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London close: Late rally fizzles

Tue, 18th Sep 2012 16:50

A late rally which briefly looked like it might see Footsie venture into positive territory for the first time all day was nipped in the bud right at the death.Equities had a dull but fretful day, which started with concerns over China becoming involved in a trade war with the US and a military war with Japan, and ended with investors partly comforted about developments in Spain, where this morning's government debt auction went about as well as could be expected. With Spain feeling increased pressure to request assistance, the Treasury was able to issue 12 and 18-month bills for €4.6bn, more than the top end of the €3.5 - €4.5bn target.18-month bills were issued for €1.02bn (maturity: February 21, 2014) at a yield of 3.072%, lower than the previous 3.335%. 12-month bills were issued for €3.56bn (maturity: September 20, 2013) at a yield of 2.835%, lower than the previous 3.07%.In the UK, inflation data was in line with forecasts. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation dropped to 2.5% in August, down from 2.6% in July, helped by falls in the price of clothing and footwear, furniture and household equipment, and domestic gas. The consensus estimate had been for a rise of 2.5%. Sportswear firms in focusSports fashion-wear firm JD Sports is having a few teething problems with the integration of the Black's Leisure store portfolio it acquired a while back. The firm said Blacks had made an initial loss of £10m, as expected, due to a critical lack of stock and unsustainable cost base. The retailer's stricken rival, JJB Sports, shot up on reports that a new potential bidder may have thrown its hat into the ring for the company which put itself up for sale last month.According to Sky News, privately owned Stafford Group, which owns a sporting chain in Ireland, is interested in acquiring JJB.Elsewhere on the high street, department store group Debenhams saw like-for-like (LFL) sales rise 3.7% in the final 10 weeks of its financial year, which ran to September 1st. For the full-year, LFL sales were up 1.6%. Despite the sales figures being better than expected, the company did not increase profit guidance for the year, which may account for why the shares closed little changed.Results from house-building and construction firm Galliford Try were well received. The group saw profits soar last year, paving the way for its full-year dividend pay-out to almost double, from 16p to 30p.Financial and legal training provider Wilmington moved to the head of the class after reporting increased profits as it successfully chased higher margin work over the 12 months to the end of June. Broker actionBroker downgrades put insurance titan Aviva on the skids, pushing the stock's dividend yield beyond seven per cent; BofA Merrill Lynch has downgraded Aviva to 'under-perform', although the target price has been raised to 360p from 330p, while Deutsche bank has moved to a 'hold' recommendation and edged up the target price from 360p to 375p.Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco did well after Nomura lifted its price targets on both this morning. Berenberg has initiated coverage of household goods colossus Unilever at buy. Mixed fortunes for extractorsGold exploration company Condor is celebrating a mineral resource of 2.41m ounces of gold equivalent at its wholly-owned La India Project in Nicaragua, with gold up 46 per cent to 2.375m oz, well ahead of the year-end target of 2.0m gold.The industrial dispute at Lonmin's South African operations drags on but there have been developments. Lonmin workers have been offered an additional one-time payment in exchange for them returning to work at the platinum mining company on Wednesday. A letter written by Lonmin directors to its workers is believed to have offered a 1,500 rand ($182, 140 euro) bonus in addition to an offer for an increased monthly wage of 1,875 rand ($227). The bonus will only be given if workers return on Wednesday.Things are not going so well for Royal Dutch Shell. After announcing delays to its offshore exploration programme in Alaska on Monday, reports on Tuesday suggest Royal Dutch Shell is also struggling with production targets in Iraq.Other marketsOil prices remain on the slide, despite the White House quashing rumours that strategic oil reserves may be released. The most active futures contract for Brent crude was off 30 cents to $113.47 a barrel.Gold for December delivery rose $2.10 to $1,772.70 an ounce, reversing losses seen in the morning.Investors nibbled away at gilts after the inflation data, with the benchmark 10-year gilt's yield easing 5/100 of a percentage point at 1.88%.FTSE 100 - RisersBritish American Tobacco (BATS) 3,243.00p +2.82%United Utilities Group (UU.) 707.50p +2.76%Diageo (DGE) 1,718.00p +2.05%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,362.00p +1.90%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,103.00p +1.38%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,627.00p +1.31%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,708.00p +1.07%Vodafone Group (VOD) 175.40p +1.01%National Grid (NG.) 685.50p +0.96%Pennon Group (PNN) 739.50p +0.75%FTSE 100 - FallersAviva (AV.) 344.90p -3.98%GKN (GKN) 228.30p -3.63%ICAP (IAP) 338.10p -3.48%IMI (IMI) 931.50p -3.17%BP (BP.) 438.95p -2.78%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 267.10p -2.66%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 38.85p -2.50%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 742.00p -2.43%Prudential (PRU) 821.50p -2.32%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,411.00p -2.29%FTSE 250 - RisersDechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 592.50p +4.13%Galliford Try (GFRD) 690.00p +2.68%Genus (GNS) 1,432.00p +2.29%PayPoint (PAY) 746.50p +2.26%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 90.65p +2.20%Carpetright (CPR) 672.00p +1.97%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 170.90p +1.73%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.7 +1.39%COLT Group SA (COLT) 122.40p +1.24%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,170.00p +1.04%FTSE 250 - FallersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 534.00p -6.07%Laird (LRD) 229.80p -5.78%Homeserve (HSV) 227.90p -5.59%Victrex (VCT) 1,371.00p -5.38%Ocado Group (OCDO) 69.70p -5.30%Inchcape (INCH) 376.80p -4.44%Electrocomponents (ECM) 226.50p -4.31%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 208.20p -4.19%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 215.30p -4.01%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 50.90p -3.96%FTSE TechMARK - RisersAEA Technology Group (AAT) 0.090p +20.00%Gresham Computing (GHT) 71.50p +8.33%Skyepharma (SKP) 100.00p +5.26%FTSE TechMARK - FallersPace (PIC) 159.25p -4.21%Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 46.00p -3.66%Promethean World (PRW) 23.00p -2.13%E2V Technologies (E2V) 135.00p -2.00%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 147.00p -2.00%JH
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3 Mar 2011 16:39

