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FTSE 100 flat as bank holiday and Yellen kept trading light

Last updated: 09:45 26 Aug 2016 BST, First published: 06:49 26 Aug 2016 BST

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London open

London’s markets were flat as a bank holiday weekend ahead and the start of the Jackson Hole symposium in the US kept trading subdued.

FTSE 100 was around two points lower at 6,814.

Among the big laggards was UK drugs firm AstraZeneca plc (LON:AZN) down 0.44% to 4,989p after the pharma  sector took a hit from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton yesterday.

Not for the first time, she pledged to crack down on excessive drug price rises.

Janet Yellen's keynote speech at the banker symposium at Jackson Hole comes this afternoon with the market’s focus any hint of a US rate rise soon.

Gold has been weak on the back of that possibility though sector leader Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) rallied a little to 7,640p on hopes the Fed chair will again be cautious in changing US monetary policy.

Other miners also perked up with gains for Glencore (LON;GLEN) up 2.6% to 183.9p, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) 1.5% to 2,424p and Antogagasta (LON:ANTO) 1% higher at 533p.

Restaurant Group (LON:RTN) was among the top risers on the FTSE 250 as investors applauded its decision to take tough action its ailing Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquitos chains.

Some 33 outlets will be chopped after new menus flopped and interim profits fell by almost 4%.

Shares rallied by 7% to 436p.

Among the smaller caps, San Leon Energy (LON:SLE) was the stand out as it returned from a lengthy suspension after completing a complex deal that will end up with a new 10% stake in a Nigerian oil field.

Private Equity group Toscafund will own around 54% of the oil and gas minnow after putting most of a £170mln funding at 45p.

San Leon shares jumped 72% to 50p.

ITM Power plc (LON:ITM) rose 4% to 23.9p on its second fuel supply contract this week.

Arcola Energy, which supports fleet operators will use ITM to supply hydrogen at £10/kg - the lowest priced hydrogen in the UK.

North River Resources PLC (LON:NRRP) fell 7% to 13.5p on a further delay in the permit process for its Namib mine in Namibia.


Open snapshot

A volatile market at the off saw FTSE 100 start lower.

The blue chip index was down around 1o points at the open, at 6,806.

Among the big laggards was UK drugs firm AstraZeneca plc (LON:AZN) down 0.44% to 4,989p after the pharma  sector took a hit from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton yesterday.

Not for the first time, she pledged to crack down on excessive drug price rises.

Also ahead is Janet Yellen's keynote speech at the banker symposium at Jackson Hole and the markets are jumpy.


PREVIEW

Britain's blue chip index is called to open flat as investors continue to look to the Fed chief's speech later at Jackson Hole.

FTSE 100 closed on Thursday down 0.25% to 6,816 but today financial spreadbetters at IG are calling it to start 0.3 down.

It comes after a mixed bag in Asia overnight and falls on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial index  closed down 0.18% to 18,448; the S&P500  shed 0.14% and the technology stock heavy Nasdaq was down 0.11% to 5,212.

Shares on Wall Street took a hit from a drop in healthcare and consumer companies.

In Asia, with an hour of trading to go, the Nikkei 225 in Japan is 0.5% down at 16,473 but the Shanghai Composite is 0.49% to the good at 3,083.

The speech later from Janet Yellen is nervously awaited and will offer insight into the  next installment of how Central Bank's intend to deal with globally slow growth and low interest rates.

Of course the focus will be on whether she hints at a US rate rise on September 21 this year, but of course comments on general trends will also make the headlines.

Stocks are falling in expectation of a rise this Autumn, and fears money will leave equities and head towards other things, such as loans.

As with most of these events the hype and an anticipation is likely to outweigh the reality.

Michael Hewson , at CMC  Markets, said: "...it would be surprising if Mrs Yellen was either dovish or hawkish, though given the odds currently assigned to the prospect of a move in September the risk is likely to be towards the hawkish side, for no other reason than the Federal Reserve will want to keep markets guessing in the event we see an improvement in the economic data between now and September 21st."

On the macro front later, the US will see second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data.

The UK, meanwhile, will also see the release of its own second quarter GDP data from the Office for National Statistics at 9am.

Analysts expect the second estimate of economic growth to remain unchanged from the initial estimate for an annualised 2.2% and quarterly 0.6%.

Significant announcements expected

Interims: Computacenter PLC (LON:CCC), Industrial Multi Property Trust PLC (LON:IMPT), Lavendon Group plc (LON:LVD), Marshalls PLC (LON:MSLH), The Restaurant Group PLC (LON:RTN).

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