London close: Stocks rise as Greece secures bailout

9th Mar 2012 16:43

- 85.8 per cent of private creditors accept Greek bond-swap- Juncker says that bailout conditions have been met- Aggreko leads the rise after resultsAfter a subdued start, the Footsie jumped into the blue in afternoon trade on Friday, after Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the Greek bailout conditions have been met following last night's debt-swap."The necessary conditions are in place to launch the relevant national procedures required for the final approval of the euro area's contribution to the financing of a second Greek rescue package," Juncker said.Greece announced that 85.8% of its private bondholders have decided to accept a "voluntary" 53.5% haircut on their debt. At the same time Athens indicated that it plans to implement the collective action clauses (CACs) that will force all non-accepting investors to exchange their debt, thus resulting in a full participation rate of 95.7%. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "pleased" with the high level of participation of private creditors, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that "today, the problem is solved [...] A page in the financial crisis is turning." However, Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned that people should not get too excited: "It would be a big mistake to give the impression that the crisis has been resolved. They have an opportunity to solve it and they must use it."The question now remains as to whether this will be considered a default or not. The International Swaps and Derivates Association (ISDA) is meeting this afternoon to discuss the question and to determine whether a credit event has occurred. According to analyst Jodie Gray from Barclays Capital, the activation of the CACs and the likely trigger of credit default swaps (CDSs) will not be of systemic importance.Meanwhile, stocks were given an extra boost after US non-farm payrolls rose by 227,000 in February, well ahead of expectations of 210,000.AGGREKO JUMPS 4%The share price of Aggreko shows no signs of cooling down as it hit a new all-time high following another strong set of results from the temperature control solutions provider. Group revenue rose to £1,396m in 2011 from £1,230m in 2010; that's a 14% increase, but when adjustments are made for currency movements, pass-through fuel and major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Winter Olympics, the underlying rise was 22%Carnival Corporation, the biggest cruise-ship operator in the world, fell after swinging into the red in the first three months of the year, during a quarter in which its infamous Costa Concordia ship became grounded of the coast of Italy in an incident which killed 25 people. Silver and gold producer Fresnillo was the worst performer after Deutsche Bank downgraded its rating on the stock from buy to hold and cut its target from 1,925p to 1,875p. Oil and gas stocks were also feeling the effects of broker downgrades: Tullow Oil fell after Societe Generale cut its recommendation from buy to hold; while BG Group was out of favour after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating from conviction buy to buy. In contrast, Cairn Energy was performing well after Societe Generale upgraded the stock from hold to buy. Engineering group Weir was in the red as it looks like it will lose its battle with Danish rival FLSmidth for the takeover of Australian mining equipment firm Ludowici after FLSmidth's offer was allowed to proceed by the Australian Takeovers Panel. FTSE 250: HUNTING, DAIRY CREST, LSE LEAD THE RISEOil services firm Hunting was the best performer of the day, following the release of its full year results yesterday, while Perform jumped after Credit Suisse said before yesterday that "we believe that Perform's rights portfolio, digital positioning and resultant top-line growth will likely attract potential acquisition interest." Meanwhile, dairy foods group Dairy Crest wasn't too far behind after investors celebrated the company's decision to review its French division, which could possibly include a sale of its spreads unit, St Hubert.London Stock Exchange (LSE) was also a high riser after saying that it will acquire a majority stake in LCH.Clearnet. The terms value LCH.Clearnet at €813m (£677m). BCFTSE 100 - RisersAggreko (AGK) 2,313.00p +3.96%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,450.00p +2.73%Cairn Energy (CNE) 331.60p +2.25%Land Securities Group (LAND) 716.50p +2.21%International Power (IPR) 366.00p +2.18%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,711.00p +2.15%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,195.00p +2.13%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,421.00p +2.01%Experian (EXPN) 968.00p +1.95%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,247.00p +1.90%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 160.80p -2.55%Man Group (EMG) 139.80p -1.41%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,801.00p -1.26%BAE Systems (BA.) 311.00p -0.99%Vodafone Group (VOD) 168.65p -0.91%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,447.00p -0.89%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 958.00p -0.83%BG Group (BG.) 1,501.50p -0.63%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 26.20p -0.57%Pearson (PSON) 1,203.00p -0.50%FTSE 250 - RisersHunting (HTG) 925.50p +8.12%Perform Group (PER) 305.00p +7.02%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 347.00p +6.41%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 955.00p +6.35%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 36.20p +5.85%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 79.80p +5.77%Supergroup (SGP) 594.00p +4.49%Hays (HAS) 85.65p +3.94%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 53.90p +3.65%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 383.00p +3.37%FTSE 250 - FallersComputacenter (CCC) 368.40p -3.81%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 81.45p -2.75%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 481.70p -2.49%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 14.20p -2.20%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 69.75p -2.11%Bodycote (BOY) 410.00p -2.10%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 766.00p -1.79%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 266.80p -1.73%Northgate (NTG) 245.90p -1.64%Home Retail Group (HOME) 102.40p -1.63%