> Finance & Stock Exchange > Stocks > FTSE
Banks, miners drag Britain's FTSE down 1 pct
Reuters: [2008-05-09 18:12:00]
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index shed 1.05 percent on Friday for its first weekly fall in a month, as a hefty loss in U.S. insurance giant AIG <AIG.N> sent financials reeling and miners tracked weaker metal prices.
The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> closed down 66.1 points at 6,204.7, for a weekly loss of 0.2 percent. The UK blue-chip index has gained nearly 15 percent since March 17 when it hit its lowest closing level in 2008 to date, but it is still down 4 percent for the year.
"I don't find it particularly disconcerting. I think the market seems reasonably stable and if ... the financial situation stabilises, it shouldn't be too bad," said Tim Whitehead, head of portfolio services at Redmayne-Bentley.
"I won't be surprised if there is a little bit more weakness in the short term. I am hoping that the 6,000 is now representing the support rather than the resistance level."
Banks shaved 20 points off the index, with Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L>, HBOS <HBOS.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L> and Alliance & Leicester <ALLL.L> losing 1.7 to 2.9 percent.
A rating downgrade from Morgan Stanley also hurt HSBC.
American International Group, the world's largest insurer, reported a record quarterly loss of $7.8 billion, largely as a result of writing down assets that have links to subprime mortgages.
Adding to the gloom, home-repossession orders in England and Wales hit the highest level since the early 1990s in the first three months of this year, government figures showed, and experts said the situation was set to worsen. [ID:nL09093842]
Among the insurers, Old Mutual <OML.L> shed 3.4 percent, Royal & SunAlliance <RSA.L> fell 3.1 percent and Standard Life <SL.L> lost 1.1 percent.
Record oil prices <CLc1> also dampened sentiment as high fuel costs would eat into company's margins and households' disposal income.
Topping the FTSE 100 losers, Carphone Warehouse <CPW.L> sank 7.3 percent and extended the previous session's fall as traders cited continued market disappointment about the firm's deal with U.S.-based Best Buy Co Inc <BBY.N>.
Miners also took a beating in line with falling metal prices. BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> all fell between 1.1 and 4 percent.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> slumped 6.7 percent to 1,786 pence. The miner rejected an approach worth 1,550 pence per share from Eurasian Natural Resources Corp <ENRC.L>, whose shares rose 1.5 percent. [ID:nWLB1353]
BROKER UPGRADES HELP
WM Morrison Supermarkets <MRW.L>, however, advanced 0.7 percent after JPMorgan upgraded its price target and reiterated its "overweight" rating. Peer Sainsbury <SBRY.L> added 0.9 percent after a Panmure price target hike.
Thomas Cook <TCG.L> gained 1.2 percent after Credit Suisse upgraded Europe's second largest travel firm to "outperform" from "neutral".
The broker also initiated its coverage of TUI Travel <TT.L> with an "outperform" rating. TUI Travel rose 1.1 percent.
British Energy <BGY.L> lost 2 percent as hopes of a bidding war faded as sources said German utility RWE <RWEG.DE> would not make a bid by the day's deadline. Spain's Iberdrola <IBE.MC> also had not made an offer for British Energy, an industry source said. [ID:nL09843676]
Despite strong crude prices, oil shares succumbed to profit taking. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and gas producer <BG.L> lost between 0.4 and 3 percent.
"Equities are fundamentally very cheap and UK equities especially so. UK GDP growth is in the process of slowing but equity markets are discounting a significantly worse outcome than in the early 1990s. Such an outcome appears highly unlikely to us," Goldman Sachs said in a report. (Editing by Quentin Bryar) ((dominic.lau@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5440; Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS =2
FTSE drops 1.4 pct, weighed by glum financials
Reuters: [2008-05-09 12:59:00]
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares shed 1.4
percent by mid-session on Friday, as financials reeled after
U.S. insurance giant AIG <AIG.N> posted a $7.8 billion quarterly
loss and soaring oil prices exerted pressure on global markets.
By 1027 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 86.1 points at 6,184.7, a
day after the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates
at 5 percent.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose but financials remained under
pressure after AIG posted hefty losses on bad credit-related
investments. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 2.1 percent on Friday,
under pressure from a surge in U.S. crude oil prices <CLc1>.
All FTSE 100 banks fell and together took 28 points from the
index, with Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and HBOS <HBOS.L>
both down about 4 percent. HSBC <HSBA.L> dropped 2 percent after
Morgan Stanley downgraded the global banking group to
"underweight" from "equal-weight" on the U.S. debt crisis.
