FTSE close: Glencore muted, Lonmin, BP up

 

17.20 (close)

Dealers monitor their screens on the trading floor of IG Index in London

The London market shrugged off mixed data from the US today as firmer metal and oil prices helped commodity-based stocks make headway.

While the top flight was off highs for the session, the FTSE 100 Index still closed up 32.5 points at 5956, having broken a five-day losing streak on Wednesday.

Trader confidence was knocked after a key economic indicator in the United States, the Philadelphia Fed Index, which measures changes in business growth, gave a weaker-than-expected reading for May.

The dollar was weakened by the report, dropping to 1.61 against the pound. Sterling was also up against the euro at 1.13 as fears over Greece's debt crisis continued to trouble traders.

The London market pressed ahead after a strong run for miners and upbeat retail figures for April, although commodities giant Glencore's market debut fell flat after a promising start.

Glencore's shares were priced at 530p, giving it a market value of more than £36bn, in London's biggest stock market listing.

There were hopeful signs as the newcomer raced on to 548p but the first session of conditional trading finished with the company flat on its opening price.

Retail investors will have to wait until Tuesday to buy the shares, when the stock is also expected to be fast-tracked into the FTSE 100 Index.

Elsewhere, the resignation of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in the wake of his arrest over sexual assault allegations, boosted European markets. Germany's Dax was up 0.7%, while the Cac-40 in France was ahead more than 1%.

A rebound in metal prices, after three days of declines, saw platinum miner Lonmin add 23p to 1538p and Eurasian Natural Resources lift 4.5p at 845.5p.

Energy firms were lifted by stronger oil prices, with Brent crude holding at 111 US dollars per barrel, as Petrofac added 57p to 1528p, BG Group was up 15p at 1388p and BP lifted nearly 2% or 6.9p at 447.9p.

The retail sector was given a lift after figures showed the royal wedding and warm weather in April triggered a 1.1% surge in volumes.

High street giant Marks & Spencer was up 6.8p at 399.9p, B&Q parent Kingfisher was ahead 6p at 285p and clothing retailer Next added 26p at 2268p.

Invensys was near the top of the fallers' board after the technology and engineering group said its order book had fallen 1% due to fewer large orders at its rail business. Shares fell nearly 3% or 9.6p to 299.8p.

Outside the top flight telecoms firm TalkTalk made headway, rising nearly 7% or 8.6p to 140.1p, after it reported a rise in annual profits to £57m, from £11m a year earlier.

The biggest Footsie risers were Investec up 25.1p at 487p, ITV ahead 2.7p at 69.7p, Petrofac up 57p at 1528p and Aggreko ahead 58p at 1773p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were ICAP down 15.2p at 473.7p, Invensys off 9.6p, Essar Energy down 10.6p at 427.9p and Intertek off 47p at 1950p.

16.10: The Dow Jones has fallen back to trade flat following disappointing housing sales and factory activity figures. It'd down 5.1 points at 12,555.1.

The FTSE 100 is 40.2 points higher at 5,963.7 as the end of today's session approaches.

15.15:

The Dow Jones is up 43.6 points at 12,603.7 as sentiment is buoyed by lower than expected weekly US jobless claims.

The FTSE 100 is 70.9 points ahead at 5,994.4.

Brent crude is trading at around $111.50 a barrel this afternoon.

14.10:

The FTSE 100 is pushing for 6,000. The blue chip index is now 71.32 points higher at 5994.81.

We've got more detail on the Glencore float today, which has created a mind-boggling 485m millionaires in an instant.

Don't miss my colleague Tanya Jefferies' must-see analysis of whether you should invest in Glencore.

And here's more on Marston's which today notched up a 5% rise in profits.

13.00:

The Footsie hovers 61 points up, at 5,984.

A rebound in metal prices, after three days of commodity declines, saw platinum miner Lonmin add 35p to 1,550p, silver giant Fresnillo up 19p at 1,349p and copper firm Antofagasta advance 15p to 1,223p.

Energy firms were lifted by stronger oil prices, with Brent crude up 0.5% at $112 per barrel, as Petrofac added 65p to 1,536p, BG Group was up 29.5p at 1,402.5p and BP lifted more than 2% or 9.2p at 450.2p.

The retail sector was given a kick from strong sales figures, as figures showed the royal wedding and warm weather in April triggered a 1.1% surge in volumes.

High street giant Marks & Spencer was up 5.1p at 398.2p, B&Q parent Kingfisher was ahead 2.9p at 281.9p and Next added 23p at 2,265p.

