Panmure spikes 50%
Lloyds leads the Footsie higher
A bit of head scratching was going on among the market makers late in the session after shares in the listed broker Panmure Gordon (LON:PMR) shot up 50% in afternoon trade.
A flurry of activity was seen just after lunch with trading volumes spiking markedly at 1.30pm and then an hour later.
Nobody at the company was immediately available for comment although the surge in the share price had the bulletin boards buzzing with bid speculation.
On a dull day, Panmure stood out.
Moving up to the FTSE 100, Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) led the pack with a 3% gain thanks ostensibly to the analysts at rival Barclays LON:BA.
The Black horse bank, fellow riser BAE Systems (LON:BA.) and the some fairly benign jobs figures from the US kept the index of UK blue-chip shares in positive territory – but only just.
At 3.50pm the Footsie was up nine points at 7,203.94.
12.30pm...Worldpay in demand
Worldpay top of Footsie, but just what is behind the rise?
Footsie gets in a snooze before US jobs report
Amur Russian about
Market keeping an eye on surveillance specialist Digital Barriers
The top-share index was still bobbing around like flotsam at the seaside in the early part of the lunchtime trading session.
The FTSE 100 was down seven points at 7,189, as investors await what will be the last US jobs report of the Obama presidency.
“Whilst the last few months of releases have still been strong, depicting a stable US labour market, the trend is also slowing,” noted Fiona Cincotta, at spread betting outfit City Index..
“Last month’s reading of 178,000 jobs was by all means impressive, but it was short of the 229,000 jobs created the same month one year earlier and short of the 12-month average of 193,000. Trump is taking over as President at a time when the labour market is starting to show signs of full capacity and unemployment is at historically low levels,”she added,
Meanwhile, back in the UK, UK labour productivity growth grew 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2016.
“While the 2016 quarter-on-quarter increases in productivity look reasonable in themselves and indicate that there has recently been some much-needed improvement, it is notable that they follow a considerable period of poor productivity and that output per hour worked was only up 0.4% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016,” noted Howard Archer, chief UK & European Economist at forecasting unit IHS Global Insight.
All of which will be of little concern to Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC), the nickel mine developed focused on far-east Russia.
Its shares surged 7.3% as it added a well-connected Russian expert to the board: Lou Naumovski.
He has over 30 years' experience working in Russia, most recently as vice president and general director of the Moscow office for major player Kinross Gold, which is the largest Canadian investor in Russia.
Another minnow on the move was surveillance specialist Digital Barriers PLC (LON:DGB), which climbed 6.9% to 38.5p on US$7mln of contract awards.
11.29 ... Flat-footed Footsie
With all due respect to Exane BNP Paribas, the French investment bank isn’t noted for moving stocks listed on the FTSE 100.
Goldman..yes. Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse…possibly. Exane? Er, where do I start?
Yet the only thing we here at the Proactive Dungeon can find to explain the movement in Worldpay Group PLC (LON:WPG) is an upgrade from the London offshoot of the Paris equities and derivatives shop.
Going to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, Exane raised its valuation 340p a share from 290p.
The stock, up 3% in morning trade, is currently changing hands for 285p.
This more positive spin on the payment processor comes after a sell-off, which took the price to a six-month low in early December and below 260p.
The current valuation offers a better entry level for investors, Exane told its clients earlier Friday.
You suspect last month’s sell-off will have prompted all manner of would-be investors to run the rule over Worldpay, possibly even potential acquirers.
At this point we enter the realms of pure speculation, but I would point out that Friday tends to be the day bid stories leak out as the Sunday papers start making their last minute calls.
Anyhoo, investors who piled in at the nadir are now sitting on a 10% profit.
Worldpay was the stand-out feature on an otherwise dull day for the FTSE 100, which was up just four points at 7,191.
Profit-taking in the mining sector provided a drag on the index as did the pre-emptive sell-off the retailers ahead of reporting season for the quoted shopkeepers.
Eagerly eyed will be updates from Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) and Primark owner Associated British Foods (LON:ABF), which serve up trading statements next week.
The sector was shaken up earlier in the week when clothes chain Next (LON:NXT) kicked off the post-Christmas period by sounding the earnings alarm.
9am...Footsie marks time
Trading in the first week of the New Year remains as dull as a cocktail of porridge and semolina.
Even the excitement of the FTSE 100 hitting a new high has been denied investors, with the top-share index drifting 10 points lower to 7,186, largely as a result of soft mining stocks.
Retail investors’ favourite Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) was doing its bit to propel the Footsie higher.
Also benefiting from some broker love was technology company Smiths Group PLC (LON:SMIN), which has come under the beady eye of the celebrated vampire squid, Goldman Sachs.
The shares advanced 21p to 1,446p as Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a ‘buy’ recommendation and a price target of 1,670p.
Low-cost airline easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) found itself in the unaccustomed position of being among the Footsie’s better performers after its passenger statistics for December cheered the market.
The FTSE 100-listed firm transported 5.6 million passengers in December, up more than 15% from the 4.8 million passengers it carried a year earlier, while its load factor – how full its planes were - increased to 89.9% from 86.6%.
Further down the food chain, gas storage specialist InfraStrata PLC (LON:INFA) was the morning’s best performer early doors, after it secured its immediate financial future.
Shares shot up 565 as it revealed it has negotiated a £300,000 loan deal with Baron Oil PLC (LON:BOIL). Baron Oil rose 2.5% on the news.
International Personal Finance PLC (LON:IPF) shed 9% of its value after being stung by the Polish tax authorities.
The loan provider is appealing against the decision, which relates to its 2008 financial year and the treatment of an intra-group arrangement.
The company said it expects the tax authorities will take the same view on its 2009 financial year, so this would be a good appeal for the company to win.
Preview
FTSE 100 is set to reach new highs after stocks lost ground in Asia and ahead of the key US jobs report.
The blue-chip benchmark closed yesterday at 7,195 - its sixth consecutive record high, up 0.08%, or just over five points, bolstered by the big house builders.
On Friday, it is seen by spread betters starting around eight points higher.
The US non-farm payroll figure will as ever be keenly watched to see how the US economy is doing in the run up to Donald Trump's inauguration as the president.
The report from the ADP private sector processor showed a number of only 153,000 jobs having been created, which has cast doubt on the overall figure, which was expected to be much higher - at around the 175,000 mark.
On Wall Street on Thursday, as the first quarter reporting season began in earnest, the Dow Jones closed down 0.21% to stand at 19,899.
The broader based S&P500 finished 0.08% lower at 2,269. The Nasdaq ended 0.2% up however, at 5,487.
In Asia overnight, the focus has been the continued strength of the Chinese renminbi, which has seen a two day rally against the US dollar. In equities though, The Shanghai Composite index is down 0.12% at the time of writing, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan is down 0.34% at 19,454.
Markets
Gold is down 0.37% at US$1,176 an ounce
Brent crude is 0.25% up at US$56.17
The pound is worth US$1.2376.
City Headlines
- FTSE 100 enjoys longest run of record closes since 1997
- London’s FTSE 100 enjoyed its longest run of record closes in 20 years, after the benchmark index set another all-time peak - The Telegraph
- Apple's App Store sales soared 40pc to $28.5bn last year - The Telegraph
- Fastjet raises $28m and welcomes new major shareholder in bid to stabilise turbulent business - The Telegraph
- Chief economist of Bank of England admits errors in Brexit forecasting - The Guardian
- Christmas cheer fades for high street as buyers shop online from home - The Guardian
- Business loans in an hour at the tap of a phone: