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FTSE 100 finishes higher despite North Korea worries hitting US stocks

Last updated: 17:15 11 Apr 2017 BST, First published: 06:56 11 Apr 2017 BST

British Airways aeroplanes
  • FTSE 100 closes up 16

  • Wall Street stocks on the slide

  • Gold and gold diggers on the up

 

FTSE 100 erased some gains from the afternoon but finished in positive territory as US shares slid lower.

The UK benchmark closed around 16 points higher at 7,365.

It comes as Wall Street shares slid as investors fret over mounting tension over North Korea.

President  Donald Trump took to his favourite social media twitter to say that North Korea was "looking for trouble" and warned the US would "solve the problem" - with or without China's help.

The Dow Jones is down over 90 points at the time of writing at 20,567.

Meanwhile at the G7 meet in Italy, there was no agreement on Britain's proposals for sanctions against Russia in the wake of a chemical attack.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has now arrived in Moscow for talks.

On Footsie, the biggest gainer was gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) while the big loser was RBS  (LON:RBS), down 1.88% to 234.5p.

3.15pm....FTSE 100 ignores Wall Street slide

 
The FTSE 100 ignored the early slide on Wall Street as it traded in positive territory but off its high for the day.

Mid-afternoon the index of blue-chip shares was up 38 points at 7,385.93.

The Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 opened in negative territory amid the rising geopolitical tensions caused by Syria and North Korea.

Safe haven investments such as gold (up 1%) were in demand, while shares in Randgold Resources (LON:RRS), which unearths the precious metal, advanced 4%.

The banking sector was rattled (though only mildly) by the ECB warning Britain’s lenders to apply for licences as soon as possible amid worries about access to the single market.

Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) drifted 1.2%.

12.47pm...blue-chip shares in demand

  • FTSE 100 up 44 at 7,393

  • StatPro Group soars on price target increase

  • Airlines sit atop the Footsie tree

Retail sales data and inflation figures have come out today and the market has largely ignored them, to continue its advance.

The FTSE 100 was up 44 at 7,393, despite expectations that US blue-chips would open on the back foot.

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Airline stocks sit atop the Footsie tree; International Consolidated Airlns Grp (LON:IAG) was up 3.7% at 548p and EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) was 3.2% higher at 1,089.34p.

A European Commission study of travel comparison and booking web sites found that many were displaying unreliable pricing, and the sites will now be the subject of EU enforcement procedures.

This could lead to more passengers booking directly on the web sites of airlines.

Mining stocks were still in demand, especially the gold and silver diggers.

On the broking front, Peel Hunt has increased its price target for JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD.) from 400p to 480p after a sparkling set of results from the sportswear seller.

Shares in JD were the best performers in the FTSE 350, up 8.8% at 442.5p.

Among the small-caps, portfolio analytics software provider StatPro Group PLC (LON:SOG) shot up 18.2% on the back of an N+1 Singer research note.

The broker has pumped up its target price from 169p to 193p. Shares in StatPro are currently trading just below 125p.

Applied Graphene Materials PLC (LON:AGM) shed 13p at 189.5p following its interim results.

The loss before tax narrowed to £2.1mln from £2.3mln the year before, but it is the depletion of the cash reserves to £5.6mln at the end of January from £10.2mln the year before that most likely put the wind up investors.

Also hit hard was Red Emperor Resources NL (LON:RMP) after the energy firm’s quarterly report.

The Philippines Department of Energy is still to ratify the redistribution of equity following the withdrawal of a partner from the joint venture that owns Block SC 55, which means the geological interpretive work programme has not yet kicked off.

The shares slid 6.3% to 1.18p.

9.47 ... FTSE 100 perking up again after in-line inflation data

Retail sales data may have been a bit of a downer but the inflation figure for March - the rate was unchanged from February at 2.3% - has resuscitated the Footsie, which is now up 23 at 7,372, having drifted down to the mid-7,360s before the data came out.

9.25 ... FTSE 100 off the top after disappointing retail sales data

The FTSE 100 has come off the top but is still firmly in the blue despite a downbeat retail report.

The British Retail Consortium’s measure of the year-on-year change in like-for-like retail sales was -1.0% in March, compared to -0.5% in February.

The market consensus forecast had been for a slight improvement in the rate to -0.3%.

The figures would have been skewed by the timing of Easter but economics forecasting unit Pantheon Macro noted that the effect of Easter is not so pronounced now so much shopping is done online.

“What’s more, the trend in sales volumes has weakened more decisively than the BRC’s measure suggests, because deflation on the high street has eased. Indeed, year-over-year growth in the BRC’s Shop Price Index increased to -0.8% in March—its highest rate since December 2013 - from -1.0% in February,” Pantheon said.

Retail stocks did not seem overly perturbed by the data, while one – JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD. – was the best FTSE 350 performer, advancing 7.8% to 438.25p on the back of full year results that were better than expected.

Among FTSE 100 stocks, precious metals miners were back in favour after being in the doldrums yesterday.

