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Epic & Msn data

Epic	ASX
Time:	13:36:00
Mid Price:	2885.05
Change Today:
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Fifty Two Week High:
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Period & price data

Period	Price
Now:	2885.05
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Additional information

Additional	Information
Market:	All Share Index
Sector:	General Mining
Epic:	ASX
News:	Latest news
Web Site:	UK Market Wrap
Other Articles:	12-03-201012-03-201011-03-2010

Rio, Anglo American, Antofagasta and ENRC get boost from higher Copper and Nickel, FTSE 100 climbs

Overview: the UK’s blue chip index was fluctuating around the opening level today as energy and financial sector were mixed, while miners were strong, helped by increases in metals prices. The market failed to get much of a boost from the Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, which rose at the strongest pace in two years in September, improving to 55.3 from 54.1, which was also higher than the expected 54.4. The FTSE 100 finished about 20 points higher, getting buoyed by an early rise on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average tacked on 0.7% shortly after trading commenced.

Financial stocks were split with Aviva (LSE: AV) and Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) falling to the bottom of the pile with losses of over 1%, while sector peers RSA (LSE: RSA) and Prudential (LSE: PRU) made their way to the top of the leaderboard. Miners performed well, helped by higher metal prices and good gains from BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT), Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) which were all upgraded to “buy” by Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS).

Power generator International Power (LSE: IPR), property company Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) and home improvement group Kingfisher (LSE: KGF) also did well, advancing about 2-3%.

Construction equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), beverage group Diageo (LSE: DGE) and tour operator Carnival Group (LSE: CCL) declined later in the afternoon, further weighing the FTSE 100 down.

Commodities

Oil prices continued sliding on Monday with November Brent Crude slipping below US$67/barrel and US light, sweet crude for November delivery declining to US$68.9/barrel.

Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) both lost less than 1%. Fellow FTSE 100 constituents BG Group (LSE: BG) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) also finished with marginal declines, but Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) managed to stay afloat with both gaining more than 1%.

Mid caps did better. Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) led the blue chips in the sector with a 2.2% climb. Fellow FTSE 250 constituent Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) tacked on 1%, while Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) posted marginal gains.

Atlantic Canada operating oil and gas group Enegi Oil (AIM: ENEG) and Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) led the sector, rallying 20% and 24% respectively. Western Europe operating oil and gas company Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) and Eastern European focused junior Aurelian Oil & Gas (AIM: AUL) tacked on more than 2%.

Prominent fallers included Latin America operating Gold Oil (AIM: GOO) and EU operating Rome-based oil junior Mediterranean Oil & Gas (AIM: MOG), which shed 5% and 4% respectively.

North American focused oil & Gas junior, Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) and Africa and FSU operating oil and gas junior Victoria Oil & Gas (AIM: VOG) both lost 2%.

Gold and Silver climb to bolster miners

Precious metals were on the rise on Monday. Gold inched higher to US$1,005/oz, while Silver and Platinum improved to US$16.26/oz and US$1,283/oz respectively.

Major mining stocks were mixed on Monday. Gold producer Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) and platinum miner Lonmin (LSE: LMI) both posted marginal declines. Silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) gained 1.5%.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) lost less than 1%.

In the FTSE 250, gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) added 2.3%, while silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) rose 2%. Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) posted marginal gains.

Africa operating gold and platinum miner Goldplat (AIM: GDP) led the sector, rallying 7%. Canada based junior gold developer Rambler Metals and Mining Plc (AIM: RMM), Philippines focused gold producer Medusa Mining (AIM&ASX: MML) and Africa operating gold miner GMA Resources (AIM: GMA) all added more than 2%.

Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) was among the leading fallers among the juniors, slipping 7%. Copper and gold miner EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) and Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) both shed more than 3%.

South Africa and Botswana operating diamond miner Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI), Fiji focused gold miner Vatukoula Gold Mines (LSE: VGM) and Australian gold and copper prospector Solomon Gold (AIM: SOLG) all were down 2%.

Copper and Nickel rise

Copper inched higher to US$2.66/pound, while Nickel climbed to US$7.81/pound. However, Zinc was in decline, moving down to US$0.83/pound.

Base metals focused stocks were on the rise today.

Diversified mining group Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) was firmly in the lead with a 4% gain, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) followed with a 3% climb. Fellow copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) had its early gains trimmed to 1.1%.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) also did well with a 2.7% increase. Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) rose 1.8%, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA), Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and the world’s largest miner BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) added a little over 1%.

Zinc mining and recycling specialist ZincOX (AIM: ZOX) climbed 4.8%. Most other juniors switched to selling mode. Fellow zinc miner Connemara Mining (AIM: CON) dipped 9%. Copper and nickel explorer Regency Mines (AIM: RGM) was down 3.5%, while Mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) lost 3%.

South Africa operating chrome miner Chromex Mining (AIM: CHX), Indonesia operating coal miner Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL) and Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon resources (AIM: CDN) all lost more than 2%.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Financial stocks were mixed today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) led the banking sector with a 3.5% climb. Fellow bailed out bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) posted marginal gains, as did Barclays (LSE: BARC) and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN).

