHP up 32p at 1,560, Anto up 14.5p at 719.5p, Rio up 82p at 5,442, and Lonmins was up 65p at 3,121.
Severn Trent closed up 39p at 1,453 after a broker upgrade to 'overweight', but peer Northumbrian Water closed down 2p to just shy of 339p aftre the same broker downgraded it to 'equalweight'
Morning Market, Thursday 3rd April 2008
The FTSE was down a little this morning in its first hour, off nearly 15 points at 5,902, whilst the FTSE 250 was down over 100 points at 10,265.
Over in the US last night the DJI closed down over 48 points at 12,605.83, whilst the S&P500 was down nearly 3 points at 1,367.53 and the Nasdaq down nearly a point and a half at 2,361.4. Not a crisis, but just showing that investors are 'taking stock' and being sensible at thje moment, especially as Bernanke said that the US looks like it is entering recession.
The Far East wasn't concerned, it seemed, as the Nikkei 225 closed up just over 200 points at 13,389.90, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 300 points at 24,170 by its lunchtime chow time.
The Commodities were getting stronger again, with oil and mining stocks doing well. RD Shell was up 15p at 1,772, BP up 5p at 525.5p, Tullows up 5p at 643.5p, and BG Group up 36p at 1,161.
The miners were enjoying the morning as well, with Anglo up over a quid at 3,120, BHP up over 40p at 1,570, Anto up 16p at 721p, Rio Tinto up 104 pence at 5,464, and Xstrata, still enjoying the renewed Vale interest, up 90p at 3,684.
Severn Trent was up over 30p at 1,444 after a broker upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. Peer Northumbrian Water didn't follow, though, down 3p to 336p aftre the same broker downgraded it to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'.
Pharma giant Glaxo was down 10p at 1,125, after news that one of the company's AIDS drugs can cause a higher risk of heart attacks. Then there was more news of some warnings related to reported psychiatric problems for its flu drug Relenza. Peer Shire is apparently looking attractive to US giant, Pfizer, but this wasn't confirmed.
The banks dragged the FTSE back down from the positive mining sector input, with RBS down 11p at 370.5p, Barclays down 13p at 491p, HBOS down 4p at 588p, and Lloyds TSB off 13p at 470p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade.
British Airways was down 4p at 243p as investors are still concerned about the potential costs of the Terminal 5 fiasco, whilst the airline will be giving its passenger numbers later today. The collapse of Air France-KLM & Alitalia deal could also have been on investors' minds.
Over in the US last night the DJI closed down over 48 points at 12,605.83, whilst the S&P500 was down nearly 3 points at 1,367.53 and the Nasdaq down nearly a point and a half at 2,361.4. Not a crisis, but just showing that investors are 'taking stock' and being sensible at thje moment, especially as Bernanke said that the US looks like it is entering recession.
The Far East wasn't concerned, it seemed, as the Nikkei 225 closed up just over 200 points at 13,389.90, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up about 300 points at 24,170 by its lunchtime chow time.
The Commodities were getting stronger again, with oil and mining stocks doing well. RD Shell was up 15p at 1,772, BP up 5p at 525.5p, Tullows up 5p at 643.5p, and BG Group up 36p at 1,161.
The miners were enjoying the morning as well, with Anglo up over a quid at 3,120, BHP up over 40p at 1,570, Anto up 16p at 721p, Rio Tinto up 104 pence at 5,464, and Xstrata, still enjoying the renewed Vale interest, up 90p at 3,684.
Severn Trent was up over 30p at 1,444 after a broker upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. Peer Northumbrian Water didn't follow, though, down 3p to 336p aftre the same broker downgraded it to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'.
Pharma giant Glaxo was down 10p at 1,125, after news that one of the company's AIDS drugs can cause a higher risk of heart attacks. Then there was more news of some warnings related to reported psychiatric problems for its flu drug Relenza. Peer Shire is apparently looking attractive to US giant, Pfizer, but this wasn't confirmed.
