London close: Markets struggle to regain poise after Fed meeting

21st Jun 2013 17:49

Stocks retreated once again on Friday, following another session of convulsions in global capital markets. Quite poignantly, on Friday one US policy maker - the President of the Federal Reserve bank of St.Louis - criticised Ben Bernanke´s poor timing regarding the announcement of a detailed plan for reducing the pace of asset purchases. Perhaps the best proof of the magnitude of the fallout from Wedesday´s US Federal Reserve meeting is the enormous rise seen in China´s one-day repurchase rate (the interest rate at which banks lend to each other in that market) on Thursday, as lenders underwent a 'cash squeeze.' Today it fell back again, by 3.84 percentage points, to 7.90%, after the central bank injected liquidity overnight, but it is sure to have raised some eyebrows amongst market participants. In that same vein, and closer to these shores, US 10 year Treasury yields moved higher again this afternoon, reaching an intradday high of 2.51%. Those yields are a key determinant of many economic decisions and are thus closely followed by markets. Not by coincidence, the benchmark 10-year Gilt yield rose 12 basis points to 2.42% in afternoon trading. Be that as it may, experts think that low summer-induced trading volumes may be a factor behind the recent move higher.Thus, and queried as to whether that was a real possibility, Bill Hubard, Chief Economist at Markets.com, had this to say: "YES...you are also witnessing 'certain' accounts who DID not take profits at/around 2.00%-2.125% taking profits and now waiting for 2.375%-2.42% to re-purchase as I feel (as do a number of major accounts!!) that we will see 1.75%-1.875% before we see 2.50% in the next 3 months."As if all of the above were not enough, and feeding some of the market´s apprehension, the smallest party in Greece's ruling coalition - Democratic Left - haspulled out of the government over a row regarding the closure of state broadcaster ERT. Bunzl leads the wayMultinational distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl gained after analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove reiterated a 'buy' rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.BT Group advanced after appointing Gavin Patterson as its new Chief Executive Officer to replace Ian Livingstone who will step down to join the UK government as trade and investment minister.Chilean copper mining group Antofagasta soared as copper futures gained 1.0% to $6,837 a metric ton following a slump Thursday.Fresnillo, on the other hand, declined as silver prices fell and commodities came under pressure in the wake of fears over a slowdown in China and the prospect of an end to the US Federal Reserve's bond buying programme.Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after Chancellor George Osborne signalled a "good bank, bad bank" split to recoup the £45bn of taxpayers' money used to bail out the lender in 2008.Polymetal International's shares plunged as analysts have recently downgraded their forecasts for revenue and earnings. Citi on Thursday reduced its target price from 577p to 529p and reinstated a 'sell' rating.Stock of Dixon´s Retail continues to outperformRetail peers Dixons Retail and Ted Baker performed well today, rising strongly after both companies reported better-than-expected results yesterday. Sector peers Dunelm and N Brown however were out of favour.Imagination Technologies was a high riser as it attempted to claw its way back after a steep drop earlier in the week after its full-year results. The processor technology group on Wednesday revealed a decline in annual profits due to a sharp increase in operating expenses (opex), though management assured that a number of substantial investments have built a "strong platform for growth".Telecoms group TalkTalk was among the worst performers after analysts at Citigroup said that sector giant BT could steal away broadband customers with its new deal for free sports channels.FTSE 100 - RisersBunzl (BNZL) 1,259.00p +2.11%Antofagasta (ANTO) 838.50p +1.70%TUI Travel (TT.) 345.50p +1.50%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 808.00p +1.32%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,310.00p +1.31%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,654.00p +1.13%CRH (CRH) 1,293.00p +1.02%BT Group (BT.A) 307.40p +0.99%ITV (ITV) 137.40p +0.88%Whitbread (WTB) 2,960.00p +0.75%FTSE 100 - FallersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 281.70p -7.24%Fresnillo (FRES) 911.00p -5.15%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,290.00p -3.52%ARM Holdings (ARM) 772.50p -3.32%Serco Group (SRP) 586.00p -2.98%Polymetal International (POLY) 525.50p -2.87%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 418.20p -2.74%Aviva (AV.) 325.10p -2.61%United Utilities Group (UU.) 649.00p -2.48%G4S (GFS) 232.00p -2.36%FTSE 250 - RisersRank Group (RNK) 162.00p +6.58%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 535.50p +6.25%Ted Baker (TED) 1,789.00p +5.24%PayPoint (PAY) 1,093.00p +5.00%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 755.00p +4.86%Keller Group (KLR) 988.50p +4.71%ICAP (IAP) 379.40p +3.86%NMC Health (NMC) 296.50p +3.53%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 121.20p +2.71%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 219.00p +2.67%FTSE 250 - FallersKenmare Resources (KMR) 24.30p -11.12%Inchcape (INCH) 475.50p -7.40%Computacenter (CCC) 409.00p -5.98%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 220.90p -5.96%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 281.60p -4.90%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 180.80p -4.84%Anite (AIE) 129.80p -4.49%St James's Place (STJ) 513.00p -4.38%888 Holdings (888) 143.70p -4.07%Elementis (ELM) 220.80p -4.04%FTSE TechMARK - RisersVislink (VLK) 32.25p +7.50%E2V Technologies (E2V) 123.00p +5.13%Skyepharma (SKP) 57.50p +2.00%Kofax (KFX) 322.00p +0.23%Xaar (XAR) 800.00p +0.06%Innovation Group (TIG) 28.25p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 5.50p 0.00%Torotrak (TRK) 25.50p 0.00%Gresham Computing (GHT) 81.50p 0.00%Phytopharm (PYM) 1.26p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersPromethean World (PRW) 12.00p -7.69%Optos (OPTS) 106.75p -5.53%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 154.00p -3.45%Parity Group (PTY) 28.75p -3.36%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,189.00p -3.33%Consort Medical (CSRT) 785.00p -3.09%Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 50.00p -2.91%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 160.75p -2.43%Microgen (MCGN) 150.00p -2.12%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.47p -2.06%AB