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FTSE 100 holds on as Wall Street falls, miners and energy stocks gain as oil and metals rise

Last updated: 14:37 18 Nov 2009 GMT, First published: 15:37 18 Nov 2009 GMT

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Overview: the FTSE 100 held on to its early gains despite a slow start on Wall Street, where all of the main indices declined in early trade following a disappointing housing update, which revealed a 4% decline in building permits in October to 552,000 annual rate, while a 0.9% increase was expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6%, the broader S&P 50 index slid 0.5% and the technology focused Nasdaq composite lost nearly 1%.

The UK blue chip index was sitting 0.3% above the opening level late in the afternoon, reclaiming half of yesterday's losses.

Miners flooded the leaderboard early with Xstrata (LSE: XTA), Lonmin (LSE: LMI) and Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) staying in the lead for the better part of the day. However, clothing retailer Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) surpassed the resource stocks for the lead, rising 6% after naming current Morrison Supermarket Chief Executive Marc Bolland as its new CEO. Defence contractor Cobham (LSE: COB) and investment management business Man Group (LSE: EMG) also did well, gaining 2.5%. Business management software developer Sage Group (LSE: SGE) was another non-mining stock to make it to the leaderabord, advancing 2.2%.

Following the announced exit of its Chief Executive Bolland, Morrison Supermarkets (LSE: MRW) sank to the bottom of the blue chip index with a loss of almost 5%. Outsourcing company Capita Group (LSE: CPI) and heating and plumbing equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), which both said their performance was in line with expectations today, shed 4.5% and 3.2% respectively. Telecom company Cable & Wireless (LSE: CW) also lost 3%, as did fashion house Burberry (LSE: BRBY).

Mobile operator Vodafone (LSE: VOD) and food manufacturer Unilever (LSE: ULVR), which were trading ex-dividend today, lost 2.5% and 2% respectively.

Commodities

Oil prices rose today with January Brent Crude reaching US$79.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for December delivery was just a few cents short of the US$80/barrel mark.

With the exception of Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE), all major oil and gas stocks rose on Wednesday. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted marginal gains, as did other FTSE 100 constituents BG Group (LSE: BG) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC). Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) outperformed fellow blue chips with a 1% gain.

Midcaps also improved. Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) posted small gains, while Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) added 2%.

Iraq operating Irish oil company Petrel Resources (AIM: PET) and North American based explorer Nighthawk Energy (AIM: HAWK) were the top performers among the small caps with gains of 5%. Africa focused energy company Dominion Petroleum (AIM: DPL) and Western Europe operating oil and gas company Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) followed, climbing 4% and 3.5% respectively.

Energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) and US focused junior Empyrean Energy (AIM: EME) went in the opposite direction, shedding 7% and 3% respectively.

Precious metals continued their climb today as the US dollar declined further.

Miners climb as gold and silver rise

Gold was just $3 short of US$1,150/oz, while silver and platinum reached US$18.75/oz and US$1,453/oz respectively.

Silver producer Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) led the buoyant mining stocks, climbing 5.4%, while other FTSE 100 constituents platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI) and gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) tacked on 3.3% and 1.7% respectively.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) rose 2.7%.

Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) rallied 10% to lead the midcaps. Gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) and silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) also were in demand, adding more than 2%.

Yamana Gold (LSE: YAU) rose 1.2%.

Iran focused gold explorer Persian Gold (AIM: PNG) led the juniors with a 7.7% climb. Africa focused gold deposit developer Cluff Gold (AIM: CLF) came close, rising 6%.

Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) and Philippines focused gold producer Medusa Mining (AIM&ASX: MML) rose 3%.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) and Turkey and Saudi Arabia operating gold explorer KEFI Minerals (AIM: KEF) led the fallers, slipping 11%.

UK-registered China operating copper and gold miner Central China Goldfields (AIM: GGG) followed, declining 8%, while Tajikistan operating gold miner Kryso Resources (AIM: KYS) and Argentina focused gold explorer Patagonia Gold (AIM: PGD) lost 4% and 3.5% respectively.

Copper and nickel rise

Base metals also rose as copper and nickel reached US$3.13/lb and US$7.75/lb respectively, while zinc inched higher to US$1.01/lb.

Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the sector with a 3.5% gain. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) added 2.5% and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) rose 2%. BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) tacked on more than 1.5%, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) advanced 1.3%. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) lagged behind with a marginal gain.

London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) outperformed the sector, surging 10%.

South American focused junior miner Herencia Resources (AIM: HER) led the juniors, rallying 15%. Other risers included Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) and mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) with both advancing 5%. Uranium and copper explorer Kalahari Minerals (AIM: KAH) added 4.5%.

Zinc mining and recycling specialist ZincOX (AIM: ZOX) headed in the opposite direction, slipping nearly 8%. Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC) also was in decline, sliding 4.5%, while Philippines operating nickel miner Rusina Mining (ASX: RML; AIM: RMLA) and Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) lost 4%.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Barclays (LSE: BARC) was the only stock in the banking sector to stay above the opening level with a marginal gain. Peers HSBC (LSE: HSBA), Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and part-nationalised Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) declined marginally, while another bailed out bank Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) lost 1.5%.