Supermarkets also benefited, as the extra bank holiday last month saw the biggest surge in food sales for nearly three years. Morrisons added 2p to 305p and Sainsbury's was up 0.8p at 344.8p.

Invensys was at the top of a shortened fallers' board after the technology and engineering group said its order book had fallen 1% due to fewer large orders at its rail business.

Shares fell nearly 4% or 11.6p to 297.8p as the company said its order book had fallen to £2.4bn from £2.4bn a year earlier, due to slow business at Invensys Rail, which provides signalling, communication and control systems.

12.00:

The Footsie has crept 601 points higher now, to 5,984.

Traders said the Glencore IPO was a success because the backdrop for commodities was still positive, despite the recent sell-off, and long-term demand remained for China.

Also improving investor sentiment was news that the Fed is not ready to start policy tightening any time soon, a move which could boost appetite for risky stocks.

'Long-term demand from China is really driving up commodity stocks and ultimately that is the reason why investors put money into the Glencore IPO,' said Yusuf Heusen, senior sales trader at IG Index.

'Most traders putting their money in Glencore are in it for the long term and expect demand for commodities to remain.'

Liberum Capital said the IPO could mark the 'end of this mini-sell off in both the sector and broader commodities,' and it had refreshed valuations in the sectors.

Meanwhile care home company Southern Cross is hoping a deal on the reduction of rents will pave the way to £100m from investors and bring it out of its current financial nosedive.

Shares have edged up 0.5p (5.7%) TO 9.7p today. Read our full report here.

And Dairy Crest shares slipped 5.6p (1.4%) to 396p despite the news that its key brands including Cathedral City cheese helped lift profits 5%.

Marston's has slipped 0.4p (0.4%) to 109.8p, despite announcing profits were up 5%. The company made an underlying pre-tax profit before one-offs of £29.2m in the six months to April 2.

Read more here.

10.20:

The economy news today includes retails sales, with the ONS confirming that shoppers loosened the purse strings in April, pushing retail sales 1.1% higher in the month.

It was the best April for retail sales volumes growth since 2002, the ONS said.

Compared to the same month last year, sales by volume were 2.8% higher and sales by value were 6.2% higher.

Almost all sectors enjoyed a sales recovery, including food stores where volumes grew, year-on-year, for the first time in 15 months. The sector accounts for 42% of all retailing.

ONS statisticians pointed to the Royal Wedding and warm weather as explanations for the better sales, with revellers stocking up for street parties and barbecues to enjoy the hottest April on record.

Spoilsport economists said the rise was expected and cautioned that the rise may not last.

The Footsie was little changed by the figures and is currently 37.07 points higher at 5960.56.

09.30:

Commodities giant Glencore made an unspectacular start to trading after a stock market listing that valued it at more than £36bn.

The shares were issued at 530p and after opening up at 548p, more than 3% above that offer price, they later stood at 534.75p, after a float that was said to be more than four times over-subscribed by institutions.

Retail investors will have to wait until Tuesday to buy the shares.

While attention was focused on Glencore, the FTSE 100 index made headway after last night breaking its five-day losing streak with a gain of more than 60 points.

It's up 34 points at 5,956, even though Asian markets were under pressure after Japan's economy fell back into recession following a sharp contraction in activity due to the earthquake and tsunami.

In London, shares in BP were 1% or 5.5p stronger at 446.6p, while National Grid added 12.7p to 627.2p after it reported a rise in operating profits and said its outlook for the current financial year looked positive.

Telecoms firm TalkTalk made headway in the second tier FTSE 250, rising 6% or 7.3p to 138.8p, after it reported a rise in annual profits to £57m, from £11m a year earlier.

But shares in Lamprell topped the index - rising 43.7p (12.4%) to 395p - after the oil rig maker says it has agreed to buy Norway's Maritime Industrial Services (MIS) for around $336 million, in a deal which will widen its engineering offering.

Evolution Securities analyst Keith Morris says the agreed offer for MIS, which like Lamprell is based in the United Arab Emirates, is a 'key positive.'

'We have previously noted the large opportunity for Lamprell to diversify its offering to customers in the Middle East through the acquisition of MIS,' he says.

The FTSE small cap index is 0.1% higher in opening deals. Medicsight, a developer of Computer-Aided Detection and medical image analysis software, leaps more than 70% (up 2.5p to 5.9p) as it receives clearance for technology which assists radiologists during their review of CT scans.

The clearance enables Medicsight to implement its US sales and marketing strategy.

Waterman Group falls 6.5p (14.6%) to 38p after the international engineering and environmental consultancy says it expects the financial results for the full year to be at the lower end of market expectations.

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