LONDON (ShareCast) - The FTSE 100 index finished broadly flat on Thursday afternoon, taking a pause of two days of decent gains, with the focus remaining on the US 'fiscal cliff' ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Even a positive surprise in US gross domestic product (GDP) failed to give markets a boost. The American economy expanded at an adjusted annual rate of 3.1% in the third quarter, well ahead of the previously estimated 2.7% growth forecast.

"European markets have struggled to retest yesterday’s highs despite gaining momentum in the first few hours of trading," said sales trader Toby Morris from CMC Markets.

"Investors saw the early recovery from yesterday’s late sell off halted with traders unable to find any real distractions to the politics in the US to push markets to new levels," he said.

Stocks finished slightly higher on Wednesday after Standard & Poor's upgraded Greece's credit rating to 'B-minus' and the IFO German business climate index beat expectations. However, gains were pared by the close after the White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said that President Barack Obama would veto any ‘plan B’ for the 'fiscal cliff' from House Speaker John Boehner.

FTSE 100: Carnival drops after full-year revenue decline

Carnival , the largest cruise company in the world, reported a fall in full-year revenues after what it called its most challenging year ever.

Shares dropped nearly 6% on Thursday afternoon after the company reported that revenue came in at $15.4bn, down from $15.8bn previously.

Among the risers was engineering solutions group Weir rose after announcing that it is to buy pressure control rental equipment firm Mathena for £148m. Investec this morning raised its target price for the stock from 2,020p to 2,100p and reiterated its 'buy' rating, saying that the purchase "fits in nicely with Seaboard and diversifies Oil & Gas revenues away from the pressure pumping market".

Outsourcing giant Serco fell despite saying that it is on track to meet expectations for 2012 as it announced the sale of two operations at a loss. The firm said it expected to deliver a year of strong total revenue growth, including good organic growth.

Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl extended losses following yesterday's pre-close trading update. JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS both cut their target prices for the stock this morning.

Defence and aerospace group BAE Systems rebounded following yesterday's admission that it is struggling to agree on a price for the supply of 72 Typhoon aircraft with Saudi Arabia. The company said that if it cannot come to an agreement, it would reduce its full-year underlying earnings per share by around three pence per share.

FTSE 250 movers: Vesuvius gains after de-merger

Vesuvius, the de-merged Engineered Ceramics division of former FTSE 250 group Cookson, surged on Thursday, on day after its split from the chemicals division (now called Alent) became effective. In a research report yesterday, Investec said: "we believe that Vesuvius can break with the past and be managed prudently to generate robust cash flows, underpinning a good and progressive dividend."

Insurance outfit Lancashire Holdings fell after estimating the impact Hurricane Sandy on the business will be in the region of $40-60m. Sector peer Amlin was flat after puttting its losses from the US superstorm at £145m, most of which comes from reinsurance claims.

Construction firm Balfour Beatty gained after saying its half-owned Hong Kong builder, Gammon Construction, had won a contract worth £270m.

Transport group Go-Ahead was lower after saying that it has compensated London Midland customers with £7m of benefits after they were disrupted by cancellations and delays last year.



FTSE 100 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 107.00p +3.08%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,710.00p +3.07%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,863.00p +2.81%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,742.00p +2.47%
CRH (CRH) 1,249.00p +2.04%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 365.20p +1.90%
BAE Systems (BA.) 348.00p +1.78%
Kingfisher (KGF) 283.30p +1.72%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,521.00p +1.57%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,246.00p +1.47%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Carnival (CCL) 2,391.00p -6.05%
Evraz (EVR) 267.00p -4.09%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,965.00p -2.29%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 674.00p -2.03%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,159.00p -1.78%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,878.00p -1.73%
BG Group (BG.) 1,008.50p -1.42%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,909.00p -1.41%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 186.00p -1.33%
National Grid (NG.) 702.00p -1.27%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Vesuvius (VSVS) 352.00p +8.64%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 106.70p +5.33%
Perform Group (PER) 389.60p +5.30%
Genus (GNS) 1,431.00p +3.77%
Man Group (EMG) 86.50p +3.59%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 82.80p +3.56%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 101.50p +3.05%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 42.71p +3.02%
ITE Group (ITE) 242.40p +2.54%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 109.70p +2.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 294.90p -4.41%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 249.50p -3.26%
Ruspetro (RPO) 76.55p -3.10%
Telecity Group (TCY) 775.50p -3.06%
Chemring Group (CHG) 234.60p -3.06%
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 182.60p -2.98%
Computacenter (CCC) 410.00p -2.94%
Rank Group (RNK) 144.10p -2.64%
Victrex (VCT) 1,606.00p -2.61%
Workspace Group (WKP) 306.00p -2.49%

BC

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