The banks dragged the FTSE back down from the positive mining sector input, with RBS down 11p at 370.5p, Barclays down 13p at 491p, HBOS down 4p at 588p, and Lloyds TSB off 13p at 470p after a Goldman Sachs downgrade.
British Airways was down 4p at 243p as investors are still concerned about the potential costs of the Terminal 5 fiasco, whilst the airline will be giving its passenger numbers later today. The collapse of Air France-KLM & Alitalia deal could also have been on investors' minds.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Market Wrap, Wednesday 2nd April 2008
The FTSE closed up 63.3 points today at 5,915.9, which was near the top of its range for the day. The FTSE 250 closed up 35.8 points at 10,372. Investors are slowluy moving back in, it seems.
By the time London closed, the DJI was up a smidge, 6 points, to 12,661, whilst the S&P500 was up 5 points at 1,375. and the Nasdaq up almost 10 points at 2,373. The new issue of shares by Lehman Brothers and UBS has been taken well. Many think the worst is now out and announced, which was sort of confirmed by Fed Bernanke, who said he expected that no other bad news like the Bear Sterns collapse would be forthcoming.
US Oil reserves jumped by 7.4m bbl, it was announced, and oil briefly fell below US$100 bbl.
Back here in the UK the financials did ok. Barclays was up 24p at 504 and even had Deutche Bank reiterating its 'buy' stance. Peer HSBC closed up 4.5p at 865.5p despite news that subsidiary First Direct, the internet bank, had announced it was no longer lending for mortgages to new customers. This had initially been taken negatively, and HSBC had initially fallen, but recovered as the news won't really affect the housing market and it was only a temporary measure as First Direct said they had been inundated with mortgage requests of late. HSBC received a Collins Stewart broker 'buy' reiteration too. RBS closed up 20.5p at 381.5p.
On to the miners, where Xstrata closed up 120p at 3,594 after it was heard that Brazilan mining giant Vale is now back in the frame for a bid. Citigroup upgraded Xstrata to 'buy' and gave it a 45-quid target, up from 40-quid. Peers also did well, with vedanta up 61p at 2,151, BHP up 33p at 1,528, and Rio up 127p at 5,360.
Vodafone recovered some of its recent dip, with a 4.1p rise to close at 158.4p.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed down 15.5p at 778p on broker caution. Credit Suisse said it still believes problems in the UK housing sector due to the credit & mortgage markets will continue through the year. The bank gave it an 'underperform' rating at a 615p target, down from 630p.
Severn Trent closed down 54p at 1,414 on profit taking after its recent run prior to the upbeat trading statement, which said all was on track and in-line with expectations.
Amec closed down 26.5p at 720p after saying it has acquired Rider Hunt International, the project services company, from its owners/managers for £25m cash.
By the time London closed, the DJI was up a smidge, 6 points, to 12,661, whilst the S&P500 was up 5 points at 1,375. and the Nasdaq up almost 10 points at 2,373. The new issue of shares by Lehman Brothers and UBS has been taken well. Many think the worst is now out and announced, which was sort of confirmed by Fed Bernanke, who said he expected that no other bad news like the Bear Sterns collapse would be forthcoming.
US Oil reserves jumped by 7.4m bbl, it was announced, and oil briefly fell below US$100 bbl.
Back here in the UK the financials did ok. Barclays was up 24p at 504 and even had Deutche Bank reiterating its 'buy' stance. Peer HSBC closed up 4.5p at 865.5p despite news that subsidiary First Direct, the internet bank, had announced it was no longer lending for mortgages to new customers. This had initially been taken negatively, and HSBC had initially fallen, but recovered as the news won't really affect the housing market and it was only a temporary measure as First Direct said they had been inundated with mortgage requests of late. HSBC received a Collins Stewart broker 'buy' reiteration too. RBS closed up 20.5p at 381.5p.
