UK Market Wrap
UK markets recover, but look set to fall again tomorrow
UK markets ended the day down, but started the day in far worse shape. It was all looking rather ugly again first thing, but as the day went on, the FTSE 100 and All Share Index put in a good effort to climb out of the red. However, the markets didn’t quite make it, despite several blue chips staying well in the blue. In the end, the FTSE 100 was off 0.8% at 3852, and rather worryingly, the US markets continued to struggle to hold on to any sort of positive mood, dropping almost 200 points in the last few minutes of trade, not the first time that has happened recently. At the end of play the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 2.4% at 8175.
Back in the UK, by 4:30pm, the day’s performance was very mixed.
Copper boosted
Copper received a boost on better than expected news from the US housing market. Copper focused mining companies moved in kind.
Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) leapt 8.5% to 300 pence, First Quantum Mining (LSE: FQM) soared 21%, and err, well the rest of the bigger copper plays actually fell…
Big Miners weak again
Xstrata (LSE: XTA) fell another 8.8% to 709 pence, Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) and BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) fared far better, falling only 1.5% and 2.6% respectively. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) slipped 3.3%.
Platinum weak, Gold strong
Gold climbed for the second day running, and is currently trading around $733/ounce. This was enough to lift some gold companies, but not all.
Yamana Gold (LSE: YAU) climbed 5.8%, Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) rose 4.5%, Oxus Gold (LSE: OXS) also rose 4.5%, but Rangold Resources (LSE:RRS) finished flat and Peter Hambro Mining (LSE: POG) slumped another 15% to 179 pence, while silver focused Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) slipped another 3.7%.
Platinum continued to come under pressure, closing at US$756 ounce and Palladium finished at $170/ounce. Platinum companies mostly fell, Platinum Australia (LSE: PLAA), Lonmin (LSE: LMI) and Slyvania (LSE: SLV) fell 4%, 7.5% and 1.5% respectively. Platmin (LSE: PPN) also fell 4%, but Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) actually climbed, closing up 4.4%.
Energy stocks slammed again.
Oil companies have gone from hero to zero in recent months, but while oil prices did come under pressure again this morning oil prices did recover in the US, closing around $62/barrel.
BP (LSE: BP) slipped 0.5%, Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) slumped 6%, Dragon Oil fell even further, down 6.8%. Dana Petroleum (LSE: DANA) fell 1.4% and Shell (LSE: RDSB) lost 2%.
Junior oil explorers and producers also continued to slide. Gulfsands Petroleum (AIM: GPX) fell 8.3%, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) slipped 3%, EnegiOil (AIM: ENEG) slumped 5% and Afren (AIM: AFR) plunged 13%.
Defensive stocks climb
Pharmaceuticals and other more defensive stocks climbed higher, helping to offset weakness in energy and mining.
AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) climbed 3% and 5%.
British American Tobacco (LSE: BAT) jumped 7.2%, Imperial Tobacco Group (LSE: IMT) rose 4.1%.
Utilities were a mixed bag. United Utilities (LSE: UU.), Severn Trent (LSE: SVT) climbed, but Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE) fell 2.5%.
Retailers fare better
Tesco (LSE: TSCO) was one of the better performers on the day, climbing 5%, Morrison (LSE: MRW) was not far behind, up 4.5% and the laggard of the big three listed food retailers was Sainsbury’s (LSE: SBRY) which limped to the close, up a measly 0.4%. Some general retailers also fared better, Next (LSE: NXT) climbed 1.4%.
Financials mixed
The rout of US and European banking stocks appeared to be gathering pace in Asian focused financials.
Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) fell 10% and 5% respectively.
Barlcays (LSE: BARC) was more or less flat, Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) and HBOS (LSE: HBOS) actually rose.
Vodafone gets a boost from across the pond
Vodafone (LSE: VOD) also climbed 1%, but its substantial stake in US listed Verizon looked a bit juicier tonight, after the US telecommunication group reported excellent results and saw its share price jump 10% in afterhours trading.
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