London close: Footsie finishes up but gains pared after US data

31st Jan 2012 16:32

Early gains were trimmed by the end of trade on Tuesday after consumer confidence data in the US disappointed, sending US benchmarks into the red. The Footsie finished just 11 points higher at 5,682, well below the intraday high of 5,730 seen in the morning session. Meanwhile, Greek debt-swap talks are still ongoing with the country's finance minister claiming late on that a formal offer must be made within two weeks.Last night's EU summit provided a boost early on. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy revealed that the permanent rescue fund (the European Stability Mechanism) and 'fiscal compact' had been approved at the meeting in Brussels. "Today we have taken decisions on a number of fronts in order to further restore confidence in our economies," he said. However the US Conference Board's consumer confidence index sent stocks tumbling in afternoon trade. The index fell to 61.1 in January, down from the upwardly revised reading of 64.8 (up from 64.5 the year before) and well below consensus expectations of 68. The present situation index dropped to just 38.4, from 46.5 the month beforeIn other news, some large European banks are planning on doubling, or even tripling, the amount of funds they request from the European Central Bank (ECB) in the February auction, according to the Financial Times. In domestic news, mortgage approvals rose to a 24-month high in December, according to the Bank of England; while GFK's index of consumer confidence in the UK improved during the month of January to -29 points, versus -33 in December and -29 one year ago. BSKYB, NATIONAL GRID, ARM ON THE RISEBritish Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) was heading higher after seeing half-year pre-tax profit rise from £467m to £597m, as it added a further 100,000 households to its customer bases. Total customer numbers are now at 10.471m or roughly 16% of the British population. These customers pushed total revenues up 6% over the equivalent period of 2010 to £3.364bn while the crucial average revenue per user metric (ARPU) grew from £536 to £544. National Grid was also a high riser after setting out a new one-year dividend policy starting next year, in which it promises to deliver nominal dividend growth of 4%. Sector peer SSE also rose after saying it was on course to deliver an increase in profits and dividends this year.ARM, which provides microchips for popular gadgets such as Apple's iPhones and iPads, was in demand after seeing fourth quarter sales figures come in well ahead of consensus estimates. Nomura said that the group's results indicated a "strong beat", driven by strong processor revenues in both licensing and royalties.Vedanta followed close behind after it reported record production volumes of refined silver and lead for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31st. However, other miners didn't perform as well despite solid start. Fresnillo, ENRC, BHP Billiton and Randgold Resources were among the worst performers.Tesco finished lower after the supermarket's market share fell below 30% for the first time in almost seven years. Market research conducted by Kantar WorldPanel revealed that sales at Tesco have dropped as competitors such as Asda and Sainsbury's boosted their own market share. Morrisons' market share fell, along with its share price.FTSE 250: RETAILERS PROVIDE A DRAG, BUT OCADO JUMPSCarpet and floor coverings retailer Carpetright was suffering heavy losses after warning that full-year underlying pre-tax profit is expected to be below the lower end of forecasts "based on the current pace of sales and margin improvement". John Browett, who has been battling to turn around the struggling Dixons Retail empire, is to quit the company to become Senior Vice President of Retail operations at Apple, the US consumer electronics giant. Dixons tumbled over 10% early on but recovered to trade around 3% down at midday. Heading the other way was groceries delivery firm Ocado after saying its sales growth in 2011 outdid others in the sector, while top-line growth in 2012 should accelerate once its sorts out its capacity constraints. BCFTSE 100 - RisersAdmiral Group (ADM) 941.00p +5.20%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 690.00p +3.68%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,390.00p +3.65%National Grid (NG.) 632.00p +3.02%BP (BP.) 470.85p +2.70%IMI (IMI) 853.50p +2.15%ARM Holdings (ARM) 609.50p +2.01%Aviva (AV.) 349.40p +1.96%Essar Energy (ESSR) 129.20p +1.89%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 371.40p +1.84%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 1,736.00p -2.20%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,917.00p -1.54%Capita (CPI) 615.00p -1.52%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.62p -1.50%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 323.20p -1.49%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 690.50p -1.36%Schroders (SDR) 1,450.00p -1.36%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,123.00p -1.30%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,410.00p -1.23%Hammerson (HMSO) 377.10p -1.21%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 87.10p +8.60%Home Retail Group (HOME) 107.40p +8.59%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 459.40p +6.10%Exillon Energy (EXI) 250.00p +5.44%RPS Group (RPS) 208.50p +5.04%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 42.90p +4.97%National Express Group (NEX) 216.90p +4.08%Lamprell (LAM) 299.50p +3.67%Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 1,979.00p +3.61%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 227.60p +3.41%FTSE 250 - FallersCarpetright (CPR) 550.00p -10.93%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 14.10p -7.48%SDL (SDL) 649.00p -5.81%Regus (RGU) 92.00p -5.30%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 132.60p -4.88%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 170.50p -4.85%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 63.30p -2.62%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 177.00p -2.32%Scottish Inv Trust (SCIN) 455.10p -2.23%Dignity (DTY) 780.00p -2.13%