On to the miners, where Xstrata closed up 120p at 3,594 after it was heard that Brazilan mining giant Vale is now back in the frame for a bid. Citigroup upgraded Xstrata to 'buy' and gave it a 45-quid target, up from 40-quid. Peers also did well, with vedanta up 61p at 2,151, BHP up 33p at 1,528, and Rio up 127p at 5,360.
Vodafone recovered some of its recent dip, with a 4.1p rise to close at 158.4p.
Housebuilder Persimmon closed down 15.5p at 778p on broker caution. Credit Suisse said it still believes problems in the UK housing sector due to the credit & mortgage markets will continue through the year. The bank gave it an 'underperform' rating at a 615p target, down from 630p.
Severn Trent closed down 54p at 1,414 on profit taking after its recent run prior to the upbeat trading statement, which said all was on track and in-line with expectations.
Amec closed down 26.5p at 720p after saying it has acquired Rider Hunt International, the project services company, from its owners/managers for £25m cash.
Morning Market, Wednesday 2nd April 2008
The FTSE was up about 5 points in its first hour this morning, sitting at 5,848, which has carried on a little from the 150-point rise here yesterday. The FTSE 250, however, was down about 64 points at 10,272.
Over the pind last night investors returned. It appears Wall Street liked what had happened here and also felt that the worst of the news from the financial sector was now out. We're not so sure, but that's by-the-by. Anyway, the DJI closed up 391.5 points at 12,654.4, whilst the S&P500 closed up 47.48 at 1,370.18 and the Nasdaq closed up 83.65 at 2,362.75.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 511.51 points, or 4%, at 13,167.93, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up nearly 735 poiints at 23,872.43.
Back here in London, it was the banks who were back in favour. Barclays was up 14p at 494p, RBS up 9p at 370p, HBOS up 5p at 610p, and Lloyds TSB up 2p at 482p.
The miners were mixed but ok, with Xstrata up nearly 15p to 3,489 on news that Brazilian giant Vale could be back in the frame with a bid/M&A talks. Citigroup upgraded Xstrata to 'buy' immediately and gave a 45-quid target, up from 40-quid.
AstraZeneca was up 25p at 2,040 after a broker upgrade to 'buy' by Citigroup. The phramas have had it tough over recent months - check the charts. The new drug Crestor, which is for cholesterol reduction, has has had good trials. Peer Glaxo was up 11p at 1,125.
Oil & Energy was down, with Tullow Oil off 25p at 630p, BG Group down 13p at 1,131p, and Cairn Energy off 60p at 2,816.
With commodities losing favour, the miners followed. Anto was down 9p at 681.5p, Lonmin was down 80p at 2,916, Kazakhmys down 14p at 1,579, although Kaz did go ex-div.
Tate & Lyle was down 7.5p at 534p after the sugar producer gave a trading update saying it expects similar figures as the first 6 months of the year but expects profits to be lower. Broket downgrade to 'sell' came from Panmore Gordon, who are concerned at the level of debt in the business.
Severn Trent was down 17p at 1,451 on prfit taking after an update that said all was on track with a PBIT forecast expected to be up 10% on last year's figure of £413m.
Over the pind last night investors returned. It appears Wall Street liked what had happened here and also felt that the worst of the news from the financial sector was now out. We're not so sure, but that's by-the-by. Anyway, the DJI closed up 391.5 points at 12,654.4, whilst the S&P500 closed up 47.48 at 1,370.18 and the Nasdaq closed up 83.65 at 2,362.75.
In the Far East today the Nikkei 225 closed up 511.51 points, or 4%, at 13,167.93, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up nearly 735 poiints at 23,872.43.
Back here in London, it was the banks who were back in favour. Barclays was up 14p at 494p, RBS up 9p at 370p, HBOS up 5p at 610p, and Lloyds TSB up 2p at 482p.
The miners were mixed but ok, with Xstrata up nearly 15p to 3,489 on news that Brazilian giant Vale could be back in the frame with a bid/M&A talks. Citigroup upgraded Xstrata to 'buy' immediately and gave a 45-quid target, up from 40-quid.