London close: Shares soar on Libya deal hopes

Reports that the Libyan situation might be resolved through mediation rather than violence sent UK shares sharply higher. The Arab League is said to be considering a proposal to end the fighting in Libya sending oil prices higher. Heavy oil users such as airline International Consolidated Airlines

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3 Mar 2011 14:13

London afternoon: Footsie cruises towards 6,000

Footsie has 6,000 within its sights once more as stocks bounce back strongly on hopes that the Libyan situation might be resolved. Reports that the Arab League is considering a proposal to end the fighting in Libya have boosted sentiment, and has sent the price of oil into reverse. Heavy oil users

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3 Mar 2011 11:09

JJB Sports asks landlords to halve rents

JJB Sports is offering its landlords as much as £7.5m if they agree to a series of proposals that might save the hard-up sports retailer from going bust. Under the terms of a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA), 43 stores will shut by 24 April 2012, while a further 46 shops could close dur

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24 Feb 2011 06:27

Thursday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, JJB, $220-a-barrel oil

Qatar, the natural gas-rich Middle Eastern state which owns stakes in Barclays and Sainsbury's, could invest in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, the banking groups part-nationalised at the height of the financial crisis. The Treasury owns about 83% of RBS and about 40% of Lloyds, with the stakes m

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11 Feb 2011 16:51

London close: Shares applaud Mubarak exit

Shares rallied sharply in the afternoon following strong confidence figures from the US, but it was the announcement that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is stepping down that really stirred up excitement. One stock in particular reacted strongly to the announcement. Shares in gold miner Centamin

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11 Feb 2011 16:11

Sector movers: Rio Tinto extends gains

Mining stocks are doing well with giant Rio Tinto among the risers after it revealed record full-year profits yesterday, as well as a $5bn share buy-back and a 20% increase in the dividend. Today, the stock was given a lift by comments by Credit Suisse, which said that the buy-back is a good sign t

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11 Feb 2011 14:11

London afternoon: L&G leads modest advance

Leading shares are mixed but with a slightly firmer bias after rising over the lunchtime session. Insurer Legal & General (L&G) leads the advance on the back of a positive broker note from Nomura Securities. "We highlight our preference for L&G over Prudential (Reduce), given that we expect Pru to

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11 Feb 2011 13:47

JJB wants new CVA deal with landlords

Struggling sportswear group JJB Sports has warned it could go bust unless landlords agree to cut rents on 95 stores it has earmarked for possible closure. JJB's plan comes just two years after it did a similar deal, called a company voluntary agreement or CVA, on 140 stores. The voluntary agreemen

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2 Feb 2011 16:39

London close: FTSE 100 back at 6,000

Strength in the mining sector on the back of higher metals prices and well-received updates drove the FTSE 100 back to 6,000 points. Both factors benefited miner Eurasian National Resources (ENRC). Production matched estimates in the fourth quarter of 2010, while the ferroalloys unit produced a bit

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2 Feb 2011 15:07

London afternoon: Tobacco giant leads way

A limp start on Wall Street isn't helping London, but the leading index remains within reach of 6,000, supported by a strong mining sector and big gains at cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco. Resource plays still dominate the leaderboard. Eurasian National Resources (ENRC) is better on news productio

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2 Feb 2011 12:09

London midday: Miners underpin FTSE 100 gains

Strong gains in the mining sector are helping to keep the top share index close to the 6,000 point mark. Results are also driving shares forward. The best performing miner in the FTSE 100, Eurasian National Resources (ENRC), said production was in line with expectations in the fourth quarter of 201

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2 Feb 2011 08:26

London open: Miners push Footsie above 6,000

Mining stocks are driving London higher in the early going as the price of copper rose to record levels in New York and London, following unexpectedly good US manufacturing figures yesterday. The giants of the mining sector, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, are both sporting solid gains, as are Lonmin,

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2 Feb 2011 07:35

London pre-open: Footsie has 6,000 in its sights

After Wall Street's surge yesterday traders are realistically contemplating the Footsie rising above 6,000 again, though it will have to add to expected early gains, as the blue chip index is forecast to open at around 5,980, up 22 points from last night's close. Tobacco company Imperial Tobacco ha

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2 Feb 2011 07:11

JD pounces as JJB raises £30m

JD Sports has confirmed speculation it has made an offer for struggling rival JJB Sports, though adds discussion are at a very early stage. "There can be no certainty that an offer will be made by JD Sports Fashion for JJB Sports, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made," it said. "

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26 Jan 2011 13:08

Yellow card for JJB Sports

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed it is to fine sportswear retailer JJB Sports £455,000 for misleading the market over the cost of two acquisitions in 2007 and 2008. JJB will pay the fine in six monthly instalments. The FSA's investigation into the company's stock exchange annou

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