The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

London open: Stocks rise with Greece in focus

Wed, 08th Feb 2012 08:42

- Greek leaders scheduled to discuss draft deal.- Reckitt rises strongly after beating full-year targets.- Miners, financials provide a lift.Stocks opened higher on Wednesday following two days in the red, with banks and resource stocks providing a lift. Worth noting, the FTSE All-World equity index has risen to its highest level since August.Markets are looking to Greece to provide a positive solution to its ongoing difficulties after several days of delays. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is expected to meet the leaders of the other political parties later on today to discuss a draft deal needed to secure the next bailout package.George Karatzaferis, leader of the LAOS party, told reporters last night: "we can't say a plain yes or no unless we have assurances from the relevant authorities of the state that these actions are constitutional and will lead the country out of the crisis," he said. "There is time. When it comes to the future of the country, we will find the time."RECKITT RISES AFTER BEATING TARGETSCillit Bang maker Reckitt Benckiser said it exceeded its full year targets in 2011, as it announced a strategy for 'continued out-performance'. Net revenue in 2011 rose to £9.49bn from £8.45bn the year before and just a tad higher than market expectations of £9.45bn.With what was a mixed bag of results for mining titan BHP Billiton, the market reaction was also mixed as shares traded flat early on. There was something for both the bulls and the bears in BHP's interim results, with underlying pre-tax earnings ahead of expectations while the bottom line number was shy of what the market had been anticipating.Sector peer Rio Tinto saw shares rise after committing a further $3.4bn to the expansion of its Pilbara iron ore operations in western Australia. "Today we are announcing another significant milestone in our drive towards a more than 50 per cent increase in the size of iron ore operations in Western Australia," said Rio's Iron Ore and Australia Chief Executive Sam Walsh. Russian precious metals group Polymetal International rose after terminating a joint venture as it bought out the remaining 50% stake owned by South Africa-based AngloGold Ashanti for $20m. The transaction will see it take full control of the Veduga gold deposit in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia.Financials were in demand early on as Barclays, Man Group, Lloyds, Old Mutual and Schroders on the rise.Power generator International Power was a heavy faller despite seeing revenues and earnings rise 3% and 8% in the 2011. The company said its hook-up with French utility company GDF SUEZ Energy delivered synergies well ahead of target in 2011. FTSE 250: SUPERGROUP NOT SO SUPER AS SHARES PLUMMETShares in SuperGroup, owner of the Superdry brand, dropped over 15% after it said profit for the year will be towards the lower end of market expectations as it experienced a challenging last three weeks in January. "Following a solid Christmas trading period, which saw like-for-like retail sales of 9.3% in December, there has been a slowdown in the last three weeks of January," the group explained in a company statement.Emergency repair group Homeserve also fell after saying that its recent travails that are still preventing the group from restarting some marketing operations. This, along with falling customer numbers, means that the group will make 200 lay-offs from its telesales department.Specialist homewares retailer Dunelm was in demand after reporting a 7.8% rise in pre-tax profit for the half year ended December 31st on revenues that increased 8.8%.In small cap news, shares in travel operator Thomas Cook rose strongly after the firm said it was offloading its stake in its Indian subsidiary as the group reported a 3% rise in first-quarter revenue.BCFTSE 100 - RisersReckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,466.00p +2.48%Barclays (BARC) 241.55p +2.01%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,944.50p +1.94%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,182.00p +1.90%Man Group (EMG) 137.50p +1.78%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.83p +1.60%Xstrata (XTA) 1,219.00p +1.58%Old Mutual (OML) 156.80p +1.42%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,352.00p +1.27%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,289.00p +1.26%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Power (IPR) 330.00p -3.71%Cairn Energy (CNE) 348.00p -2.41%Sage Group (SGE) 298.00p -1.91%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 342.90p -0.98%Next (NXT) 2,731.00p -0.87%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,407.00p -0.86%Carnival (CCL) 1,985.00p -0.70%Kingfisher (KGF) 269.60p -0.52%SSE (SSE) 1,252.00p -0.48%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,400.00p -0.43%FTSE 250 - RisersDunelm Group (DNLM) 491.70p +4.64%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 543.00p +3.82%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,065.00p +3.72%Inmarsat (ISAT) 453.10p +3.64%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 342.10p +3.04%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 626.50p +2.96%Henderson Group (HGG) 124.50p +2.89%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 83.25p +2.46%SDL (SDL) 660.00p +1.85%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 120.90p +1.77%FTSE 250 - FallersSupergroup (SGP) 595.00p -15.00%Home Retail Group (HOME) 108.30p -3.22%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 448.90p -2.92%Redrow (RDW) 127.00p -2.08%Misys (MSY) 320.00p -1.87%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 14.73p -1.80%Victrex (VCT) 1,323.00p -1.78%Persimmon (PSN) 551.00p -1.69%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 74.50p -1.65%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 74.05p -1.40%

Related Shares

More News
4 May 2024 08:37

Norway wealth fund to back Barclays CEO, chair at AGM

OSLO, May 4 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, supports the reappointment of Barclays C...

3 May 2024 17:04

Ex-Odey portfolio manager Hanbury warns investors are 'buying blind'

LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) - Former Odey Asset Management (OAM) portfolio manager James Hanbury has said in a letter to investors that passive and syst...

2 May 2024 13:48

UK shareholder meetings calendar - next 7 days

1 May 2024 14:50

Barclays to cut jobs in investment banking - reports

(Sharecast News) - Barclays has reportedly kicked off a fresh round of redundancies, cutting "a few hundred roles" at its investment bank as it looks ...

30 Apr 2024 20:30

GM in talks with Barclays to replace Goldman Sachs in credit card partnership -source

NEW YORK April 29 (Reuters) -

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.