LONDON (SHARECAST) - Footsie finished with strong gains despite a couple of wobbles earlier in the day, the second of which came after a poor start on Wall Street.
Miners were among the gainers in line with higher metals prices. Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were up more than 10%.
Elsewhere in the sector, Kazakh mining firm Kazakhmys has halted negotiations about a possible merger with an unnamed party, believed to be with Russian iron ore group Metalloinvest.
Life assurance stocks are bedevilled by concerns over inadequate funding. Prudential and Legal and General have both moved to assure the market that they do not need extra funding. Attention has now moved to Standard Life and general insurer Aviva.
Elsewhere in the insurance sector JP Morgan lowered its target price on Old Mutual to 90p from 130p.
Car dealer Inchcape slumped after it said it expects underlying results for 2008 to be below consensus and 2009 to be “significantly” below expectations. Group sales for the nine months were up 6.7% in sterling terms and in line with the same period last year in constant currency. Like for like group sales were down 1%.
UK Coal is singing a similar song to Inchcape, with much the same disastrous consequences for its share price. The coal miner said overall results for the year will be “significantly” below previous expectations due to changes in the production outlook for the year, coupled with the lower market price for coal.
Branston Pickle and Hovis maker Premier Foods has denied it is in danger of breaching its financial covenants after rumours sent its share price tumbling by over 50% at one point today. The shares recovered from their intra-day low of 16.25p but were still sharply lower on the day.
Bookie William Hill is available at a shorter price after Morgan Stanley advised clients to switch out of the stock and into Irish rival Paddy Power.
Morse will post higher operating losses in the three months to September, with the IT hardware supplier warning that trading in all its business units continues to be very challenging. Sector peer Kewill Systems falls in sympathy.
Shares in electrical retailer Kesa Electricals moved higher after the company was moved to Goldman Sachs’ ‘conviction buy’ list, but then fell into the red. The broker said it was upgrading its recommendation on the Comet owner in light of recent share price declines.
Kesa's rival, Dixons and Currys owner DSGI, sees its share price butchered after JP Morgan halved its price target to 25p and raised the prospect of a breach by banking covenants by the electricals retailer. JPM reckons shareholders will have to go without dividends for two years.
JP Morgan has also cut its target price on the Holiday Inn chain owner Intercontinental Hotels to 900p from 1,000p in expectation that the recent plunge in financial markets will feed through to wider business and consumer sentiment.
Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl said despite the tough economic conditions, particularly in the UK and eurozone, revenue in the third quarter rose 15%.
Packaging supplier DS Smith is trading broadly in line with expectations, with lower demand and rising raw material costs inhibiting profitability as expected. Market demand in the second quarter of its financial year has been weaker and more volatile than in the first, the company said.
An increase in the number of gaming machines at its Mecca Bingo division helped spark a recovery at casino and bingo hall operator Rank following a fall in like-for-like sales. Like-for-like sales fell by 8% over the 41-week period to 12 October, but Rank said they have risen by 5% over the past six weeks year-on-year.
Advertising giant WPP Group is to buy a 33% stake in South African field marketing agency Smollan Holdings.
Builders merchant Travis Perkins remained in free-fall after yesterday’s profit warning.
The strong euro helped boost revenue by 6% at IT services provider Computacenter during the third quarter, but revenue since then has been no better than the same time last year.
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