Randgold Resources Limited (LON:RRS), up 1.7%, was the best performer, followed by Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES), up 1.1%.

The FTSE 100 was up 27 at 7,376.

08.35 ... Market opens with modest gains as investors ignore political posturing

FTSE 100 opened with modest gains as markets overlooked the rhetoric between the US and Russia/Iran and North Korea.

A US battle group is on its way to the western Pacific in a show of support for South Korea, one of its key allies in the region, while accusations are still flying over how much the Russians knew about the recent chemical attack in Syria.

FTSE 100 was up a better-than-expected 13 points to 7,362 even so, with decent results from JD Sports Fashion PLC and De La Rue PLC the stand–outs.

Fashion retailer JD (LON:JD.) rose 3.9% to 422.4p as it posted a record annual profit, though it was wary on the impact from Brexit. Profit before tax and exceptional items rose to £246mln in the year to 28 January from £158mln the previous year.

Bank-note printer De La Rue PLC (LON:DLAR) expects its full-year underlying operating profit to be “above the top end of market consensus”, with group revenue in line with market expectations. Shares rose 5% to 650p.

Other retailers were more subdued as non-food retail sales fell by 0.8% by value over the first quarter said the British Retail Consortium. Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) eased a few pence to 344.5p.

Among the small caps, Arian Silver (LON:AGQ) added 30% to 0.99p as it joined the lithium rush with an option over three sites in Mexico.

Proactive news summary

Savannah Petroleum PLC (LON:SAVP) has sketched in some detail to plans for a three-well drilling programme in Niger, revealing it will focus on the company’s R3 Area.

It believes R3 sits within a proven petroleum sweet-spot and points out it is sandwiched between significant discoveries to the north and south.

Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) has sealed a US$60mln debt agreement on better than anticipated terms that will fund the build of its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali.

The facility is with Coris Bank, one of the largest and fastest growing lenders in West Africa.

Iofina PLC (LON:IOF), which extracts iodine from brine water, has told investors it performed well in the first three months of 2017 despite having to deal with a couple of challenges.

The firm’s IOsorb plants have performed solidly so far this year and are producing crystalline iodine at forecast rates, while its Iofina Chemical division benefited from strong demand for non-iodine halogen derivatives.

The rapid diagnostics specialist Akers Biosciences Inc (LON:AKER, NASDAQ:AKER) expects the growth in sales of its heparin allergy product to provide the foundation stone for progress in 2017.

Second-half sales of the PIFA PF/4 device were strong as the company targeted hospitals in the US and generated significant early revenues from China.

Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) is to showcase its rapid diagnostic device for Hepatitis-C (HCV) to industry professionals at the International Liver Conference in Amsterdam later this month.

The clinical validation data for the Genedrive HCV ID Kit will be presented at the conference by Dr Darragh Duffy from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, one of the world’s leading research centres.

7.00am: FTSE 100 to open quietly as political tensions rise

The FTSE 100 went nowhere on Monday and activity is expected again to be subdued today with the Easter holiday fast approaching and many City folk already away from their desks.

Political developments In Syria and North Korea, while worrying, have yet to have much impact and financial spread bet firms see FTSE 100 down just a couple of points on yesterday’s close of 7,349 when trading gets underway.

It was a similar story overnight on Wall Street with markets barely changed at the close from where they started.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2 at 20,658, with equally small gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Energy shares did well but the war of words between the US and Russia and Iran over the recent Syrian air-base strike meant the mood was cautious.

Asian markets are much closer to North Korea and worries over its missile development programme sent investors ducking for cover.

Tokyo shed 109 points at 18,688, Hong Kong fell 241 at 24,036 while Shanghai was just over half a percentage lower nearer the close.

City headlines

Britain’s high street saw the biggest drop in retail sales, excluding food, in nearly six years in the first quarter of 2017, reports the FT.

Non-food retail sales fell by 0.8% in value over the period compared to a year earlier according to figures from the British Retail Consortium, released on Tuesday.

To underline the point the paper also reports that Jaeger, the British fashion chain founded in 1884, has collapsed into administration, putting almost 700 jobs at risk.

Board directors of Barclays face being dragged into a scandal over attempts by their chief executive Jes Staley to unmask an anonymous whistle-blower, writes the Times.

A top City regulator is under growing pressure to quit amid raging questions over a massive fraud on small businesses, reports the Mail. John Griffith-Jones, 62, chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority, has been accused of a conflict of interest as his investigators probe a possible cover-up at failed bank HBOS.

The £129m fine imposed by the Serious Fraud Office against Tesco has been approved by Southwark Crown Court following an investigation into the retailer's accounting scandal in 2014, the Telegraph writes. Sir Brian Leveson has now approved  the DPA, which means that the retailer will escape prosecution despite admitting to having falsely inflated its profits three years ago by booking income from suppliers too early.

Commodities/currencies

£/$ 1.242 - pound rising

Gold -  US$1,258 up US$3

Oil (WTI) - US$52.96 down US$0.1

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