| CATEGORY: MARKET REPORT - CLOSE SECTOR: BANKS |
London close: Bright week ends in style |
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Fri 31 Oct 2008
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Market Movers
techMARK 1,145.50 +1.29%
FTSE 100 4,377.34 +2.00%
FTSE 250 6,282.55 +0.94%
LONDON (SHARECAST) - London suffered some big name casualties Friday, but US gains and mining sector strength provided the shot in the arm needed to end the session sharply higher.
The leading index ended the week up around 700 points, having been below 3,700 on Monday.
Barclays plunged 13%, but had been 20% lower on news it intends to raise £5.8bn from Abu Dhabi and Qatar investors and another £1.5bn from elsewhere. Eyebrows were raised that the bank decided to go overseas for cash rather than accept terms of a government loan.
Middle Eastern investors will own almost a third of the company, which outsiders say feared any help from the British taxpayer would result in a clamp down on executive bonuses.
Telecoms giant BT was hammered after a profits warning slashed its value by almost a fifth. It said second quarter EBITDA and earnings per share will be slightly below expectations after an ‘unsatisfactory’ performance at its Global Services unit.
Joining the list of wounded was cruises giant Carnival after voting to suspend its dividend for the next quarter due to the “highly volatile state of the financial markets”. Payouts will be halted through 2009, but will be re-evaluated “based on the circumstances prevailing during the year”.
British Gas owner Centrica is another leviathan tapping its shareholders for funds. It is to raise £2.2bn through a rights issue to fund the potential acquisition of a 25% stake in British Energy. Centrica will issue 1,393m new ordinary shares at 160p on the basis of 3 new shares for every 8 existing shares.
Miners helped save the day as Xstrata, Vedanta Resources and Anglo American attracted buying attention despite mixed metal prices.
Pay-TV company BSkyB edged ahead after the broadcaster reported a rise in revenues and profits as it continued to attract new customers. Pre-tax profits in the three months to 30 September climbed to £129m from £121m as turnover rose to £1.25bn from £1.19bn.
Friends Provident reported a 14% drop in total life and pensions sales to £701m and announced plans to distribute its 52% stake in F&C among shareholders by the middle of next year.
Pharmaceuticals company Shire was wanted after positive comment from US bank JP Morgan. Sector peer GlaxoSmithKline is also in demand after stockbroker Panmure Gordon reiterated its “buy” recommendation.
Supermarket leader Tesco shrugs off a downgrade from Dutch brokerage ING, which now rates the stock only as a “hold” on the basis of an impending price war that will squeeze margins.
Britain’s Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson has given regulatory clearance to Lloyds TSB’s takeover of Halifax-owner HBOS.
Among second liners Barratt Developments and Redrow lead the housebuilding sector higher, while unfashionable engineers Fenner and Senior enjoy their moment in the sun.
F&C Asset Management reported a 3% drop in third-quarter assets under management (AUM) to £93.3bn. Management fees were some 4% lower than in the same period in 2007 and the group expects 2008 performance fees to be lower than those achieved in the previous year.
Outdoor clothing retailer Blacks Leisure reported widened first-half losses but said the initial phase of its turnaround plan has progressed well.
Shares in Southern Cross Healthcare Group soared as the group completed a refinancing of its debt. The UK’s largest provider of care homes and long term care beds has replaced four original tranches of debt with three separate loan tranches, including a term loan, a revolving credit facility and a bridging loan.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Standard Life (SL.) 238.75p +12.09%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 524.00p +10.78%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,055.00p +9.90%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 850.00p +9.61%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 978.50p +6.82%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,532.00p +6.54%
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,214.00p +6.30%
G4S (GFS) 187.20p +5.94%
International Power (IPR) 221.50p +5.85%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 137.50p +5.77%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BT Group (BT.A) 115.10p -19.00%
Old Mutual (OML) 50.10p -16.50%
Carnival (CCL) 1,355.00p -13.64%
Barclays (BARC) 178.90p -12.84%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 285.50p -5.23%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 219.00p -4.99%
Next (NXT) 1,054.00p -3.66%
ICAP (IAP) 307.00p -3.61%
Compass Group (CPG) 287.75p -2.54%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 762.00p -2.31%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Salamander Energy (SMDR) 172.25p +21.52%
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 152.75p +21.47%
International Ferro Metals (IFL) 35.50p +20.34%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 77.00p +20.31%
Melrose (MRO) 89.00p +19.46%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 42.50p +18.88%
Senior (SNR) 57.25p +15.66%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 202.00p +15.43%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 998.00p +14.38%
Unite Group (UTG) 150.50p +13.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aricom (ORE) 12.00p -14.29%
Pantheon International Participations (PIN) 377.75p -11.95%
Investec (INVP) 235.00p -9.96%
Shanks Group (SKS) 125.25p -9.57%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 196.75p -9.12%
Misys (MSY) 110.25p -7.74%
Melrose Resources (MRS) 204.25p -7.68%
Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 29.75p -7.03%
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities EUR (GSDE) € 1.02 -6.65%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 93.25p -5.81%
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| BARC - Barclays |
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| Latest Prices |
| Name |
Price |
% |
| Barclays |
274.80p |
+2.54% |
| Anglo American |
2,382.00p |
+2.43% |
| Barratt Developments |
113.20p |
+0.44% |
| Blacks Leisure |
55.50p |
+1.37% |
| British Sky Broadcasting Group |
526.00p |
+0.29% |
| BT Group |
131.40p |
+0.31% |
| Carnival |
2,243.00p |
+0.22% |
| F&C Asset Management |
62.60p |
+1.13% |
| Fenner |
175.80p |
+1.03% |
| Friends Provident Group |
0.000p |
0.00% |
| Forth Ports |
1,049.00p |
-0.19% |
| GlaxoSmithKline |
1,220.00p |
+0.08% |
| HBOS |
0.000p |
0.00% |
| Ithaca Energy Inc. |
91.00p |
+5.51% |
| Lloyds Banking Group |
48.98p |
+3.77% |
| Meggitt |
253.50p |
+0.84% |
| Redrow |
131.70p |
-0.83% |
| Southern Cross Healthcare Group |
150.00p |
0.00% |
| Shire Plc |
1,249.00p |
+1.05% |
| Senior |
78.25p |
-0.95% |
| Spectris |
742.50p |
+0.41% |
| Tesco |
416.10p |
+0.46% |
| Vedanta Resources |
2,392.00p |
+2.79% |
| Xstrata |
1,021.50p |
+3.83% |
| |
| FTSE 100 |
5,117 |
+0.49% |
| FTSE 250 |
9,017 |
+0.07% |
| FTSE 350 |
2,678 |
+0.44% |
| FTSE AIM 100 |
2,931 |
-0.72% |
| FTSE AIM All-Share |
652 |
-0.62% |
| FTSE All-Share |
2,620 |
+0.42% |
| FTSE Small Cap |
2,759 |
-0.07% |
| FTSEurofirst 300 |
982 |
+0.27% |
| techMARK |
1,532 |
-0.10% |
| techMARK 100 |
1,706 |
-0.06% |
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