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London midday: Risk appetite increases on Greek bailout hopes

Mon, 20th Feb 2012 11:32

- Miners jump as investors seek riskier assets.- Officials optimistic about securing Greek bailout.- PBoC cuts RRR for banks. With the possibility of a Greek bailout edging closer, and China moving to ease fears of a 'hard-landing' over the weekend, UK stocks had extended gains by lunchtime, with resource stocks and banks in demand as investors sought out 'riskier' assets.Eurozone finance ministers and Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos are set to meet in Brussels this afternoon with hopes of securing the country's €130bn bailout. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter told national TV yesterday that "it looks like" ministers will reach an agreement. "I don't think there will be a majority to go down any other avenue", she said. The issues on the table include not only the €130bn but also a deal with private sector lenders who will be forced to take a 70% cut in the loans they made to Greece. Another key issue is the target of getting Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio to 120% by 2020. This is the level which the International Monetary Fund believes is "sustainable", thus allowing it to contribute to the bailout. Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said that today's meeting will bring "a long period of uncertainty to a close ... a period that benefitted neither the Greek economy nor the euro area overall."Late on Friday the People's Bank of China (PBoC) announced on its website its decision to cut its legal reserve ratio requirement (RRR) for large banks by half a percentage point. The new rate is 20.5%. That is the second such easing since the beginning of the financial crisis. While the central bank has long been expected to carry out such a decision the move may come as a small surprise to some observers, due to the exact timing chosen by authorities.RESOURCE STOCKS ON THE UPMining stocks and banks were performing well by midday as Greek optimism and Chinese policy easing spurred buying. Mining peers Kazakhyms, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were leading the gainers on the Footsie, all rising at least 3% each.Banking peers Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds were also on the rise. Five directors of Lloyds, including the previous Chief Executive, will be forced to pay back some of their 2010 bonus, reports the Telegraph. Lloyds has had to set aside £3.2bn to cover claims arising from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), it's those losses which have prompted the so called "claw back" exercise. Defensives were firmly out of favour as investors shifted positions into relatively riskier assets. Utilities peers Severn Trent, United Utilities and National Grid were down, joined by pharma giants Shire and AstraZeneca.Costa Coffee and hotel owner Whitbread was being weighed down by comments by Credit Suisse today. While the Swiss broker gives the stock a neutral rating, it gave a short-term sell recommendation this morning: "We expect subdued UK RevPAR [revenue per available room] trends will cause Whitbread's pre close to disappoint and with the stock trading just 7% below through cycle multiples we recommend reducing holdings ahead of the 28 February update."FTSE 250: CSR SURGES AS REVENUES RISEWireless technology and computer chip company CSR soared after reporting an increase in fourth quarter revenue, towards the top end of management expectations, following good momentum across its markets. The Cambridge-based firm said revenue rose to $244m for the final quarter to 30 December 2011 from $184.8m the previous year. However operating profit for the period fell to $0.6m from $8.1m before, which includes $41.1m of acquisition related charges. SEGRO, the European industrial property firm, rose after offloading a portfolio of five "non-core" UK industrial estates to Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m. The disposal of the five estates is in line with the group's strategy announced in November 2011 to focus its UK multi-let industrial portfolio on London and the South East. UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT), which has spent £60.51m on three of the estates, is also higher. Elsewhere, identity theft and credit card insurer CPP was suspended from trading as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) undertakes a review of certain past business sales and makes various changes to its renewals process. CPP is not happy about the FSA's request. Though it has acknowledged that a review in to past business practices is appropriate, the board of CPP thinks the FSA's intervention is disproportionate and threatens the viability of the business. High street sports retailer JJB Sports was a big mover after saying that second half like-for-like sales were 7.6% down, an improvement from the 17.9% fall seen in the first six months of the year, helped by a strong Christmas. Shares rose rose over 12%.BCFTSE 100 - RisersKazakhmys (KAZ) 1,163.00p +3.47%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 727.50p +3.41%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,741.50p +3.30%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 28.49p +3.22%Wolseley (WOS) 2,483.00p +3.16%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,086.50p +3.14%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,344.00p +3.07%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,350.00p +2.90%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.48p +2.89%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,109.00p +2.83%FTSE 100 - FallersSevern Trent (SVT) 1,527.00p -1.55%United Utilities Group (UU.) 601.00p -1.23%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 699.00p -1.20%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,253.00p -1.10%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,496.00p -0.91%National Grid (NG.) 640.00p -0.78%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,575.00p -0.50%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 295.90p -0.47%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,222.00p -0.33%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 631.00p -0.32%FTSE 250 - RisersCSR (CSR) 273.00p +19.89%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 148.00p +7.01%Ocado Group (OCDO) 100.50p +4.63%Home Retail Group (HOME) 113.90p +4.40%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 462.00p +4.27%Bodycote (BOY) 351.30p +3.78%Persimmon (PSN) 610.00p +3.74%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 342.40p +3.63%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 86.45p +3.59%Greggs (GRG) 559.00p +3.52%FTSE 250 - FallersHomeserve (HSV) 239.70p -3.85%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,655.00p -2.59%Restaurant Group (RTN) 304.20p -1.78%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 248.90p -1.62%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 141.10p -1.60%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,253.00p -1.42%Carpetright (CPR) 634.00p -1.17%Inmarsat (ISAT) 477.40p -1.08%Pennon Group (PNN) 698.50p -1.06%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 58.40p -1.02%
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8 Feb 2013 14:45

