LONDON (ShareCast) - - Elgin gas leak weighs on stocks
- Wolseley, Compass disappoint after updates
- Banks rise, RBS wanted on speculation

UK stocks slumped in afternoon trade as earlier optimism quickly faded with consumer confidence data from the US disappointing late on. Meanwhile, oil and gas heavyweights were providing downward pressure on the Footsie today, dampened by a huge gas leak at a North Sea well.

The earlier rise for London's blue chip index was fuelled by comments last night from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He said that improvements in the US jobless rate will require “a more-rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses, a process that can be supported by continued accommodative policies.”

In other news, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has called on Europe's finance ministers to up the ante with the Euro area's bailout fund. The OECD insists that the firepower of the bailout fund must be boosted to “at least one trillion euros” in order to restore confidence and boost growth.

Currently the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which has a €440bn capacity, is expected to be replaced by the €500bn European Stability Mechanism (ESM) this summer, though there is some speculation that both funds may be permitted to run simultaneously. An “official” decision is expected to be reached this Friday (March 30th) at the informal Ecofin meeting.

OIL AND GAS STOCKS WEIGHED DOWN BY ELGIN GAS LEAK

The oil and gas sector was out of favour today, weighed down by news that the Elgin platform in the North Sea is leaking natural gas. According to French operator Total, it could be up to six months before the leak is stopped. Jake Molloy, from RMT Union which presents offshore workers, told the BBC that “the potential exists for catastrophic devastation…If it somehow finds an ignition source we could be looking at complete destruction." Gas company BG Group was among the worst performers of the day in London, while Petrofac and Royal Dutch Shell were also lower.

Oil titan BP fell late on after announcing that it is to pocket $400m from selling its interests in its southern gas assets (SGA) in the UK North Sea to Perenco. The company is currently well into its $38bn disposal programme and, after this agreement, has already divested around $23bn-worth of assets.

However, it was plumbers’ merchant Wolseley which was the heaviest faller on the blue chip index after like-for-like (LFL) sales growth tapered off in the last couple of months, despite a continued strong showing from its US operations. Contract caterer Compass followed suit after admitting that LFL sales growth in the first half of its financial year is likely to be slower than that seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Copper mining giant Kazakhmys finished the day strongly following the publication of its full-year results. While the main figures were already known – given the company’s pre-close trading update earlier this month – EBITDA still beat consensus expectations due to a lower-than-expected tax charge. Jefferies said today that while there are still some concerns over operating costs, these are now well-reflected in the price. Sector peers Xstrata and Rio Tinto both finished higher.

Banks were also making gains with Royal Bank of Scotland leading the way on reports that the UK government is looking to sell some of its stake in the lender to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign-wealth funds. The BBC has said that it could offload up to a third of its 82% stake, following a government bailout back in 2008. HSBC was on the rise after revealed that it will exit operations in Slovakia, as part of its continuing five-filter portfolio review announced last year. Barclays and Standard Chartered were also wanted.

PETRA SHINES, PZ CUSSONS DROPS

Petra Diamonds finished 7% higher on the same day that Rio Tinto announced that it is considering selling off its diamonds division. According to the Wall Street Journal, sector peers Petra Diamonds and Gem Diamonds are the sort of companies that could be interested in Rio’s assets. The paper speculates that Rio’s diamond assets could be worth up to $2.8bn.

Meanwhile, Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons has warned the impact of economic and social tensions in its largest market of Nigeria would be significant, resulting in overall performance being some way below expectations. Shares were down nearly 10%.

BC

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 28.67p +3.32%
Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,281.00p +2.15%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 944.50p +2.11%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,810.00p +1.74%
Capita (CPI) 749.00p +1.49%
Barclays (BARC) 251.35p +1.49%
Man Group (EMG) 135.20p +1.27%
Schroders (SDR) 1,642.00p +1.05%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 263.30p +0.96%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,106.00p +0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Wolseley (WOS) 2,435.00p -3.33%
BG Group (BG.) 1,475.00p -2.90%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,625.00p -2.68%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 178.20p -2.57%
Compass Group (CPG) 651.00p -2.54%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 268.20p -2.44%
Evraz (EVR) 380.80p -2.36%
BP (BP.) 471.35p -2.19%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 34.83p -2.01%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,687.00p -1.86%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 188.20p +6.99%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 708.50p +4.96%
Afren (AFR) 135.50p +3.44%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 800.00p +3.23%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,220.00p +3.04%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 78.30p +3.03%
Supergroup (SGP) 637.50p +2.82%
SVG Capital (SVI) 284.70p +2.48%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 149.60p +2.47%
Elementis (ELM) 189.50p +2.43%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
PZ Cussons (PZC) 301.30p -9.82%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 114.80p -5.59%
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 35.00p -4.76%
Exillon Energy (EXI) 164.90p -3.85%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 47.25p -3.33%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 183.90p -3.21%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 411.20p -3.02%
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 149.30p -2.99%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 718.00p -2.71%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 460.00p -2.50%

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