Proactiveinvestors recommends
Pdf

Churchill confirms takeover approach, says not in talks with BHP Billiton, FTSE 100 seen lower

28th Sep 2009, 8:22 am Churchill confirms takeover approach, says not in talks with BHP Billiton, FTSE 100 seen lower

Overview: the FTSE 100 is expected to slide, driven down by the continuing freefall in commodity prices along with the economic sentiment as global markets are tumbling ahead of the montly jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department that is due to be released on Friday. Corporate reports for the third quarter that are about to start coming out are also a major factor behind investors' hesitation.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 40 points on Friday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost more than 1.6% by midday. Japan’s Nikkei shed 2.5% after a negative session on Wall Street and due to a stronger yen.

Oil and metals prices all continued declining following last week’s US oil stockpiles and home sales data, which clouded the recovery hopes causing oil, gold, silver, copper and nickel to go south.

Key oil benchmarks declined form Friday’s levels. US benchmark crude for November delivery was at US$65.5/barrel, while Brent Crude declined to US$64/barrel.

With the exception of Platinum, precious metals continued their decline. Gold was down to US$988/oz after hitting US$985 earlier, while Silver slipped below US$16 to US$15.89/oz. Platinum improved US$4 after falling to US$1,273/oz.

Base metals miners are also expected to get off to a slow start after metals prices fell further down. Copper declined to US$2.65/pound, while Nickel fell to US$7.54/pound. Zinc slid to US$0.83/pound.

Morning News Wrap

There wasn’t much news out this morning.

In the FTSE 100, heating and plumbing materials manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS) released its full year results, reporting a 2.5% decline in revenues, or 16.3% in constant currency, while pre-tax profits fell 53.6% to £293 million.

Infrastructure software manufacturer Autonomy Corporation (LSE: AU) said today it had entered into a multi-million license agreement with Pfizer to license Autonomy’s IDOL (intelligent Data Operating Layer) software.

In the FTSE 250, engineering firm Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) said today it was selected as the preferred bidder for the £120 million West Sussex National Academics Framework for West Sussex County Council.

888 Holdings (LSE: 888) said today its independent B2B division Dragonfish signed an exclusive agreement with South African hotel and entertainment group Tsogo Sun Gaming Group to provide total gaming services for the land based TSG’s first move into online gaming.

In the AIM, marketing software manufacturer smartFOCUS (AIM: STF) said it was picked by Carnival UK to implement, support and enhance its marketing campaigns across four key cruising brands: P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, Princess Cruises and Ocean Village.

Oil and gas junior Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) announced the commencement of a further sidetrack of the PEN-104 well to test a substantial Miocene volcani-clastic prospect in the Peneszlek field in the Nuirseg permits of northeastern Hungary. Leni Gas and Oill (AIM: LGO) also holds a stake in the projects.

Gold miner Stratex International (AIM: STI) announced a joint venture agreement with Teck Madencilik Sanayi Ticaret A.S. which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Teck Resources to advance the Hasancelebi high-sulphidation gold project.

Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL) commented on the press speculation that it had received three non-binding approaches, all of which were “at various stages.” Two approaches were for the company’s project and the third was for the whole company. Churchill said it would continue discussions with all three parties, which may or may not lead to one or more offers for the company or its projects. The company also refuted the press reports linking it to BHP Billiton.

Iraq operating Irish oil company Petrel Resources (AIM: PET) released its interim results this morning, reporting an operating loss of €228,000 compared to a loss of €417,000 last year. Losses per share increased to €0.31 from €0.58. The company reiterated that the opportunity in Iraq was “greater than ever” as Iraqi oil was “low risk and low cost” with large infrastructure and extensive reservoirs. The company is expecting the current legal dispute between the regional and central governments to resolve and said it was determined to remain in the country.

No investment advice

The Company is a publisher and is not registered with or authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). You understand and agree that no content published on the Site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable or advisable for any specific person. You further understand that none of the information providers or their affiliates will advise you personally concerning the nature, potential, advisability, value or suitability of any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, investment strategy, or other matter.

You understand that the Site may contain opinions from time to time with regard to securities mentioned in other products, including company related products, and that those opinions may be different from those obtained by using another product related to the Company. You understand and agree that contributors may write about securities in which they or their firms have a position, and that they may trade such securities for their own account. In cases where the position is held at the time of publication and such position is known to the Company, appropriate disclosure is made. However, you understand and agree that at the time of any transaction that you make, one or more contributors may have a position in the securities written about. You understand that price and other data is supplied by sources believed to be reliable, that the calculations herein are made using such data, and that neither such data nor such calculations are guaranteed by these sources, the Company, the information providers or any other person or entity, and may not be complete or accurate.

From time to time, reference may be made in our marketing materials to prior articles and opinions we have published. These references may be selective, may reference only a portion of an article or recommendation, and are likely not to be current. As markets change continuously, previously published information and data may not be current and should not be relied upon.