Serabi Share News (SRB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London's major stock indices ended the final trading session of 2015 in the red Thursday, concluding a volatile year of trading with whimper.

In a shortened New Year's Eve session, the FTSE 100 closed down 0.5% at 6,242.32, while the FTSE 250 slipped 0.5% to 17,429.82. The AIM All-share index, however, added 0.5% to 738.83.

The declines in the blue-chip and mid-cap indices came after they snapped on Wednesday a run of four consecutive positive sessions before and after the Christmas break, with China-exposed stocks leading declines as the yuan hit a four-and-a-half-year low against the dollar.

"And that’s it," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex. "After a year that began so promisingly the markets are wrapping up 2015 in the limpest way possible, a collective sigh instead of any attempt at New Year’s Eve fireworks."

The final decline in the FTSE 100 topped off a remarkable year for the index, during which it lost 4.9% despite hitting an all-time high of 7,122.74 points back in April, ahead of the UK general election.

After a relatively steady first half of the year, the blue-chip index fell sharply in August, dropping more than 12% in a matter of days to its 2015 low of 5,768.22, a level not seen since late 2012. A heavy sell off of Chinese equities and broader concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy hit market sentiment globally.

The FTSE 100 regained some of those losses in early October, putting together eight consecutive winning sessions, as dovish minutes from the US Federal Reserve prompted some thought that the Fed might delay the first US interest rate hike in 10 years into 2016. However, when the Fed finally did go ahead and take the plunge on December 16, raising rates by 25 basis points, equity markets took it in their stride.

The same cannot be said for oil markets. London energy companies fell sharply at the beginning of December, weighing down the natural resource-heavy FTSE 100, which fell for eight sessions in a row.

The slump in commodity prices generally was a major theme for markets in 2015. Not just oil but metals as well headed south as China's slowing growth and a lukewarm global growth outlook frayed the nerves of investors.

Crude oil suffered another down year, amid muted demand and oversupply. Iran settled its nuclear standoff with the West, bringing the prospect of new supply, even as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries proved unwilling to cut production.

At the UK equity market close Thursday, Brent oil traded at USD36.18 a barrel, having stood at USD36.60 at the stock market close on Wednesday and at USD57.54 at the end of 2014. Brent hit a 2015 high of USD69.57 a barrel back in May and a low of USD35.96 earlier this month.

Gold, meanwhile, traded at USD1,059.56 an ounce at the equity market close, having stood at USD1,061.60 at the close on Wednesday and at USD1,183.81 at the end of last year. The precious metal hit a yearly high of USD1,307.15 an ounce back in January and a low of USD1,046.23 earlier in December.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 index fared better in 2015 than the large-cap FTSE 100, rising 8.9%, after hitting an all-time high of 18,393.16 points in June and a low of 15,752.20 in January. The AIM All-Share index, meanwhile, ended the year up 5.2%, hitting its 2015 high of 779.08 points back in June and a low of 686.01 in January.

In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.5% at the London close Thursday, but up 8.5% for the year. The DAX 30 in Frankfurt, which was closed for trading on Thursday, ended the year up 9.6%. Wall Street was pointed lower Thursday, ahead of a full-day trading session.

In UK corporate news Thursday, FTSE 100-listed retailer Sports Direct International ended the day among the blue-chip index's few winners, up 1.3%.

The company confirmed it will pay its staff above the UK National Minimum Wage starting from January 1. It said this will affect both its directly employed UK employees and directly engaged casual workers, and will cost the company around GBP10 million annually.

Earlier the Daily Mirror reported that Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley pledged to raise workers' salaries by 15 pence an hour from 2016. This will benefit around 15,000 employees on zero-hours contracts and 4,000 agency staff, Daily Mirror said, and comes after Sports Direct was criticised for its treatment of staff.

The UK government's soon-to-be introduced National Living Wage starts at GBP7.20 an hour for all workers over the age of 25, rising to GBP9.00 an hour in 2020.

Sports Direct's new rates mean workers aged 21 and over will go from GBP6.70 an hour to GBP6.85 an hour, while over 25s will be paid GBP7.35 an hour. The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise to GBP5.45 from GBP5.30 an hour, according to the Mirror.

"I'm making a New Year's resolution pledge to the Daily Mirror - and I'm deadly serious," Ashley told the newspaper. "I want to see Sports Direct become the best high street retail employer, after John Lewis," he said.

FTSE 100-listed Experian, ending the day down 1.7%, and FTSE 250-listed Halma, closing down 1.4%, were among the biggest fallers in their respective indices after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.

Mid-cap grocery delivery specialist Ocado Group continued to suffer Thursday, ending the day down 3.5% as one of the FTSE 250 index's biggest losers. Ocado shares have fallen throughout the week due to concerns about the challenge posed to it by Amazon, the US online retail giant, expanding its grocery delivery business in the UK.

Amazon Pantry was launched in November and delivers household goods and groceries to customers in the UK. It currently offers 4,000 branded products and charges GBP2.99 for next-day delivery per large box. Now, the online retail giant is planning to add thousands more products in 2016, UK chief Christopher North told the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.

In the AIM All-Share index, Serabi Gold was among the top risers, up 14% at 2.98 pence, after it said it has secured a new USD5.0 million short-term working capital convertible loan facility.

The Brazil-focused gold miner said the loan will expire in January 2017 and may be drawn down in three separate instalments of an initial USD2.0 milllion, plus two further instalments of USD1.5 million apiece. The loan has been provided by Fratelli Investments and will be convertible into Serabi shares at 3.6 pence per share.

Serabi said the loan will provide it with extra working capital to bring the Sao Chico mine in Brazil into full production.

Clear Leisure was the leading gainer in the AIM All-Share index, closing up 44%, after it said it has sold Alnitak for EUR1.2 million to an affiliate of a US-based investment fund, which it did not name.

The total cash proceeds to Clear Leisure from the sale will be EUR900,000, after adjusting for the EUR300,000 it paid to Halcyon to acquire the 49% of Alnitak it did not already own.

Alnitak owns the Hospitality and Leisure Fund, which owns four holiday resort in Italy.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay back its GBP200,000 convertible loan with Eufingest SA. Clear Leisure also has rescheduled two other EUR200,000 convertible loan notes into a single, EUR400,000 note repayable by December 2016.

Still to come in the economic data calendar Thursday, weekly initial and continuing jobs data from the US are published at 1330 GMT, ahead of the Chicago purchasing managers' index reading for December at 1445 GMT.

Meanwhile, it will be business as usual on Monday, with a busy day in the data calendar.

Manufacturing PMI data for December from Japan and China are released at 0135 GMT and 0145 GMT, respectively, with Markit manufacturing PMI readings for December due from Italy at 0845 GMT, from France at 0850 GMT, from Germany at 0855 GMT and from the wider eurozone area at 0900 GMT.

The equivalent UK reading is published at 0930 GMT, at the same time as UK consumer credit information and mortgage approvals data for November.

In the afternoon, consumer price inflation data for Germany in December are expected at 1300 GMT, with US personal income, personal spending and personal expenditure data due at 1330 GMT. December's reading of US Markit manufacturing PMI is scheduled for release at 1445 GMT, ahead of the US ISM manufacturing PMI reading and US ISM prices paid readings for December at 1500 GMT. US construction spending data for November also are due at 1500 GMT Monday.

In the UK corporate calendar, there are no confirmed events for Monday.

By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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