LONDON (ShareCast) - - Cancelled 'Plan B' vote results in sell-off
- Boehner pledges to continue negotiations
- Miners and financials in the red

While stocks managed to stage a small comeback in afternoon trade, the UK market finished the week on a dull note, with ‘fiscal cliff’ fears dampening the festive cheer ahead of Christmas.

“Traders have spent much of the day taking profits ahead of the weekend as the last full trading week of 2012 draws to a close,” said senior sales trader Toby Morris from CMC Markets.

“With uncertainty about the outcome of the fiscal cliff talks higher than ever after the fiasco of last night’s cancellation of the Republican vote, investors have adopted a safety first approach, with last night a stark reminder that the current political uncertainty from the US can still lead to erratic moves in a thin market.”

Last night, Republican House speaker John Boehner was forced to withdraw his “Plan B” for dealing with the fiscal cliff due to a lack of support in the House of Representatives.

Boehner had thought that the Republican majority in the lower house would be enough to push through his proposal to avoid the impending automatic spending cuts and increase in taxes despite opposition from President Barack Obama and Democrats.

However, hard-line Republicans refused to support concessions on tax increases that left Boehner’s plan with insufficient votes to push the measure through even through just the House.

Speaking at a news conference today, Boehner said he would not walk away from negotiations over the fiscal cliff.

Economic data fails to give markets a boost

Further dampening the mood this morning was the news that UK gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter expanded at a 0.9% rate from the preceding three months. This final estimate was worse the initial 1% increase forecasted.

UK public sector net borrowing was weaker than expected in November, fuelling fear that Britain is moving closer to losing its treasured AAA credit rating. Borrowing came in at £17.5bn in November, £1.2bn higher net borrowing than a year before and above expectations of £16bn

Two surveys of consumer confidence also disappointed this morning: the GfK consumer confidence survey in the UK fell from -22 to -29 in December, missing the -25 forecast; while the forward-looking German GfK survey fell from 5.8 to 5.6 for January, missing the 5.9 estimate.

Meanwhile, the Chinese MNI flash business sentiment indicator fell from 53.78 to 52.23 in November.

FTSE 100: Miners and financials in the red

Miners and financial stocks were bearing the brunt of the bearish mood on markets on Friday as investors cut positions in riskier assets on concerns over the US economy. However, Randgold Resources was bucking the trend as gold prices advanced.

Banks were under the weather after a new report said that government plans to create a ‘ring fence’ between banks’ retail and investment operations fall well short of what is required. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has called on the government to "electrify" the ring fence to stop banks taking advantage of loopholes. Lloyds and Barclays were both under the weather.

ENRC was being weighed down by a ratings cut by Goldman Sachs to 'neutral' this morning. Meanwhile, insurance giant Aviva fell after selling Aviva USA Corporation - its life, annuities and asset management business - to life insurance holding company Athene Holiding for $1.8bn.

Xstrata was broadly flat despite saying that it is set to boost ore production by a further third at its Lady Loretta mine in north-west Queensland, Australia.

BAE Systems fell as investors shrugged off a £2.5bn deal with the government of Oman to supply of Typhoon and Hawk Advanced JetTrainer aircraft. This comes two days after the company warned that full-year underlying earnings could be hit by three pence per share if it cannot agree on pricing on a large Saudi Arabian Typhoon aircraft contract.

Water providers Severn Trent, United Utilities and Pennon were making gains after regulator Ofwat backed down over changes to water company licences.

Carnival was a high riser too, rebounding after a heavy fall yesterday when the cruise company reported a fall in full-year revenues after what it called its most challenging year ever.

FTSE 250: Regus gains after acquisition

Office space provider Regus gained after launching a fresh bid for smaller peer MWB Business Exchange (MBE) at a much lower price, a year and a half after it withdrew its initial offer.

Through its subsidiary Marley Acquisitions Limited (MAL), Regus is making a cash offer for 61.576p per share of MBE, valuing the company at £40m. Back in May 2011, Regus had made an indicative offer for MBE at 92.36p per share, valuing the company at a much higher price of £60m.

Jefferies said in a research report: "We view this as a strategically sensible transaction for Regus, cementing its leading market position in the UK serviced office market, with considerable potential cross-selling synergies."

High Street betting shop William Hill was under the weather after Numis Securites downgraded its rating for the stock to ‘reduce’.

In contrast New World Resources was on the up, shrugging off a downgrade from Goldman Sachs to ‘sell’.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,125.00p +2.68%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,610.00p +2.61%
Carnival (CCL) 2,442.00p +2.13%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,176.00p +1.47%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 682.00p +1.19%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,760.00p +1.03%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,142.00p +1.03%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 187.90p +1.02%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,051.00p +0.77%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,200.00p +0.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 257.80p -3.45%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 250.10p -2.65%
Compass Group (CPG) 723.00p -2.63%
Prudential (PRU) 872.00p -2.62%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,217.00p -2.41%
Diageo (DGE) 1,807.50p -2.22%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,473.00p -1.90%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.33p -1.88%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,635.00p -1.68%
Barclays (BARC) 263.00p -1.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 454.00p +4.61%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 889.50p +4.16%
Regus (RGU) 109.00p +3.81%
Menzies(John) (MNZS) 642.50p +3.63%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 378.10p +3.19%
Salamander Energy (SMDR) 183.30p +3.15%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 304.00p +3.09%
Telecity Group (TCY) 797.00p +2.77%
FirstGroup (FGP) 209.00p +2.55%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 100.90p +2.23%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 159.80p -5.89%
Ruspetro (RPO) 72.25p -5.62%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 101.60p -4.78%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 40.88p -4.28%
Essar Energy (ESSR) 117.80p -4.23%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 128.90p -4.23%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 378.20p -3.91%
Carpetright (CPR) 669.50p -3.67%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 170.00p -3.57%
Workspace Group (WKP) 296.00p -3.27%

BC

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