UPDATE 1-Former JJB boss Jones charged over misleading market

* David Jones charged at Leeds Magistrates Court * Case to go to Crown Court * Jones chaired JJB Sports Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2010 * Jones is former boss of clothing retailer Next LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - David Jones, one of Britain's best-known retail bosses, has been charge

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24 Sep 2012 12:15

London midday: Miners lead the fallers

Today's morning session has started the week off in much the same way as the weather has: gloomily. Investor sentiment has been knocked by renewed concerns over the single currency region following France and Germany's failure to agree a schedule for initiating shared oversight of the region's ban

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24 Sep 2012 09:03

JJB Sports shares suspended

Shares in JJB Sports were suspended this morning as the firm headed towards administration. The retailer had been searching for a buyer after it failed to raise the funds it needed to attempt a turnaround of the business. The firm said it had received offers to acquire certain of or substantially

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18 Sep 2012 16:50

London close: Late rally fizzles

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 wa

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18 Sep 2012 14:47

Irish eyeing JJB Sports

Ireland's biggests sports shop chain could be looking to expand over the Irish Sea through the acquisition of cash-strapped JJB Sports. Sky News reports that Stafford Group, a family-owned private company which owns the Lifestyle Sports chain in Ireland, is among those companies in the running to b

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18 Sep 2012 12:06

London midday: Stocks pare losses after in-line macro data

Inflation data was in line with forecasts while the Spanish debt auction went as well as could be expected, prompting London equities to claw back some of the losses seen in early trading The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation dropped to 2.5% in August, down from 2.6% in July, helped

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16 Sep 2012 17:21

Sunday newspaper round-up: Regulation, Sun King, BAE

A former chairman of the Federal Reserve has warned that regulation in the UK may have gone too far in its efforts to separate high-street banks from their high-risk investment arms. Paul Volcker claimed the UK's proposals to ringfence retail banks from their speculative trading divisions go even fu

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30 Aug 2012 11:18

Broker tips: Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Admiral...

Jefferies now prefers Antofagasta over copper peer Kazakhmys and has downgraded its rating for the latter from 'buy' to 'hold'. "Our preference this year for shares of Kazakhmys over shares of Antofagasta has been based entirely on relative valuations (Kaz is much cheaper). However, after reviewing

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30 Aug 2012 09:46

Broker snap: Little value left in JJB, says Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley reckons that troubled sports retailer JJB Sports will likely follow in the path of High Street shop Blacks Leisure which went into administration and was sold earlier this year. The company put itself up for sale on Thursday after having failed to raise the funds needed to attempt a

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30 Aug 2012 09:35

Thursday broker round-up

Admiral: Nomura keeps buy rating and 1,300p target. Antofagasta: Jefferies raises target from 1,050p to 1,200p, hold rating kept. APR Energy: Investec upgrades from hold to buy, target cut from 1,100p to 950p. Cape: Investec maintains buy recommendation and 300p target. Consort Medical: N+1 Brew

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30 Aug 2012 07:47

JJB Sports on the block after funding talks fail

Struggling sportswear chain JJB Sports has put itself up for sale after it failed to raise the funds it needed to attempt a turnaround of the business. It warned investors that debt levels meant any purchase could still mean shares would become worthless. In July the company announced that a deter

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15 Aug 2012 16:28

Dick's Sporting Goods scores own goal with JJB stake

JJB shares lost a fifth of their value on Wednesday after one of its biggest shareholders wrote off its investment in the struggling sports retails with an impairment charge. US-based Dick's Sporting Goods, which only made its £20m investment five months ago, blamed its decision on the company's o

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6 Aug 2012 09:52

Invesco wants to avoid penalties in JJB saga

US fund manager Invesco is tired of waiting for a turnaround at JJB Sports and is preparing a move to protect its investment in the struggling sportswear retailer, the Sunday Times claims. The group has tabled a proposal to buy JJB Sport's outstanding debt from Lloyds Banking Group. The scheme, whi

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5 Aug 2012 15:20

Sunday newspaper round-up: RBS, Tesco, HMV

One of Brazil's biggest banks is plotting a bid for the prized American business of Royal Bank of Scotland. Itau Unibanco is eyeing a move for Citizens, the Rhode Island-based retail bank built up through a series of acquisitions by Fred Goodwin, the former RBS chief executive. Citizens has more tha

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30 Jul 2012 14:28

Lingerie specialist is interim CEO at JJB

JJB Sports, the struggling sportswear retailer which shucked off its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keith Jones last Friday, has announced retail veteran Beverley Williams as Jones's interim replacement. Williams, who has spent more than 25 years in senior executive positions in the retail trade, wi

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