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London midday: Markets still nervous after Cypriot bailout

Tue, 26th Mar 2013 11:57

Markets were rangebound on Tuesday morning, making only slight gains, with concerns about Cyprus still very much in focus following the comments made by the head of the Eurogroup yesterday.Following the €10bn deal to bail out Cyprus at the weekend, which involved forcing big losses on uninsured depositors, Jeroen Dijsselbloem implied in an interview yesterday afternoon that the hit on depositors would serve as a model or template for future bailouts, causing stocks to give up gains yesterday. While, Dijsselbloem later back-stepped and published a new statement claiming that "Cyprus is a specific case with exceptional challenges", markets were clearly worried.Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said: "Dijsselbloem's efforts to backtrack on his earlier comments could not have been much more unsuccessful. Once again, the damage has been done and it's going to be very difficult for Dijsselbloem or any other officials to fix this in the short term. For evidence of this all you have to do is look at the reaction in the markets."The euro plummeted shortly after Dijsselbloem's first remark yesterday and has only seen a small retracement since. "This is a clear message that people aren't convinced that deposits in other countries are safe from a similar levy, which is bad news if another country enters negotiations over a bailout in the future," Erlam said.Also keeping markets busy today will be some key economic indicators from the US later on. Durable-goods orders, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, new home sales and consumer confidence figures are all due out this afternoon in the States.FTSE 100: ENRC slumps after Kazakhmys results; Kingfisher gains despite profits fallMining giant ENRC dropped as part-owner Kazakhmys announced a $2.2bn impairment charge after writing down its 26% holding in ENRC in its 2012 results. Heading the other way was B&Q owner Kingfisher despite reporting a 11.4% fall in full-year profits as the bottom line met market expectations.Contract caterer Compass was lower after saying that a weak performance in Europe & Japan held back growth in the first half. The company said that its forecasts for the full year remain unchanged though.Asset management groups Aberdeen was a high riser after its first-half trading update yesterday. Bank of America, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Exane BNP Paribas all chose to increase their target prices for the stock this morning, while Numis upgraded the shares to 'buy'.Sector peer Schroders, which yesterday announced a recommended offer for Cazenove Capital, was also extending gains.Financial group Legal & General also rose after agreeing to buy a 75% interest in UK fund platform Cofunds for £131m.Plumbing merchant Wolseley was unwanted after saying that half-year profit slipped owing to weakening demand in Europe and Canada.FTSE 250: Housebuilders gain on UBS commentsHousebuilding stocks were performing well this morning after UBS said that the recent strong sector performance (up 58% over the last 12 months) will continue with the launch of the government's 'Help to Buy' scheme. The broker has upgraded both Redrow and Bovis and now has a 'buy' rating for all UK-listed housebuilders.Sector peer Bellway was also on the rise this morning after raising its dividend by 50% in the first half following a 47.5% jump in pre-tax profits.Kazakhmys was leading the downside on the second-tier index, dropping as much as 10% in morning trade, after swinging into the red in 2012 on the back of substantial write-downs. According to Prime Markets, the company faces "a bleak few years" and the stock could be on its way back to 2008/2009 lows of around 220p (yesterday's close: 444p).FTSE 100 - RisersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 427.70p +3.86%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 275.40p +3.26%Prudential (PRU) 1,101.00p +2.51%Melrose Industries (MRO) 263.20p +2.41%Schroders (SDR) 2,130.00p +1.91%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,339.00p +1.67%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,056.00p +1.64%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,023.00p +1.49%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,311.00p +1.47%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 170.10p +1.43%FTSE 100 - FallersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 258.50p -3.58%Aggreko (AGK) 1,797.00p -3.13%Wolseley (WOS) 3,112.00p -3.08%Compass Group (CPG) 814.00p -2.52%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,092.00p -1.53%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 47.19p -1.31%BT Group (BT.A) 277.50p -1.18%CRH (CRH) 1,448.00p -1.03%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,855.00p -0.96%Whitbread (WTB) 2,512.00p -0.79%FTSE 250 - RisersLonmin (LMI) 304.70p +5.25%Supergroup (SGP) 617.50p +2.66%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 270.00p +2.08%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 12.04 +2.03%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 124.40p +1.97%WH Smith (SMWH) 741.50p +1.92%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 518.50p +1.87%Bellway (BWY) 1,214.00p +1.85%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 350.60p +1.77%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 740.50p +1.72%FTSE 250 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 398.80p -10.10%Savills (SVS) 532.00p -7.64%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 199.00p -4.65%NMC Health (NMC) 330.00p -2.94%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 252.40p -2.85%BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 524.00p -2.42%Petropavlovsk (POG) 218.40p -2.28%Booker Group (BOK) 122.70p -2.08%Soco International (SIA) 370.50p -1.98%National Express Group (NEX) 207.50p -1.94%BC

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