HSBC (LSE: HSBA) ended the day with marginal losses.

RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) led the insurers with a 3.8% gain. Prudential (LSE: PRU) and Old Mutual (LSE: OML) followed, advancing almost 2%. Standard Life (LSE: SL) rose marginally, while sector peers Friends Provident (LSE: FP) and Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) lost about 1%. Aviva (LSE: AV) was down 1.7%.

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) was down marginally.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included insecticide group TyraTech (AIM: TYR), which climbed 10% after saying it had successfully achieved the second milestone in its functional foods contract with Kraft Foods. Developer of medical and technology businesses Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) climbed 11% today. Environmental science and technology group Accsys Technologies (AIM: AXS) declined over 4%.

Large and Mid Cap News

FTSE 250 constituent Chemring Group (LSE: CHG) announced that its US subsidiary, Kilgore Flares, had secured a significant contract to supply decoy flares to the US Department of Defence.   Kilgore is based out of Toone, Tennessee.

British software developer Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU.) announced it has won a significant contract with major US retailer Sears. The license agreement for Autonomy’s ‘Intelligent Data Operating Layer’ software, adds Sears (Nasdaq: SLHD) to the list of several new clients gained over the past few months.

This morning FTSE 100 listed insurance and financial services firm Aviva (LSE: AV.) confirmed its plans to sell a minority stake in its wholly owned subsidiary ‘The Delta Lloyd Group’. Aviva plan to sell the minority stake in the European financial services group through an Initial Placing Offer (IPO), onto Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange in November.

International engineering and construction group, Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) announced it has been awarded two new contracts totalling £134 million.

UK Waste Management firm, Shanks (LSE: SKS) has announced a £8m Joint Venture with Energen Biogas to develop Shanks first UK Anaerobic Digestion facility in Scotland. The plant will utilise the Shanks propriety Orgaworld technology.

Multiple listed gold producer AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU; JSE: ANG; ASX: AGG; LSE: AGD) has formed a joint venture (JV) with De Beers Group to focus on exploration and ultimately mining of marine deposits on the continental shelf around the globe.

PZ Cussons Plc (LSE: PZC) released its interim management statement ahead of today’s AGM. The statement reflects group performance which has remained in line with management expectations. PZ Cussons remains cautiously optimistic despite the global economic picture remaining uncertain.

Small Cap News

Leni Gas & Oil PLC (AIM: LGO) said it has resolved a dispute with Ascent Resources PLC (AIM: AST) regarding its investment in Hungary’s ZalaGasCo Kft (ZGC), in which Leni Gas & Oil holds 14.54 percent, and the announcement by Ascent in July 2009 regarding the venture between MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas and Ascent Hungary Ltd (AHL).

AIM listed mining exploration group Kalahari Minerals plc (AIM: KAH) announced the Sale of its wholly owned Namibia based subsidiaries. Kalahari has agreed to sell the entire share capital of WestAfrica Gold Exploration and Crafton Diamonds to North River Resources (AIM: NRRP) for a total of approximately 266m shares in North River, equating to around £16.67m.

TyraTech Inc (AIM: TYR) said it has achieved the second milestone in its functional foods contract with Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc ('Kraft Foods', NYSE: KFT), and the companies have revised the contract to better address the development plan.

Nyota Minerals (ASX & AIM: NYO) (formerly Dwyka Resources) reported further positive results from its ongoing exploration activities in Ethiopia this morning.

Shares in Goldplat (AIM: GDP) were in demand this morning after the Africa operating gold and platinum miner said its Kilimapesa Hill gold mining project in South Western Kenya had a JORC compliant Measured and Indicated resource of 31,416 ounces of gold with another 98,000 ounces in the Inferred category.

Mobile email and data synchronisation group Synchronica PLC (AIM: SYNC) said it won a contract to supply its Mobile Gateway product to a South-East Asian operator with more than 30 million subscribers on its GSM network.

Diagnostic testing kits producer Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDS; AIM: IDH) released a trading update, saying current trading was in line with projections, expecting to execute the plans for the full year.

Gold exploration and development company Kryso Resources PLC (AIM: KYS) said it is raising £500,000 before costs via a placing of 9.09 million shares at 5. 5 pence a share, to improve its working capital position, particularly following the planned completion of the bankable feasibility study (BFS) later in the year for the Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan.

Wolfson Microelectronics (LSE: WLF) updated investors today ahead of their Q3 results later this month. In the statement released this morning, the semiconductor specialist said it expected revenues for the quarter to reach around US$35 million, with gross margins of approximately 51%. Wolfson’s confidence was spurred by new products and design wins.

Oil and gas services company Bateman Litwin (AIM: BNLN) said its majority shareholder Bateman B.V. asked it to consider the cancellation of the company’s admission to trading on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.

US focused hydrocarbon production and development company Nighthawk Energy PLC (AIM: HAWK) said recent activity on the Revere oil and gas project has been intense, and production is expected to increase to 250 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the current 150 when a pipeline extension comes on-stream in the fourth quarter 2009.

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