London close: Sports Direct leads rebound on FTSE

14th Jul 2014 16:59

- FTSE loses up 55.97 at 6,746.14 - Sports Direct to expand into Oz- Eurozone industrial production declinestechMARK 2,794.16 +0.43%FTSE 100 6,746.14 +0.84%FTSE 250 15,577.71 +0.82%London's blue chips got the week off to a strong start, rising fairly steadily throughout the day, with just a modest decline in the final minutes of trade to end the day 55.97 points higher at 6,746.14. Stocks performance a u-turn following a notably weak performance last week, with today's gains led by sportswear retailer Sports Direct, while a strong set of results from Citigroup over in the States also helped lift sentiment. The focus will tomorrow be on the release of UK inflation, US retail sales and a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK, Jasper Lawler, said: "Markets in Europe rebounded from last week's steep sell-off today as investors bought the dip rejuvenated by the near-completion of the latest takeover bid from AbbVie for Shire Pharmaceuticals at the beginning of US earnings season."The FTSE 100 pushed back to a three-day high, well above the broken 6,700 level in last week's sell-off. Basic Material stocks led by Johnson Matthey were top performers with consumer goods including SABMiller not far behind. Oil and Gas shares particularly BG Group were weakest on the day as relative calm in Iraq's south subdues oil prices.Eurozone industrial production declinesAcross the Channel, Eurozone industrial production declined less-than-expected in May, according to estimates published on Monday by Eurostat. Production output dropped by 1.1% from the prior month, slightly less than the consensus forecast for a 1.2% decrease. However, April's figure was revised down to a 0.7% increase, from the prior 0.8% rise. Sports Direct lifted by plans to expand into Australia Shares of Sports Direct were this afternoon's biggest risers after it was announced that the sportswear retailer has teamed up with MySale, the flash sale fashion retailer, to launch in Australia and New Zealand.Adding to the positive mood, the Sunday Times's Danny Fortson rejected opposition to Mike Ashley's pay plan at Sports Direct and recommended buying the shares. Tesco's share price received a boost after analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their rating on the stock from 'sell' to 'buy', saying that the stock is undervalued compared to others in the supermarket sector. The broker hiked their target for the shares from 282p to 325p and said that the shares are trading at a 35% discount to those of rivals J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison.AbbVie has made another offer for drugmaker Shire, lifting the latter into positive territory. The bid proposal, which comprises £24.44 in cash and 0.8960 AbbVie shares per Shire share, followed further recent discussions between the two groups. Based on the July 11th share price, Abbvie's offer has a value of £53.20. British Land rose on the news it has completed the second letting at its seven-floor office space in Marble Arch House in London's West End. Meanwhile, updates from the Farnsborough airshow meant that airlines and aerospace engineering stocks are in focus today, including Rolls-Royce, IAG and easyJet. Rolls-Royce pleased investors with the announcement that Airbus had selected the newly launched Trent 7000 engine as the exclusive engine for the new Airbus A330neo, while IAG fell despite saying it has ordered 20 Airbus 320neo aircraft, which will "provide both cost savings and environmental benefits".FTSE 100 - RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 723.00p +3.58%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,198.00p +3.19%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,056.00p +2.83%SABMiller (SAB) 3,297.00p +2.61%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,153.00p +2.58%Tesco (TSCO) 284.45p +2.28%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,956.00p +2.14%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 435.40p +2.04%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 176.20p +2.03%Pearson (PSON) 1,109.00p +2.02%FTSE 100 - FallerseasyJet (EZJ) 1,244.00p -1.74%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,438.00p -0.96%Fresnillo (FRES) 919.50p -0.92%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,085.00p -0.68%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,909.00p -0.57%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,556.00p -0.38%BG Group (BG.) 1,183.50p -0.29%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,018.00p -0.20%SSE (SSE) 1,544.00p -0.19%BP (BP.) 503.40p -0.08%FTSE 250 - RisersXaar (XAR) 547.50p +4.99%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 826.50p +4.62%Drax Group (DRX) 710.00p +4.41%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 69.90p +4.33%Home Retail Group (HOME) 171.00p +3.51%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 193.00p +3.49%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 253.90p +3.21%Spirent Communications (SPT) 95.15p +2.86%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,212.00p +2.71%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 284.90p +2.70%FTSE 250 - FallersJust Eat (JE.) 223.00p -7.93%COLT Group SA (COLT) 132.30p -4.68%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 119.60p -2.45%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,752.00p -2.28%Foxtons Group (FOXT) 284.90p -1.86%RPS Group (RPS) 274.70p -1.54%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,088.00p -1.36%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 329.20p -1.35%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 165.90p -1.31%Synergy Health (SYR) 1,367.00p -1.23%NR