London close: Muted reaction to S&P as Footsie rises 0.4%

16th Jan 2012 16:29

The market reaction to S&P's mass downgrade of nine Eurozone nations was fairly muted on Monday, with the Footsie finishing at its highest levels of the day, as many argue that the downgrades of France and Austria (both rated AAA previously) were already priced in. Meanwhile, the results of the latest French debt auction seem to have come in reasonably solid, with yields down on all of the maturities on offer. Standard & Poor's (S&P) confirmed on Friday night that both France and Austria have lost their coveted AAA ratings, while the credit ratings of seven other Eurozone countries were also hit by a downgrade. Analysts lowered the long-term ratings on Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus by two notches; France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch. S&P said that these decisions are "primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the Eurozone." Market worries now centre on the implications for the credit rating of the bailout fund. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which finances the Greek, Irish and Portuguese rescue packages, owes its AAA rating to guarantees from the sponsoring nations. Now, Germany is the only Eurozone country to carry the highest investment grade evaluation from all three major credit rating agencies. In domestic news, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club believes the UK is already in a recession and that growth will flat-line this year. The consultancy has slashed its 2012 gross domestic product growth forecast to just 0.2%, from the 1.5% previously estimated. CARNIVAL FALLS AFTER CRUISE SHIP CRASHBig news on the FTSE 100 today was cruise operator Carnival, which fell 17% after one of its ships grounded off the coast of Italy at the weekend. The company said that the cost of not having the Costa Concordia in service will be between $85m and $95m. The stock was not helped by a downgrade from Morgan Stanley. The news took its toll on the broader travel and leisure sector on Monday, with stocks falling an average 2.08%. Carnival's shares finished down 16%.Publishing giant Pearson led the risers, helped by some positive comments from Credit Suisse, which maintained its outperform rating on the stock. In its assessment of the rise of social media on the broader media industry, the Swiss broker said it continues to hold an overweight position on the publishing sector and Pearson in particular, which is the "best in class among the publishers for its social media presence to-date and innovation." Oil and gas giant Cairn Energy fell on the back of rumours that it could launch a takeover of sector peer Rockhopper Exploration. Rockhopper, on the other hand, jumped 10%.Aerospace, defence and energy market engineer Meggitt was rising after being upgraded from sell to neutral by UBS. Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl was lower after Credit Suisse cut its rating from neutral to underperform. Burberry was one of the best performers ahead of a trading statement due out tomorrow. GDP data is also expected out from China tomorrow, a key growth market for the luxury firm. Pay-TV and broadband supplier British Sky Broadcasting was out of favour, with Nomura highlighting some challenges it may face in 2012. These include a FA Premier League rights auction which could see increased competition from TV networks Al Jazeera and ESPN. On the FTSE 250, travel group TUI Travel was on the rise after UBS initiated coverage with a buy rating. The broker also added the stock to its 'M&A Watch List', highlighting a potential takeover from parent company TUI AG.Satellite firm Inmarsat fell over 5% after a US government agency highlighted potential GPS-interference issues in its partner's (LightSquared) high-speed wireless network in the US. BCFTSE 100 - RisersGKN (GKN) 202.70p +3.26%Man Group (EMG) 110.30p +3.08%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 441.40p +2.77%Pearson (PSON) 1,250.00p +2.71%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,300.00p +2.28%BT Group (BT.A) 207.60p +2.06%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,080.00p +1.71%Meggitt (MGGT) 371.10p +1.70%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 697.00p +1.68%Essar Energy (ESSR) 172.40p +1.47%FTSE 100 - FallersCarnival (CCL) 1,878.00p -16.46%Kingfisher (KGF) 246.50p -2.14%Capita (CPI) 647.50p -1.60%ICAP (IAP) 331.40p -1.57%Tesco (TSCO) 312.35p -1.40%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 683.50p -1.37%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,220.00p -1.21%Barclays (BARC) 199.10p -1.04%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,074.00p -1.01%International Power (IPR) 331.30p -0.96%FTSE 250 - RisersPerform Group (PER) 233.00p +5.91%Home Retail Group (HOME) 89.40p +5.18%Supergroup (SGP) 593.00p +4.77%Afren (AFR) 115.00p +4.07%Cape (CIU) 389.00p +3.46%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 45.00p +3.45%KCOM Group (KCOM) 69.00p +3.37%ITE Group (ITE) 213.60p +3.34%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 306.90p +3.26%Cookson Group (CKSN) 556.00p +2.49%FTSE 250 - FallersInmarsat (ISAT) 397.70p -5.31%Regus (RGU) 86.10p -4.33%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 140.00p -3.58%Northgate (NTG) 205.00p -3.30%Halfords Group (HFD) 295.60p -2.95%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 178.20p -2.14%Computacenter (CCC) 359.70p -1.96%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 227.90p -1.77%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 397.60p -1.71%Berendsen (BRSN) 422.40p -1.58%