CLOSER
Britain's blue chips closed higher on Wednesday on what was a topsy turvey trading day and as traders mulled US data.
Top dog was plant hire firm Ashtead Group (LON: AHT), which added almost 8% to 72p after it announced a decent set of interim numbers. It also benefitted from an upgrade from City broker Charles Stanley, which sent it to 'buy' from 'accumulate'.
Concerns appeared to have been"overplayed", it said.
Miners were in the doldrums again, however, with commodities giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) down almost 8% at 123p, while Randgold (LON:RRS) was down 2.24% at 3,838p.
Having started the day in the black, the FTSE 100 Index fell into the red in mid-morning but rebounded in afternoon trading and finished up almost 25 points at 6,083.
Stateside data showed US employers created about 190,000 jobs in August, up from 177,000 in July but just below the 200,000 that markets were expecting, according to research group ADP.
One commentator described the figures as "rock-solid", with only the energy sector showing weakness. The data was among several economic releases out today in the US, which economists will study for clues about an interest rate rise.
Also there was US factory orders, which showed a gain in July but it was growth short of analysts' expectations.
Joshua Mahony, at IG index, said: "This week will only get more volatile and more unpredictable as we approach the business end of the week, which culminates in Friday's US jobs report.
"There does not appear to be any major economy which is particularly outperforming on the global stage, and with the Chinese crisis yet to fully feed into Western economic data, central banks will no doubt be braced for unsteady times ahead."
Today, crude oil prices tumbled as inventories rose for only the second time in six weeks, at a time when Saudi Arabia continues to produce more than its OPEC quota, making it clear that the supply glut is not over.
Oil majors fell. BP (LON:BP.) backtracked lost 1.17% to 345.3p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) was 0.33% off at 1633.5p.
Car parts and bike retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) reversed 8.59% to 466.20p after it forecast worse-than-expected second quarter cycling sales, although it said trading in other areas was robust.
Among smaller stocks, Empyrean Energy (LON:EME) lost 4% to 6p as it revealed steady production despite major flooding.
Miner Mwana Africa (LON:MWA) fell 13.04% to 1p on news of plans to raise just short of £3.7mln to shore up its balance sheet and expand its diamond operation.
Advertising agency Spaceandpeople (LON:SAL) advanced over 12% to 86.50p on a new five-year deal with Network Rail to provide ads at train stations.
Hopes of upbeat news from forthcoming investor events in the US propelled shares in antibiotics developer Motif Bio (LON:MTFB) ahead by 11.47% to 60.75p.
Motive Television (LON:MTV), the tablet TV firm rose 25%, while Amur Minerals (LON:AMUR) added 19.64% to 16.75p as it emerged it had pocketed 60% more than originally anticipated from its equity swap arrangement with Lanstead Capital with one monthly payment still outstanding.
Receipts from the facility so far amount to approximately £3mln.
Stratmin Global Resources (LON:STGR) added 3.45% to 3.75p as it agreed to sell a 25% stake in its Madagascar mine to specialist graphite investor, ASX-listed Bass Metals.
MID-MARKET UPDATE
Top flight shares continued their roller-coaster ride on Wednesday as US job data came in just shy of market forecasts.
Having started the day in the black, the FTSE 100 Index fell into the red in mid-morning but rebounded to stand 4.05 points up at 6062 in early afternoon trading.
US employers created about 190,000 jobs in August, up from 177,000 in July but just below the 200,000 that markets were expecting, according to research group ADP.
One commentator described the figures as "rock-solid", with only the energy sector showing weakness.
The job data is among several key economic releases out in the US on Wednesday which economists will study for clues about the future direction of US interest rates.
Others include non-farm productivity, unit labour costs and crude oil inventories.
Craig Erlam at foreign exchange group OANDA said: "Naturally, many people will look to Friday’s jobs report as being the make or break moment for a rate hike this month, but I don’t think the Fed will be so narrow-minded."
Big miners were on the up as the price of copper stabilised. BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) gained 21p to 1077p, Anglo American (LON:AAL) lifted 1.6p to 686p and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) increased 15p to 2286p.
Plant hire group Ashtead (LON:AHT) revved up 45p to 962p as the owner of A-Plant boosted first quarter profit by 23% thanks to strong demand in July.
