Greka Drilling Share News (GDL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London's equity markets are up for a third consecutive day Friday as stocks around the world continue to take back some of the losses seen in the preceding five days, but this afternoon's US non-farm payrolls data will decide whether the gains are maintained.

There has been a shift in investor sentiment in recent days. Late last week and early this week, stocks were hit hard as investors worried about the impact of the Federal Reserve's reduction in its economic stimulus programme, particularly on emerging markets. However, sentiment turned towards improvements in developed economies in the second half of this week as economic data came in strong and stocks have been rising as a result.

However, with the Fed linking its reduction in the supply of cheap money to the economy to the US jobs situation in particular, the key non-farm payrolls data is the key data of the week. The data is due at 1330 GMT and is expected to show a 185,000 increase in jobs in January, after the unexpectedly weak 74,000 additions in December.

It's been a much quieter UK corporate calendar Friday. However, just as AstraZeneca has started taking back some of the losses it suffered Thursday after its weak earnings report, another pharmaceutical company, Shire, has become one of the biggest decliners on the blue-chip index.

Shire has abandoned clinical development of Vyvanse for the potential treatment of major depressive disorder after it failed late-stage trials.

Vyvanse is a prescription medicine currently approved for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the US, Canada, Australia, several European countries and Brazil. Shire said it was disappointed by the results, but said it still intends to file an application with the US Food and Drug Administration for its approval as a binge eating disorder treatment later this year.

Berenberg has cut its earnings forecasts for Shire as a result of the failure of Vyvanse as a major depressive disorder treatment.

The UK economic calendar has also been light: Industrial production grew 0.4% in December, after declining 0.1% in November, missing economists' expectations for growth of 0.6%. Manufacturing output rose 0.3%, compared with the 0.1% drop in November, but also missed forecasts for a 0.6% rise.

The UK's visible trade deficit, meanwhile, narrowed more than expected in December. The shortfall fell to GBP7.7 billion in December, from GBP9.8 billion in November, much better then the decline to GBP9.3 billion that economists had predicted.

Germany and the European Central Bank have again come to blows over the bank's unlimited bond-buying programme, which has never been used but is widely recognised as a key tool that eventually calmed the eurozone crisis.

Germany's Constitutional Court is set to refer a complaint against the ECB's programme to the European Court of Justice, saying it sees substantial reasons why the programme exceeded the bank's mandate. The court did add that it was possible that if the programme was "interpreted restrictively" it could conform with the law.

In political news, Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Scotland to vote against independence in September's referendum, arguing that the whole UK would be "deeply diminished" if Scotland opted to leave. Cameron faced criticism from the Scottish National Party, which suggested he was "cowardly" for not making the speech in Scotland.

Cameron had previously pledged not to get deeply involved in the debate, leaving the leadership of the no vote to former chancellor Alistair Darling.

The US, meanwhile, is continuing to fire warnings over any individual or company tempted to take advantage of the recent thawing in relations with Iran.

The US Treasury Department said it has taken steps to block sanctions-evading deals between Iran and business partners in several European and Middle Eastern countries. Companies and individuals in Germany, Spain, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Turkey, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates have been targeted over suspicions that business conducted with Tehran violates existing US sanctions.

The Syrian government and the opposition have agreed to let humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, prompting positive reactions from the US and Russia.

However, the UN Security Council continued to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by inviting him to expedite the process of removing chemical weapons in order to meet the agreed June 30 deadline. The agreement on humanitarian access came after the sides had failed to reach a similar deal at last week's talks in Geneva.

A Syrian government delegation will attend the second round of peace talks set to begin in Geneva next week, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Meqdad. The next round, which the Syrian opposition earlier said it will attend, is scheduled to resume February 10. A first round of talks ended last week without progress.

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through Bangkok's main business district to raise money for rice farmers who have not been paid for their crops by the government. Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the PDRC, which has held anti-government protests in the capital over the past three months, said he would aim to collect at least 10 million baht (USD307,700) through donations from the public.

