Next Share News (NXT)

UK stocks were registering only slight losses on Thursday morning as markets managed to hold on to yesterday's impressive gains following the New-Year's-Day agreement to avert the fiscal cliff in the US.Providing some support early on was the China non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index which rose from 55.6 to 56.1 in December, "providing yet more evidence that the turnaround of the Chinese economy is gaining pace with stronger economic growth likely in the months ahead," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital.The FTSE 100 surged by 2.2% on Wednesday, the first trading day of the 2013, as investors reacted to the deal by US politicians to allow some tax increases on America's wealthiest workers and delay specifics on spending cuts by two months."The inability of congress to approach both the spending cuts element of the fiscal cliff, along with the impending debt ceiling has set up a second deadline around the end of February and beginning of March," said research analyst Joshua Mahony from Alpari. "This time it appears clear that the Republicans will have the upper hand in negotiations whereby their threat to veto any deal to further delay spending cuts or fail to agree on a debt ceiling extension, would likely see a greater level of strength in negotiations. Subsequently there is likely to be even more heated debate in the coming months with the threat of default being primary on the agenda, rather than simply higher taxes in the short term."FTSE 100: Next on shopping lists early onRetailer Next jumped in the opening hour after saying that its full-year results would come in towards the top of expectations. The company said although 2012 sales had been in line with forecasts, cost control measures, markdowns and gross margins had all been slightly better than expected. Contract caterer Compass Group was heading the other way after Espirito Santo downgraded its rating for the stock to 'neutral'. Meanwhile, outsourcing firm Serco edged higher after the same broker lifted its rating to 'buy'.Building materials group CRH fell after announcing that full-year development activity in 2012 totalled over €0.6bn, helped by 18 acquisition and investment initiatives undertaken in the second half.Experian was on the up after the Financial Times reported that Bank of America is ramping up mortgage and corporate lending. Seymour Pierce upgraded its rating for Experian this morning from 'reduce' to 'add', saying that the article suggests a "return to health" in the US mortgage market which is beneficial to the business.FTSE 250: Chemring up after FD appointmentDefence contractor Chemring Group has appointed Steve Bowers as Group Finance Director, causing shares to rise strongly. Bowers worked as Finance Director for Umeco, a provider of composite materials to aerospace and defence industries until its acquisition by Cytec UK Holdings in July 2012. He was with the company for 13 years in a number of finance roles. Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty rose after purchasing Subsurface Group to expand the Energy Storage Services business of it subsidiary, Parson Brinckerhoff, in the US. John Menzies, the aviation and distribution group, was higher after saying that full-year results will be in line with expectations in 2012 after "continued progress" in the fourth quarter.FTSE 100 - RisersNext (NXT) 3,855.00p +2.20%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 707.50p +1.22%Serco Group (SRP) 547.50p +1.11%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 379.60p +1.09%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 150.20p +1.08%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,036.00p +0.88%Rexam (REX) 450.40p +0.81%Aviva (AV.) 384.70p +0.73%Barclays (BARC) 277.60p +0.73%TUI Travel (TT.) 289.70p +0.70%FTSE 100 - FallersCompass Group (CPG) 724.50p -1.76%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,208.00p -1.15%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,649.50p -1.12%Whitbread (WTB) 2,520.00p -1.02%CRH (CRH) 1,270.00p -1.01%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,188.00p -0.93%Melrose Industries (MRO) 231.40p -0.90%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,191.00p -0.87%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 818.50p -0.85%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,195.00p -0.80%FTSE 250 - RisersKenmare Resources (KMR) 34.44p +4.36%Chemring Group (CHG) 246.60p +3.48%Carpetright (CPR) 700.00p +2.19%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 416.00p +1.96%Computacenter (CCC) 417.00p +1.93%KCOM Group (KCOM) 71.75p +1.85%Debenhams (DEB) 117.10p +1.74%Man Group (EMG) 85.65p +1.60%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,160.00p +1.49%Ted Baker (TED) 1,177.00p +1.47%FTSE 250 - FallersWH Smith (SMWH) 631.50p -3.37%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,084.00p -2.17%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 448.60p -2.16%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,060.56p -2.06%Rank Group (RNK) 145.60p -1.49%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 173.90p -1.42%Betfair Group (BET) 682.50p -1.23%Elementis (ELM) 233.40p -1.19%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 257.60p -0.92%Synergy Health (SYR) 1,086.00p -0.82%BC