Date: Tuesday 26 Nov 2013
LONDON (ShareCast) - - Thanksgiving holiday to affect trading volumes
- BTG jumps after Varithena approval
- De La Rue, Mitchells & Butlers, Britvic gain after results
- Glencore Xstrata drops on Las Bambas developments
techMARK 2,652.61 +0.05%
FTSE 100 6,663.62 -0.46%
FTSE 250 15,343.14 +0.28%
UK stocks headed slightly lower on Tuesday morning with little on the macro front to stir investors' appetite for risk, as markets awaited key economic data from the States.
"Given the recent reliance on US markets for a sense of direction, it's little surprise that the lemmings of Europe appear to have put trading on hold this morning," said Senior Sales Trader Toby Morris from CMC Markets.
Markets were pulling back after a decent performance on Monday on the back of a weekend agreement to limit Iran's nuclear activity, which caused oil prices to fall as much as 3% before recovering slightly. Oil prices were steadier this morning following yesterday's volatility.
What's more, trading volumes are expected to be even lower in the coming days with US markets closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday.
As for today, investors are waiting for the release consumer confidence figures and home-price data from the US, as speculation surrounding the impending withdrawal of stimulus continues to ramp up.
The Conference Board’s index for consumer sentiment is forecast to rise to 72.4 in November from 71.2 in October when it declined the most since August 2011 due to the budget impasse and debt ceiling negotiations.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of house prices in 20 US cities is expected to have increased at an annual rate of 13% in September from 12.8% in August, according to consensus forecasts.
BTG surges after US approval; Glencore Xstrata falls
Specialist healthcare group BTG jumped this morning after the announcement that US regulators have approved its varicose veins treatment Varithena. "We look forward to the commercial US launch in the second quarter of 2014," said Chief Executive Louise Makin.
Mining giant Glencore Xstrata fell after the news that Chinalco has dropped out of the bidding for its $5.9bn Las Bambas copper mine in Peru.
Investors celebrated banknote printer De La Rue's interim results as ongoing cost savings helped adjusted profits increase by 20% despite a slip in banknote print volumes. The stock was also lifted from 'hold' to 'buy' by Investec.
Mitchells & Butlers was also higher this morning after the pubs group said that full-year profits surged by 81% after food sales helped revenues rise 2.2%.
Soft drinks maker Britvic rose after it delivered a 28.1% jump in annual pre-tax profit, helped by a hotter-than-usual summer. However, larger drinks peers SABMiller and Diageo were under the weather this morning after French spirits firm Remy Cointreau warned that annual operating profits will see a "double-digit" decline due to a slowdown in China.
Utilities firm Severn Trent was out of favour after delivering a flat first half in terms of underlying profits, as a robust start by the water business was not enough to compensate for a lower contribution from the services arm.
KCOM was also lower after announcing a shake-up of its board, which will see Chairman Bill Halbert assume the role of Chief Executive as of next April. The news came as the company reported a 5.4% fall in first-half profits, in line with its expectations.
Supermarket giant Tesco was unwanted after Deutsche Bank cut its target price for the shares ahead of its third-quarter trading update next week, saying that it expects like-for-like sales to have deteriorated.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Wolseley (WOS) 3,329.00p +2.62%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,237.00p +2.06%
ITV (ITV) 188.00p +1.51%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,303.00p +1.48%
William Hill (WMH) 380.30p +1.41%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,231.00p +1.32%
Kingfisher (KGF) 395.60p +1.20%
TUI Travel (TT.) 366.50p +1.02%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 960.50p +1.00%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,528.00p +1.00%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 304.25p -2.50%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,179.00p -2.32%
Carnival (CCL) 2,225.00p -2.07%
Fresnillo (FRES) 820.50p -2.03%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 857.00p -2.00%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,345.00p -1.93%
Tesco (TSCO) 347.60p -1.88%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 818.50p -1.86%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,754.00p -1.74%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,110.00p -1.71%
FTSE 250 - Risers
BTG (BTG) 520.50p +13.42%
De La Rue (DLAR) 928.00p +10.87%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 418.20p +6.96%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 107.50p +6.65%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 251.20p +4.67%
Homeserve (HSV) 256.80p +4.09%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,211.00p +3.95%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 179.80p +3.93%
Britvic (BVIC) 630.50p +3.87%
Computacenter (CCC) 637.00p +3.58%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Essar Energy (ESSR) 82.95p -5.04%
Premier Oil (PMO) 299.20p -4.41%
Perform Group (PER) 443.00p -4.11%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 426.50p -3.77%
IP Group (IPO) 173.90p -3.39%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 230.80p -3.03%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 102.00p -2.86%
Afren (AFR) 159.00p -1.85%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 171.70p -1.83%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 373.30p -1.74%
BC
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