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Glance-FTSE wanes on caution ahead of fresh U.S. GDP data
Fri, 30th Jul 2010 09:42
By David Brett
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares fell on
Friday, echoing overnight weakness on Wall Street and in Asia,
on fears over economic recovery in the United States, with
commodity assets leading the fallers as risk appetite ebbed.
By 0805 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 18.39 points, or 0.4
percent, lower at 5,295.56, having lost a modest 0.1 percent on
Thursday.
Energy shares were led lower by BP, down 2.0 percent
after a panel of U.S. judges heard arguments from lawyers on
Thursday on how piles of oil spill-related lawsuits against BP
Plc should be merged.
Royal Dutch Shell extended the previous session's
falls, shedding 0.2 percent in the wake of its second-quarter
results on Thursday.
'What we are seeing is nervousness ahead of the big data out
in the U.S. later today,' said Giles Watts, head of equities at
City Index.
The FTSE tracked losses on Wall Street and Asian markets
which fell on Thursday, as investors worried that U.S. GDP
figures, due out at 1230 GMT, would undershoot expectations.
Friday's GDP number is widely expected to show U.S. economic
growth slowed in the second quarter, with markets fretting about
the possibility of a double-dip recession.
'There a concern that the recovery is faltering in the U.S.
and although the double-dip might be averted it looks like being
a slow and arduous recovery,' City Index's Watts added.
St. Louis Federal Reserve bank President James Bullard said
on Thursday he is worried about the risks the United States
might fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices and
investment.
Adding to the volatility, British consumer morale fell to
its lowest in almost a year in July as worries about the impact
of government spending cuts drove expectations for the next 12
months to their lowest since the deepest point of the recession.
MINER WEAKNESS
Miners were lower as appetite for riskier assets waned, with
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto among the worst
performers, down 1.3 and 0.9 percent, respectively.
India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc
fell 0.2 percent as it posted first-quarter results and reported
output fell from a record 7.8 million tonnes in the fourth
quarter.
Anglo American rose a modest 0.1 percent after it
reinstated dividends but warned about delays and higher costs at
its key iron ore project in Brazil, after first-half profit
doubled on higher prices.
Shire was the top faller among the blue chips,
dropping 3.9 percent ahead of results next week.
Peer AstraZeneca, which reported its second-quarter
numbers on Thursday, shed 1.1 percent, with investors
taking
profits following the stock's recent good run.
On the upside, British Airways' rose 3.1 percent
after the embattled airliner's quarterly pretax loss widened
10.8 percent to 164 million pounds ($256.4 million), after trade
was hit by a volcanic ash cloud and strike-related disruption.
However, the loss was almost 100 million pounds less than
BofA Merrill Lynch had forecast, as the broker repeated its
'buy' rating.
(Editing by Simon Jessop)
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
(david.brett@thomsonreuters.com. +44 20 7542 8099) Reuters Messaging: david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares fell on
Friday, echoing overnight weakness on Wall Street and in Asia,
on fears over economic recovery in the United States, with
commodity assets leading the fallers as risk appetite ebbed.
By 0805 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 18.39 points, or 0.4
percent, lower at 5,295.56, having lost a modest 0.1 percent on
Thursday.
Energy shares were led lower by BP, down 2.0 percent
after a panel of U.S. judges heard arguments from lawyers on
Thursday on how piles of oil spill-related lawsuits against BP
Plc should be merged.
Royal Dutch Shell extended the previous session's
falls, shedding 0.2 percent in the wake of its second-quarter
results on Thursday.
'What we are seeing is nervousness ahead of the big data out
in the U.S. later today,' said Giles Watts, head of equities at
City Index.
The FTSE tracked losses on Wall Street and Asian markets
which fell on Thursday, as investors worried that U.S. GDP
figures, due out at 1230 GMT, would undershoot expectations.
Friday's GDP number is widely expected to show U.S. economic
growth slowed in the second quarter, with markets fretting about
the possibility of a double-dip recession.
'There a concern that the recovery is faltering in the U.S.
and although the double-dip might be averted it looks like being
a slow and arduous recovery,' City Index's Watts added.
St. Louis Federal Reserve bank President James Bullard said
on Thursday he is worried about the risks the United States
might fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices and
investment.
Adding to the volatility, British consumer morale fell to
its lowest in almost a year in July as worries about the impact
of government spending cuts drove expectations for the next 12
months to their lowest since the deepest point of the recession.
MINER WEAKNESS
Miners were lower as appetite for riskier assets waned, with
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto among the worst
performers, down 1.3 and 0.9 percent, respectively.
India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc
fell 0.2 percent as it posted first-quarter results and reported
output fell from a record 7.8 million tonnes in the fourth
quarter.
Anglo American rose a modest 0.1 percent after it
reinstated dividends but warned about delays and higher costs at
its key iron ore project in Brazil, after first-half profit
doubled on higher prices.
Shire was the top faller among the blue chips,
dropping 3.9 percent ahead of results next week.
Peer AstraZeneca, which reported its second-quarter
numbers on Thursday, shed 1.1 percent, with investors
profits following the stock's recent good run.
On the upside, British Airways' rose 3.1 percent
after the embattled airliner's quarterly pretax loss widened
10.8 percent to 164 million pounds ($256.4 million), after trade
was hit by a volcanic ash cloud and strike-related disruption.
However, the loss was almost 100 million pounds less than
BofA Merrill Lynch had forecast, as the broker repeated its
'buy' rating.
(Editing by Simon Jessop)
Keywords: MARKETS BRITAIN STOCKS
(david.brett@thomsonreuters.com. +44 20 7542 8099) Reuters Messaging: david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
