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London midday: Barclays gains, Centrica falls as markets hold steady

Mon, 10th Feb 2014 11:37

- Markets pause at two-week high- Central bankers in focus ahead of speeches- Barclays gains despite data leak, profit guidance- Energy Secretary concerns with energy profit marginstechMARK 2,792.81 +0.09%FTSE 100 6,567.75 -0.06%FTSE 250 15,877.62 +0.08%UK markets more or less unchanged by midday on Monday with little in the way of corporate earnings or macro-economic data to move stocks as London's benchmark index treaded water at levels not seen for two weeks.After three straight days of gains, the FTSE 100 was at 6,568 by noon, down just 0.06% on the day, with just 20 points or so separating its intraday low and high. Friday's closing price of 6,571.68 was the index's highest close since January 28th.Despite the flat start, a number of risk events later in the week could spark some volatility in markets. Alongside the usual barrage of economic data, investors will also be awaiting speeches central bankers across the globe, including new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.Barclays gains, utilities fallBarclays was making gains this morning despite claims that confidential details of clients had been stolen and sold. Meanwhile, the firm released a surprise statement this morning saying that adjusted pre-tax profits would total £5.2bn in 2013 - this is down by a quarter on the year before and below the company-compiled consensus forecast of £5.4bn.Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered were also higher, while HSBC registered losses.Leading the fallers was British Gas owner Centrica after the UK's Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, raised concerns about profit margins at the country's largest energy companies. He has urged Ofgem to start an investigation into the sector and made a number of suggestions, including "a break-up of any companies found to have monopoly power to the detriment of the consumer".Utilities provider SSE was also feeling the impact this morning, following Centrica lower.Car insurance group Admiral was in the red after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to 'neutral', saying that it sees "limited upside" after the stock's recent outperformance.Similarly, securities solutions firm G4S was weighed down by a ratings cut by Panmure Gordon to 'sell', with the broker saying that the stock's current high valuation is unwarranted given its growth outlook.Meanwhile, oilfield services company Petrofac rose after HSBC upgraded the stock to 'overweight'.Leading the upside were precious metal miners Fresnillo, Randgold and African Barrick Gold as gold and silver prices edged higher.Bermuda-based insurance underwriter Catlin advanced after booking a 27% increase in pre-tax profit for the year to $432m to 2013.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 838.50p +5.80%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,228.00p +2.76%Melrose Industries (MRO) 299.00p +2.02%Amec (AMEC) 1,062.00p +1.92%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,491.00p +1.51%Barclays (BARC) 275.35p +1.34%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,901.00p +1.06%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,044.00p +0.97%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,488.00p +0.95%Antofagasta (ANTO) 902.50p +0.95%FTSE 100 - FallersCentrica (CNA) 304.00p -3.25%G4S (GFS) 229.30p -2.47%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,328.00p -1.85%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 102.40p -1.73%SSE (SSE) 1,336.00p -1.55%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,400.00p -1.27%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 423.00p -1.24%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 622.20p -0.89%easyJet (EZJ) 1,713.00p -0.87%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,598.50p -0.87%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 378.70p +5.84%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 235.20p +5.19%RPC Group (RPC) 618.50p +3.95%Supergroup (SGP) 1,634.00p +3.42%Rank Group (RNK) 144.60p +2.92%Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 553.50p +2.50%Evraz (EVR) 83.95p +2.25%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 382.50p +2.00%Lonmin (LMI) 314.60p +1.81%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,619.00p +1.79%FTSE 250 - FallersRPS Group (RPS) 301.00p -6.52%Essar Energy (ESSR) 57.05p -2.31%Man Group (EMG) 82.75p -2.30%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,240.00p -2.27%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 15.27p -2.18%ITE Group (ITE) 267.60p -2.09%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.52 -1.96%Grainger (GRI) 226.40p -1.91%Home Retail Group (HOME) 179.90p -1.64%Xaar (XAR) 1,065.00p -1.39%FTSE TechMARK - RisersSkyepharma (SKP) 176.00p +8.64%Dialight (DIA) 728.50p +3.48%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 115.00p +2.91%Promethean World (PRW) 31.00p +2.48%RM (RM.) 130.59p +1.43%Ricardo (RCDO) 684.50p +1.41%SDL (SDL) 366.00p +0.90%Microgen (MCGN) 138.00p +0.73%Vectura Group (VEC) 154.00p +0.16%Consort Medical (CSRT) 985.50p +0.05%FTSE TechMARK - FallersWolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 130.00p -3.70%Optos (OPTS) 201.25p -1.83%Innovation Group (TIG) 33.50p -1.47%NCC Group (NCC) 209.00p -1.18%Anite (AIE) 87.00p -0.85%E2V Technologies (E2V) 158.25p -0.78%Sepura (SEPU) 134.50p -0.37%Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 466.00p -0.21%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 183.24 -0.03%

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