"All in all it's a pretty dire day for financials. The
recent rally is largely viewed as being overdone," said Peter
Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank.
"(But) we're clearly over the worst compared to where we
were a month ago," he said of writedowns in the bank sector.
"The days of the big surprises may well be behind us."
"We are of course in May and its 'sell in May and go away'
time," he added.
Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> fell 3.4 percent. Britain's fifth
biggest bank is looking to sell euro- and dollar-denominated
fixed-rate hybrid perpetual securities, according to a term
sheet seen by Reuters on Friday. [ID:nHKG196010]
Adding pressure on the market, oil hit a record high above
$125 a barrel, boosted by strong demand for diesel, concern
about supplies and a renewed bout of buying by investment funds.
CARPHONE WEIGHS
Topping the FTSE 100 losers, shares in Carphone Warehouse
<CPW.L> fell 6.6 percent and extended their previous session's
fall as traders cited continued market disappointment about the
firm's deal with U.S.-based Best Buy Co Inc <BBY.N>.
Best Buy, the world's biggest electronics retailer, said on
Thursday it would pay $2.1 billion for half of Carphone
Warehouse's retail business to take on the European consumer
electricals market.
On the upside, WM Morrison <MRW.L> shares rose 1.2 percent
after JP Morgan upgraded its price target to 340 pence from 320,
reiterating an overweight rating.
Sainsbury's <SBRY.L>, meanwhile, added 0.6 percent following
a Panmure price target upgrade to 320 pence from 280 pence.
The mining sector dragged on the index as copper prices
<MCU3=LX> fell 0.5 percent. Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Vedanta
Resources <VED.L> both lost more than 3 percent.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> fell 4 percent after surging on Thursday
on renewed market talk of bid interest from Eurasian Natural
Resources Corp (ENRC) <ENRC.L>.
Shares in nuclear power generator British Energy <BGY.L>
fell 2.7 percent on fading hopes that a bidding war would push
up the price for the stake being sold by the UK government.
As a preliminary bid deadline approached on Friday, sources
familiar with the matter said one candidate, Germany's RWE
<RWEG.DE>, would not make an offer by the deadline, while in
Paris, dealers speculated that another potential buyer, France's
EDF <EDF.PA>, might bid for RWE instead.
A British Energy spokesman had no comment. [ID:nL09552382]
Among midcaps, British engineer IMI <IMI.L> added 6.2
percent as revenues rose 7 percent in the first four months of
2008 and it guided analysts to increase their revenue forecast
for its valve engineering Severe Service arm by 5 percent
because an investigation into irregular payments at the division
-- which makes up around 22-percent of total sales -- was
"largely complete".
Boosting IMI further, Numis raised its price target on the
stock.
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Quentin
Bryar)
((rebekah.curtis@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 4365; Reuters
Messaging: rebekah.curtis.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
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Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS =2
FTSE opens down as banks drag Europe lower
Reuters: [2008-05-09 10:04:00]
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> leading
share index fell at the open on Friday, as European stocks
tracked Asia lower, and financials continued lower after the
sector's fall on Wall Street overnight.
By 0740 GMT the FTSE 100 was down 38.1 points, or 0.6
percent, at 6,232.7, a day after the Bank of England's decision
to hold interest rates at 5 percent.
All FTSE 100 banks fell, with Barclays <BARC.L> down 2.3
percent, and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> down 1.4 percent.
HSBC <HSBA.L> dropped 1.4 percent after Morgan Stanley
downgraded the global banking group to "underweight" from
"equal-weight" on the U.S. debt crisis.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose, but financials remained under
pressure after insurance giant AIG <AIG.N> posted a $7.8 billion
quarterly loss, hit by bad credit-related investments.
"There's clearly a low degree of confidence in the sector
... (It) is clearly not out of the woods," said Jeremy
Batstone-Carr, head of private client research at Charles
Stanley.
"We still have to confront a slowing economy," he added.
Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> fell 1.9 percent. Britain's fifth
biggest bank is looking to sell euro- and dollar-denominated
fixed-rate hybrid perpetual securities, according to a term
sheet seen by Reuters on Friday. [ID:nHKG196010]
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.8 percent on Friday, under
pressure from a surge in U.S. crude oil prices <CLc1>.
OIL SURGES
Shares in airlines British Airways <BAY.L> and easyJet
<EZJ.L> fell 1.8 and 1.7 percent, respectively, as oil <CLc1>
hit a fresh record near $125 a barrel. A surge in heating oil
futures has lured investment funds into the market.