Insurers didn’t show much movement on Wednesday. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) rose marginally, while Prudential (LSE: PRU) and Legal & General (SLE: LGEN) were flat and car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) posted a small loss, as did Aviva (LSE: AV). Standard Life (LSE: SL) was down 1.2%.
Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) was up 1%.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included environmental science and technology company Accsys Technologies (AIM: AXS) and novel pesticides and plant nutritional products developer Plant Impact (AIM: PIM), which lost 9% and 5% respectively. Healthcare workforce optimisation solutions provider Allocate Software (AIM: ALL) added 5.3%.

Large and Mid Cap News

In its quarterly interim statement, building supplier Wolseley plc (LSE: WOS) said its overall trading environment was ‘extremely tough’ as the company reported a 13% decline in revenues and a 41% decline in profits compared with 2008. Despite the reduced revenues Wolseley also said the majority of the Group's business units maintained or improved their market share in the quarter.

Cadbury (LSE: CBRY) shares advanced 3% to trade back above £8.00 per share as bid speculation stepped up a notch this morning as two more names were thrown into the arena. Overnight speculative reports suggested that bids were being considered by US based confectioner Hershey (NYSE: HSY) and privately owned, Italian headquartered Ferrero Group.

ITV plc (LSE: ITV) announced the appointment of Archie Norman as the company's new Non Executive Chairman.

In its half year statement, Experian (LSE: EXPN) revealed another ‘strong half’, which included good organic revenue growth and cash flow performance. According to Experian’s Chairman John Pearce, the company is ‘advantageously positioned to further develop and grow’.

Small Cap News

Supplier of bead and drug eluting bead products Biocompatibles International (AIM: BII) has acquired the inventory and intellectual property assets of Astron Clinica Limited, which is currently in administration.

Mobile email and data synchronisation group Synchronica PLC (AIM: SYNC) has announced the appointment of Michael Edward Wilson Jackson, known for his long history of investment in emerging technology businesses, to the board as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Africa focused diamond mining group Petra Diamonds Limited (AIM: PDL) doubled its attributable resources in the Cullinan mine by upping its ownership from 37% to 74% via an option agreement with its partner Al Rajhi, which in its turn will increase its stake in Petra.

Maritime identification and tracking technologies developer Software Radio Technology (AIM: SRT) reported a strong set of interim results, starting to see the “fruits of its long term strategy” as revenues jumped 122% and the losses declined more than tenfold.

Shares in The Capital Pub Company (AIM: CPUB) were in demand this morning after the London focused pub owner and operator revealed a 20% increase in pre-tax profits and a 23% increase in basic earnings per share (EPS).

Investment company Altus Resource Capital Limited (AIM: ARCL) is considering another placement following this year’s share issue to raise capital to take advantage of market opportunities, anticipating increased M&A (mergers and acquisition) activity in the gold mining sector.

Dutch real estate investment group Spazio Investment NV (AIM: SPNV)  plans to delist from AIM as the cost as well as the legal and regulatory burden involved in maintaining the listing are no longer in proportion to the benefits to the company.

Modern Water plc (LSE: MWG) subsidiary Cymtox Ltd received its first revenues from sale of water toxicity monitoring units in China. The Cymtox CTM™ Continuous Toxicity Monitor uses bacteria to monitor water and wastewater supplies for early signs of unwanted toxins, including metals, solvents, petrochemical compounds, pesticides and herbicides.

Zinc mining, recycling and refining group ZincOx Resources PLC (AIM: ZOX) said it has, together with the operator of the Jabali open pit zinc mine being built in Jemen, signed a standstill agreement with the bondholders, following the default event relating to a US$120 million facility for Jabali it announced on October 2 2009.

Zimbabwe focused mineral exploration company African Consolidated Resources PLC (AIM: AFCR) said it has conditionally raised up to £10 million in a placing of 70.77 million new shares with new and existing shareholders and a subscription for a further 1.95 million shares, both at 13.75 pence per share.

IP commercialisation company Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) has announced that its portfolio company Kromek has won yet another award, winning the title of the Security SME (small and medium sized enterprises) of 2009 at the Global Security Challenge competition in London.

Nominated Advisor and Broker to Renesola Limited (NYSE: SOL, AIM: SOLA), HansonWesthouse (AIM: HWL), issued an update in response the third quarter results from the Chinese based solar manufacturer this morning.

PureCircle Ltd (AIM: PURE) said it raised £40 million before expenses, approximately US$67 million, via the placing of 20 million new shares at £2 each, and plans to use the money to position the company for the increasing demand it expects over the coming years for its natural zero-calorie sweetener Rebaudioside A.

Kalahari Minerals PLC (AIM: KAH) said a further exploration update issued by Extract Resources Ltd (TSX, ASX: EXT) for the Rossing South uranium deposit at the Husab project in Namibia reinforces its belief that the estimated resource figure of 500 million pounds triuranium octoxide (U3O8) for the project is highly conservative.

Shares in Philippines-focused gold producer Medusa Mining Limited (ASX: MML) have jumped 9 cents in overnight trading in Austrlia, following chairman Kelvin Tomlinson's address at the company's annual general meeting (AGM), where he revealed his plans in early 2010 were to focus on attaining its immediate target production of 100,000 ounces annually.

Asterand PLC (LSE: ATD) reported encouraging trading for the first nine months of the financial year and announced it plans to buy privately-held drug discovery services company BioSeek Inc for up to US$14 million in cash and shares, dependent on sales performance in 2010.

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