AstraZeneca was up 25p at 2,040 after a broker upgrade to 'buy' by Citigroup. The phramas have had it tough over recent months - check the charts. The new drug Crestor, which is for cholesterol reduction, has has had good trials. Peer Glaxo was up 11p at 1,125.
Oil & Energy was down, with Tullow Oil off 25p at 630p, BG Group down 13p at 1,131p, and Cairn Energy off 60p at 2,816.
With commodities losing favour, the miners followed. Anto was down 9p at 681.5p, Lonmin was down 80p at 2,916, Kazakhmys down 14p at 1,579, although Kaz did go ex-div.
Tate & Lyle was down 7.5p at 534p after the sugar producer gave a trading update saying it expects similar figures as the first 6 months of the year but expects profits to be lower. Broket downgrade to 'sell' came from Panmore Gordon, who are concerned at the level of debt in the business.
Severn Trent was down 17p at 1,451 on prfit taking after an update that said all was on track with a PBIT forecast expected to be up 10% on last year's figure of £413m.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Morning Market, 1st April 2008
The FTSE was up about 35 points at 5,737 in its first hour of play today, April Fool's day. Not sure if there's a link there, or not. The FTSE 250 was down about 130 points at 10,145.
Over the pond last night there was a slight gain, despite the quarter end being poor. It really has been a poor 3 months. The DJI closed up 46.49 at 12,262.89, whilst the S&P500 closed up 7.48 at 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq 17.92 at 2,279.10. Yesterday, Lehman said it was raising US$3 bln in convertible preference shares, but this was actually seen as positive as its ability to pay any debts has improved. The banks were up over in the US, so we expect the same in the UK today.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 130.88 points at 12,656.42, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 288.26 points at 23,137.46. That's up 1% and 1.3% on the day respectively.
Back here in the UK, it was the bank doing well. Barclays was up 20p at 473, RBS up 9p at 346.5p, and Alliance & Leicester up 14p at 532.5. There is the feeling we have been on the floor now, and are pulling off.
Oil stocks were down as the price of the black stuff fell. Brent (May del) was at about US$100.50 this morning. Oil stocks suffered, with BP 6p down at 506p, RD Shell down 16p at 1,721, and Tullow Oil off 8.5p at 652p.
The miners didn't have a good dtart as commodty prices fell back. Anglo was down 112p at 2,916p, Lonmin down 128p at 2,943, and Xstrata was off a quid at 3,427.
Land Securities was up 41p at 1,552 after it announced a couple of new joiners to the board as non-execs.
Over the pond last night there was a slight gain, despite the quarter end being poor. It really has been a poor 3 months. The DJI closed up 46.49 at 12,262.89, whilst the S&P500 closed up 7.48 at 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq 17.92 at 2,279.10. Yesterday, Lehman said it was raising US$3 bln in convertible preference shares, but this was actually seen as positive as its ability to pay any debts has improved. The banks were up over in the US, so we expect the same in the UK today.
In the Far East today, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 130.88 points at 12,656.42, whilst in Hong Kong the Hang Seng recently closed up 288.26 points at 23,137.46. That's up 1% and 1.3% on the day respectively.
Back here in the UK, it was the bank doing well. Barclays was up 20p at 473, RBS up 9p at 346.5p, and Alliance & Leicester up 14p at 532.5. There is the feeling we have been on the floor now, and are pulling off.
Oil stocks were down as the price of the black stuff fell. Brent (May del) was at about US$100.50 this morning. Oil stocks suffered, with BP 6p down at 506p, RD Shell down 16p at 1,721, and Tullow Oil off 8.5p at 652p.
The miners didn't have a good dtart as commodty prices fell back. Anglo was down 112p at 2,916p, Lonmin down 128p at 2,943, and Xstrata was off a quid at 3,427.
Land Securities was up 41p at 1,552 after it announced a couple of new joiners to the board as non-execs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