Among oil stocks, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>
both ticked slightly higher.
Among other commodity stocks, miners weighed on the index as
copper prices dropped.
British Energy <BGY.L> fell more than 2 percent after the
Handelsblatt newspaper said Germany's RWE <RWEG.DE> was not
bidding for its British peer, citing unidentified people in the
finance industry.
EDF <EDF.PA>, the French power giant, is expected to table a
takeover offer for British Energy on Friday in a move that the
UK government hopes will spark development of a new generation
of nuclear power stations, reported the Daily Telegraph.
In addition, the Financial Times reported that EDF has
quietly been buying land around nuclear sites in England and
Wales, putting itself in a position to build power stations even
if it is unsuccessful in its attempt to buy British Energy.
Among midcaps, music and books retailer HMV Group <HMV.L>
added 6 percent after saying it was confident full-year pretax
profit before one-off items would be towards the upper end of
market expectations.
Aga Foodservice Group <AGA.L> dropped 4.4 percent after the
upmarket British oven maker said trading was mixed, with good
demand for its Rangemaster series, but sales of cast-iron
cookers were flat in the UK and down in Ireland.
(Editing by Will Waterman)
((rebekah.curtis@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 4365; Reuters
Messaging: rebekah.curtis.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
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Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS =2
CORRECTED - FTSE rises as BoE holds rates; banks dip, miners up
Reuters: [2008-05-08 18:51:00]
(Corrects headline to read banks dip, miners up)
By Michael Taylor
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index ended slightly higher on Thursday as takeover talk boosted miners, while financials fell as the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.
The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> climbed 9.8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,270.8 during a choppy session but is down almost 3 percent for the year.
Banks weighed after the Bank of England decision to hold rates at 5 percent, as expected. Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and HBOS <HBOS.L> lost 1.1 to 2.5 percent.
Also weighing on the sector was news that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission planned to ramp up transparency in top Wall Street firms. [ID:nN07565098]
"I thought there was a chance that they might actually move today," said Chris Iggo, a strategist at Axa Investment Managers of the BoE verdict. "To be sensible you need to go with form and the form is that they don't often cut rates two meetings in a row."
"The data is shocking. It's like the economy has completely stalled in March and April. Retail sales down, CPI surveys were horrible, mortgage approvals taking another leg down -- if it was that simple that they were just responding to data then they should have gone, and I think they will in June."
"The complicating factor is inflation," he added.
Earlier, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said Britain's economy continued to grow below its trend rate.
The European Central Bank also decided to keep rates on hold, at 4 percent.
Among FTSE 100 gainers, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> led miners higher, surging 10.2 percent on renewed market talk of bid interest from Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) <ENRC.L>, traders said.
ENRC, whose shares rose 5.9 percent, declined to comment, while Kazakhmys could not immediately be reached for comment. The UK Takeover Panel has given ENRC until 1600 GMT on May 16 to make an offer for Kazakhmys.
Antofagasta strengthened 5.5 percent, BHP Billiton <BLT.L> added 2.9 percent and Xstrata <XTA.L> gained 1.9 percent.
Lonmin <LMI.L>, the world's third biggest platinum producer, climbed 6.1 percent after posting a 63 percent jump in first-half profit on strong platinum prices, but withdrew a long-term output target due to South African power problems.
In other commodities, oil majors BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> fell as crude prices <CLc1> eased from record highs. The two companies were among a dozen oil firms which agreed to pay $423 million and clean-up costs to settle litigation over decades of groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive and possible carcinogen MTBE. [ID:nN07308767]
UNILEVER RIDES HIGH
Among a host of companies reporting, Unilever <ULVR.L> advanced 5.4 percent after the food and consumer goods group beat forecasts with a 7.2 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales and said it expected sales in the year to beat its target range. [ID:nL08417400]
Next <NXT.L> climbed 6 percent on short covering after the clothing retailer said it continued to believe that sales in the second quarter would "improve significantly" despite falling in the first quarter. [ID:nL08504633]
Sage Group <SGE.L>, Britain's biggest software company, added 7.4 percent after it said underlying first-half pretax profit rose 9 percent and said it was confident for the full year. [ID:nL08476187]
Further on the downside, Carphone Warehouse <CPW.L> lost 3.4 percent. Europe's biggest independent mobile phone retailer said it was to sell a 50 percent stake in its retail unit for 1.1 billion pounds to U.S. consumer electronics retailer Best Buy <BBY.N> and the two groups would launch a new company. [ID:nL08349930]
Enterprise Inns <ETI.L> was down 2.2 percent after skyrocketing nearly 30 percent in the previous session when the company, Britain's second-largest pub firm, got the go ahead from the government to convert to tax-efficient status as a real estate investment trust (REIT). (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Quentin Bryar/Rory Channing) ((michael.taylor@reuters.com; +44 207 542 0919; Reuters messaging: michael.taylor.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
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Market digest: <.AD.L> Top 10 by vol: <.AV.L>
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FTSE Eurotop 300 index...........................<.FTEU3>
DJ STOXX index...................................<.STOXX>
Top 10 STOXX sectors........................<.PGL.STOXXS>
Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors...................<.PGL.STOXXES>
Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors..................<.PGL.FTEU3S>
Top 25 European pct gainers....................<.PG.PEUR>
Top 25 European pct losers.....................<.PL.PEUR>
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS =2
FTSE rises as BoE hold rates; banks up, miners dip
Reuters: [2008-05-08 18:05:00]
By Michael Taylor
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index ended slightly higher on Thursday as takeover talk boosted miners, while financials fell as the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.