A Pakistan court set another deadline for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to appear after he did not show up for a scheduled indictment on treason charges. It was the fourth court appointment Musharraf has missed since the trial began in December. Judge Faisal Arab said the special tribunal would issue a warrant for the former president's arrest if he fails to attend the next hearing on February 18.

The Winter Olympics begins in Sochi today. The US has temporarily banned all liquids in carry-on baggage aboard Russia-bound flights originating in the US, following a warning from the Homeland Security Department that there was a threat from explosives hidden in toothpaste packaging.

Leading bookmakers in Britain and Germany have made Norway the favourites to top the medals standings by the end of the competition. Other leading contenders are the US, Germany, hosts Russia and 2010 table-toppers Canada.

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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,568.67
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 15,831.78
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.7% at 861.19
GBP-USD: 1.6337
EUR-USD: 1.3568
GOLD: USD1,261.40 an ounce
OIL (Brent): USD107.19 a barrel

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KEY UK CORPORATE NEWS:

FTSE 100: British Land has ended up with a 57.2% stake in specialist retail park property group Hercules Unit Trust after a scheduled pre-emption process, a deal that will boost its earnings. A group led by China Minmetals Corp. is nearing an agreement to acquire commodities trader and natural resources firm Glencore Xstrata's Las Bambas copper project in Peru for more than USD5 billion, Bloomberg reported. The report suggested that a deal between Minmetals and Glencore could be announced as early as this month subject to Chinese government approval. The asset could fetch close to USD6 billion.

FTSE 250: Shaftesbury, the property company focused on the west end of London, said it is continuing to experience strong demand and high occupancy, while it has bought more properties in key areas like Soho and Chinatown. The company said that visitor numbers and spending, particularly in its restaurants, cafes and bars, proved resilient despite the poor weather and storms over the Christmas and New Year period. Electra Private Equity said its net asset value crept up 17 pence in the first quarter, as high levels of investment activity continued into the new financial year. Defence technology company QinetiQ Group said its full-year outlook remains unchanged, with the downturn in its global products business meaning that the range of possible outcomes remains wider than usual.

AIM: Independent Oil & Gas has seen its shares jump after it decided to support ATP Oil & Gas UK Ltd as operator of its Skipper and Blythe licences in the North Sea after reaching a deal over the targets for the sites, reversing a decision taken in December to replace the operator. Greka Drilling Ltd is up after it said it is not aware of any reason for the fall in its share price over the last month. The company has witnessed a 25% fall in its share price between the open of trading on January 2 and open of trading on Thursday. Shares in Altona Energy are also up after it signed a memorandum of understanding with Sino-Aus Energy Group and Wintask Group for the development of the Arckaringa Project in South Australia, just days after the company ended a joint venture with China National Offshore Oil Company to develop the site. At the other end of the market, Trinity Exploration & Production has dropped after the company said its El Dorado well offshore Trinidad has failed to find commercial levels of net oil and gas and it plans to permanently plug and abandon the site. Origo Partners shares are down after it said wealth manager Brooks Macdonald Group has raised a complaint, and may even start legal proceedings, over the terms of about GBP30 million in convertible zero-dividend preference shares. Under the current terms, the CPS would be automatically converted into shares in the case of a change of control, but Origo says Brooks Macdonald "contends" the provisions should have included an option to redeem the CPS instead.

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AFTERNOON WATCHLIST: US Nonfarm Payrolls, US Unemployment Rate, UK NIESR GDP Estimate, US Consumer Credit Change

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Monday's Key UK Corporate Events

Essar Oil Q3 Results
Catlin Group Preliminary Results
Green REIT Interim Results
Renewable Energy Generation Interim Results

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Sunday's Key Economic Events

23:50 Japan Bank lending
23:50 Japan Current Account
23:50 Japan Domestic Corporate Goods Price Index
23:50 Japan Machinery Orders
23:50 Japan Tertiary Industry Index

Monday's Key Economic Events

02:00 China New Loans
05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence Index
06:00 Japan Machine Tool Orders
07:45 France Industrial Output
19:00 US Monthly Budget Statement

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By Alice Attwood; aliceattwood@alliancenews.com; @AliceAtAlliance

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