London close: Footsie bounces back, small caps underperform

9th Jul 2015 16:50

A motley assortment of airlines, financials and homebuilders paced gains on Thursday, after a bounce in Chinese stockmarkets relieved some of the recent selling pressure.Nevertheless, China and Greece were not far from traders' minds, particularly the latter ahead of fresh reform proposals from of Athens due by midnight.The FTSE100 ended the day higher by 90.93 points to reach 6,581.63, with the second-tier index rising by 183.14 points to 17,296, led by a bounce in the shares of Drax Group, Man Group and Fidelity China Special Situations.The FTSE Small Cap index underperformed again, rising by just 20.46 points to 4,649.82.China's benchmark Shanghai equity index bounced back by 5.76% on Thursday as the recent barrage of government measures to stem the selling finally found a bit of traction.A string of losses since the Shanghai Composite Index notched its record high on 12 June had seen about $3.9trn wiped-off Chinese stocks' market capitalisation up to 8 July, more than the value of the entire London market. Some observers however continued to be very wary, warning of a so-called 'dead cat bounce' in Chinese stocks.As regards Greece, some economists had turned clearly more pessimistic, although they said a short-term fix of sorts was still possible."Short-run Grexit risks have increased sharply, but a short-term deal is nevertheless still likely (we should know by Sunday). Even if the short-term Grexit risk is eliminated by such a deal, Grexit risk will remain material following such a deal, bringing the cumulative probability of Grexit over the next 1-3 years above 50%. This note also examines the implications and policy responses to Grexit," analysts at Citi said in a research note e-mailed to clients.It was against that backdrop that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep its policy settings unchanged."No statement was made but, with inflation at just 0.1%, the Bank's inflation target of 2.0% is clearly still a long way off and, with 'Grexit' concerns casting a dark cloud of instability over the economic outlook, now is clearly not the time for central banks to be causing further uncertainty", Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said.An increasingly insecure Fed?At their June meeting rate-setters at the US central bank said there was "uncertainty about whether Greece and its official creditors would reach an agreement and about the likely pace of economic growth abroad, particularly in China and other emerging market economies," the minutes of that meeting published on Wednesday evening showed."Overall, we maintain our baseline outlook for a rate hike in September, given our conviction about incoming data and their signal about economic momentum. Nevertheless, an unusually insecure Fed and rising external risks certainly open the door for FOMC members to seize on any point of weakness or uncertainty to delay rate hikes," Barclays analyst Michael Gapen said in a research note e-mailed to clients.Primark owner pleases investorsRevenues were flat at Primark owner Associated British Foods in the 40 weeks to 20 June, but up 2% against the same period last year if currency moves are ignored. An 8% increase in stores selling space helped sales at Primark rise 9%, or 13% at constant currency rates, although like-for-like sales were flat despite a positive UK LFL performance.Housebuilder Barratt Developments said in a trading update that it expected to see a 45% increase in full-year pre-tax profit to £565m, from £390.6m last year amid continued strong demand in the housing market. For the year ended 30 June 2015, the average selling price for private homes was up around 8% to £262,000, driven by further changes in mix and underlying house price inflation.Balfour Beatty issued another profit warning, with pre-tax profit likely to be lower by between £120m to £150m due to problems discovered in various parts of the infrastructure construction group as part of a continuing business review.Recruitment firm Hays reported a strong second quarter as group net fee growth improved by 9% and said currency movements remained a challenge for the company. The job placement firm reiterated guidance it would deliver strong group profit for the full year, and said second half operating profits would be slightly ahead of the first half.Drax expected the removal of the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable electricity generated after 1 August 2015, announced in Wednesday's Budget, to lead to a reduction in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around £30m in 2015 and £60m in 2016.Bwin.party confirmed AIM-listed rival GVC had tabled a cash and shares offer for the company. The bid valued Bwin, party at 110p per share, the company said in a statement. The board has determined to work with GVC so that they can finalise their offer over the coming days.WPP might team up with General Atlantic to make a bid for Tesco's Clubcard unit, according to Bloomberg.Market MoverstechMARK 3,120.93 +1.27%FTSE 100 6,581.63 +1.40%FTSE 250 17,296.00 +1.07%FTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 3,080.00p +5.08%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.90p +4.94%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,142.00p +4.67%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 620.50p +4.37%Mondi (MNDI) 1,432.00p +4.22%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 514.50p +4.21%Persimmon (PSN) 1,954.00p +4.16%easyJet (EZJ) 1,633.00p +3.95%St James's Place (STJ) 917.00p +3.67%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 257.20p +3.63%FTSE 100 - FallersNext (NXT) 7,355.00p -1.67%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,182.00p -0.95%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 253.50p -0.39%Sports Direct International (SPD) 706.50p -0.35%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 757.00p -0.20%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 520.50p -0.19%United Utilities Group (UU.) 876.00p -0.17%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 1,337.00p +7.74%Drax Group (DRX) 273.30p +7.34%Man Group (EMG) 148.10p +5.94%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 129.50p +5.80%Hays (HAS) 164.80p +5.10%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,736.00p +4.52%Bellway (BWY) 2,332.00p +4.43%Redrow (RDW) 452.00p +4.34%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,224.00p +3.97%IP Group (IPO) 201.00p +3.82%FTSE 250 - FallersGrafton Group Units (GFTU) 720.00p -6.13%Lonmin (LMI) 92.90p -4.82%Debenhams (DEB) 84.25p -4.15%Allied Minds (ALM) 535.00p -3.78%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 440.60p -3.63%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 220.20p -3.59%Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 160.00p -3.38%Vedanta Resources (VED) 455.00p -3.29%Acacia Mining (ACA) 285.70p -2.69%Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 386.00p -2.28%