British construction industry figures showed a slight rise in business activity and jobs in the sector in August.
The headline seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 57.3 in the month, up from 57.1 in July, with any reading above 50 indicating growth.
Traders were hoping for a lift from the data after Tuesday's downbeat manufacturing figures.
Oil majors fell as the price of a barrel of Brent crude declined 1% to US$49.07. A barrel of US light crude receded 1.7% to US$44.63. BP (LON:BP.) backtracked 5.7p to 343.7p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) was 12.5p off at 1633.5p.
Car parts and bike retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) reversed 51.1p to 458.9p after it forecast worse-than-expected second quarter cycling sales, although it said trading in other areas was robust.
Among smaller stocks, Empyrean Energy (LON:EME) drifted 0.38p to 5.88p as it revealed steady production despite major flooding.
Miner Mwana Africa (LON:MWA) fell 0.12p to 1.02p on news of plans to raise just short of £3.7mln to shore up its balance sheet and expand its diamond operation.
Advertising agency Spaceandpeople (LON:SAL) ticked up 11p to 88p on a new five-year deal with Network Rail to provide ads at train stations.
Hopes of upbeat news from forthcoming investor events in the US propelled shares in antibiotics developer Motif Bio (LON:MTFB) ahead by 3.5p to 58p.
LONDON OPEN
A recovery in mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 Index to start Wednesday in positive territory, although it later declined.
Big miners were on the up as the price of copper stabilised. BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) gained 10p to 1066p, Anglo American (LON:AAL) lifted 4.7p to 689.1p and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) increased 15p to 2286p.
Plant hire group Ashtead (LON:AHT) revved up 41.5p to 958.5p as the owner of A-Plant boosted first quarter profit by 23% thanks to strong demand in July.
The FTSE 100 Index initially shrugged off continuing jitters over China's economy, rising as high as 6110, before falling back to stand 9.89 points off at 6048.
British construction industry figures showed a slight rise in business activity and jobs in the sector in August.
The headline seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 57.3 in the month, up from 57.1 in July, with any reading above 50 indicating growth.
Traders were hoping for a lift from the data after Tuesday's downbeat manufacturing figures.
Stateside, the focus will be on the US ADP employment index. Consensus is for an increase in ADP employment growth of 200,000 in August, up from 185,000 in July.
Oil majors fell as the price of a barrel of Brent crude declined 1.7% to US$48.75. A barrel of US light crude receded 2.2% to US$44.4. BP (LON:BP.) backtracked 2.95p to 346.45 and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) was 19.5p off at 1626.5p.
Car parts and bike retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) reversed 40.1p to 469.9p after it forecast worse-than-expected second quarter cycling sales, although it said trading in other areas was robust.
Among smaller stocks, Empyrean Energy (LON:EME) drifted 0.38p to 5.88p as it revealed steady production despite major flooding.
Miner Mwana Africa (LON:MWA) fell 0.02p to 1.12p on news of plans to raise just short of £3.7mln to shore up its balance sheet and expand its diamond operation.
MARKET PREVIEW
London’s blue chip shares are set for a steady start after heavy falls Tuesday, though the mood remains nervous after the main US market plunged by almost 500 points.
Financial spreadbet firms see Footsie opening around 15 points higher and recouping some of yesterday’s 189 point after Chinese stocks recovered a little near the close.
China has been the cause of the recent sell-off and sparked more red ink yesterday after another weak set of manufacturing numbers.
Concerns about the knock-on effects on other economies were felt most keenly in the US, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering its third worst fall this year.
The Dow dropped 470 points to 16,058, but there were equally heavy percentage declines for Nasdaq and the S&P 500.
Traders said redemptions from mutual funds by investors were adding to the pressure and fuelling the downturn.
Asian markets provided some relief late in the day with Tokyo rising and China and Hong Kong both picking up a little though both markets remained in the red overall.
Company news is light today, though Tesco may make the early headlines on reports it has sold its Korea operation for more than US$6bn.
Construction equipment rental Ashtead’s first quarter results come on the back of a sharp improvement recently in US spending in the sector and analysts expect strong momentum seen last year to continue.