The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> climbed 9.8 points, or 0.2 percent at 6,270.8 during a choppy session but is down almost 3 percent for the year.
Banks weighed after the BoE decision to hold rates at 5 percent, as expected. Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and HBOS <HBOS.L> lost 1.1 to 2.5 percent.
Also weighing on the sector was news that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission planned to ramp up transparency in top Wall Street firms. [ID:nN07565098]
"I thought there was a chance that they might actually move today," said Chris Iggo, a strategist at Axa Investment Managers of the BoE verdict. "To be sensible you need to go with form and the form is that they don't often cut rates two meetings in a row."
"The data is shocking. It's like the economy has completely stalled in March and April. Retail sales down, CPI surveys were horrible, mortgage approvals taking another leg down -- if it was that simple that they were just responding to data then they should have gone, and I think they will in June."
"The complicating factor is inflation," he added.
Earlier, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said Britain's economy continued to grow below its trend rate.
The European Central Bank also decided to keep rates on hold, at 4 percent.
Among FTSE 100 gainers, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> led miners higher, surging 10.2 percent on renewed market talk of bid interest from Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) <ENRC.L>, traders said.
ENRC, whose shares rose 5.9 percent, declined to comment, while Kazakhmys could not immediately be reached for comment. The UK Takeover Panel has given ENRC until 1600 GMT on May 16 to make an offer for Kazakhmys.
Antofagasta strengthened 5.5 percent, BHP Billiton <BLT.L> added 2.9 percent and Xstrata <XTA.L> gained 1.9 percent.
Lonmin <LMI.L>, the world's third biggest platinum producer, climbed 6.1 percent after posting a 63 percent jump in first-half profit on strong platinum prices, but withdrew a long-term output target due to South African power problems.
In other commodities, oil majors BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> fell as crude prices <CLc1> eased from record highs. The two companies were also among a dozen oil firms which agreed to pay $423 million and clean-up costs to settle litigation over decades of groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive and possible carcinogen MTBE. [ID:nN07308767]
UNILEVER RIDES HIGH
Among a host of companies reporting, Unilever <ULVR.L> advanced 5.4 percent after the food and consumer goods group beat forecasts with a 7.2 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales and said it expected sales in the year to beat its target range. [ID:nL08417400]
Next <NXT.L> climbed 6 percent on short covering after the clothing retailer said it continued to believe that sales in the second quarter would "improve significantly" despite falling in the first quarter. [ID:nL08504633]
Sage Group <SGE.L>, Britain's biggest software company, added 7.4 percent after it said underlying first-half pretax profit rose 9 percent and said it was confident for the full year. [ID:nL08476187] Further on the downside, Carphone Warehouse <CPW.L> lost 3.4 percent. Europe's biggest independent mobile phone retailer said it was to sell a 50 percent stake in its retail unit for 1.1 billion pounds to U.S. consumer electronics retailer Best Buy <BBY.N> and the two groups would launch a new company. [ID:nL08349930]
Enterprise Inns <ETI.L> was down 2.2 percent after skyrocketing nearly 30 percent in the previous session when the company, Britain's second-largest pub firm, got the go ahead from the government to convert to tax-efficient status as a real estate investment trust (REIT). (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Quentin Bryar) ((michael.taylor@reuters.com; +44 207 542 0919; Reuters messaging: michael.taylor.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
Next: FTSE lays low after BoE; Unilever, Next shine