London close: FTSE closes modestly higher

12th Jun 2014 16:32

- FTSE closes up 4.24 higher at 6,843.11- US data disappoints- Eurozone industrial production beats forecasttechMARK 2,846.73 +0.21%FTSE 100 6,843.11 +0.06%FTSE 250 16,125.95 +0.24%London-listed stocks ended the day marginally higher, coming off this morning's lows, although the gains were limited by data releases in the US and a poor performance by the mining sector. The FTSE 100 closed 4.24 points higher at 6,843.11. Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst at IG, said: "Today's narrow range in London proves just how distracted markets are becoming, as major sporting events get underway. Aer Lingus became the second airline in as many days to publish a profit warning, putting the sector on the back foot yet again. "This fits in with the World Bank's forecast of lower growth, a view that is itself reinforced by the rise in oil prices and the concerns that this will negatively affect growth in developed economies. "There were some short-lived gains for the overall index, but the index has settled down with modest losses as the session comes to a close. Upward progress is still absent, but so long as the 6,800 level holds the assumption remains that we will see further gains."US data disappointsOver in the States, data showed that retail sales in the world's biggest economy unexpectedly slowed in May, up just 0.3% following a revised 0.5% increase in April, surprising analysts who had expected a 0.6% gain."The disappointing 0.3% rise in US retail sales values in May (consensus +0.6%) implies that some of the weakness in the first quarter has continued into the second," said Capital Economics."That said, with payrolls now rising by more than 200,000 a month, this is unlikely to last."Meanwhile, initial jobless claims came in at 317,000 in the week to June 7th, more than the 312,000 the previous week and the 309,000 forecast.European data offers more positive newsAcross the Channel, Eurozone industrial production increased 1.4% year-on-year in April following a 0.2% gain in March, beating analysts' estimates for a 0.8% jump.In France, inflation rose by 0.7%, a report confirmed today, as predicted.Rising oil prices lift BG Group BG Group climbed despite Nomura downgrading the stock to 'neutral', with the recent uncertainty in Iraq likely driving prices higher. London Stock Exchange was on the up after Espirito Santo increased its target price from 1,991p to 2,303p, keeping a 'buy' recommendation.Shares in Lonmin rebounded strongly on Thursday from recent declines after it agreed an informal deal with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) in South Africa relating to pay and employment conditions. Meanwhile, the majority of miners were among the worst performers in today's session, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore falling sharply. Anglo was the hardest hit after its rating was cut from 'equal weight' to 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley.Airline stocks easyJet and IAG extended the losses seen in yesterday's session, which came after German peer Lufthansa plummeted in Frankfurt following the news that it would not hit profit guidance for the next two years.Tesco was in the red after Goldman Sachs cut its target price from 270p to 250p and reiterated a 'sell' recommendation on the supermarket.FTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,265.00p +2.51%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,566.00p +1.87%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,535.00p +1.66%ITV (ITV) 179.40p +1.59%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,994.00p +1.32%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,190.00p +1.27%Reed Elsevier (REL) 959.00p +1.11%G4S (GFS) 254.90p +1.07%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,707.00p +1.01%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,027.00p +0.98%FTSE 100 - FallersAnglo American (AAL) 1,418.00p -3.18%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,058.00p -3.12%Antofagasta (ANTO) 749.50p -2.60%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 391.20p -2.20%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 325.70p -2.19%Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 323.90p -2.12%easyJet (EZJ) 1,501.00p -1.90%Carnival (CCL) 2,414.00p -1.59%Vodafone Group (VOD) 196.75p -1.33%Glencore (GLEN) 320.00p -1.30%FTSE 250 - RisersLonmin (LMI) 257.70p +8.87%PayPoint (PAY) 1,166.00p +4.39%Halma (HLMA) 614.50p +3.98%Alent (ALNT) 342.70p +3.85%Rank Group (RNK) 167.00p +3.73%Premier Farnell (PFL) 215.20p +3.26%Provident Financial (PFG) 2,241.00p +3.18%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 848.00p +2.73%COLT Group SA (COLT) 148.80p +2.62%Spectris (SXS) 2,374.00p +2.59%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 192.50p -4.04%Evraz (EVR) 96.25p -3.31%Polymetal International (POLY) 537.50p -3.15%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 114.00p -2.98%Booker Group (BOK) 136.20p -2.92%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 217.10p -2.73%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 235.90p -2.08%EnQuest (ENQ) 139.40p -1.90%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 149.70p -1.84%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 245.60p -1.76%NR