London midday: Footsie hits new high for the year

5th Mar 2013 11:48

London stocks are holding near their best levels of the day and the year. That comes on the back of dovish comments from US Fed Vice-Chairman Janet Yellen - last night - and after signs that authorities in both Europe and China will loosen their fiscal policies in a bid to buttress growth. In that regard, following last night´s meeting of European Union finance ministers the bloc´s Economics Affairs Commissioner, Olli Rehn, signalled that several countries may be given more time to meet their budget deficit reduction goals.As well, countries such as Ireland and Portugal may be granted greater breathing room to return the funds borrowed from international creditors - at the height of the financial crisis - in order to prop up their economies. Regarding today´s service sector data, the Markit/CIPS service sector purchasing managers survey for February has come in at 51.8, versus 51.5 for the month before and economists´ expectations for a small retreat to 51.3.Economists at Barclays had this to day about the data: "The solid reading for services activity and the upbeat accompanying commentary on improving business conditions stand in contrast to the alarmingly weak manufacturing PMI, and makes it more likely that the latter was an erratic reading." All eyes will now turn towards this afternoon´s ISM service sector gauge Stateside. Quite positively as well, overnight the British Retail Consortium reported that retail sales - in value terms - increased at a 4.4% year-on-year clip in February, up from a 3.0% pace in January and 1.5% in December. That was the fastest rate of increase since February 2010.FTSE 100: Serco takes over at the top of the leaderboard International Services firm Serco Group has reported a 2012 operating profit of £287m, up 8% on revenues of £4.91bn. "2013 outlook comments stress a modest increase in organic revenue growth which, given the 3.3% FY12 figure, we interpret as in line with previous guidance towards a 5% growth rate," Jefferies comments. "The preliminary results contain several positive catalysts including strong FCF conversion, a rebasing of the dividend pay-out and reassuring fiscal year estimated 2013 guidance," the broker adds.Standard Chartered has unveiled pre-tax profits $6.88bn, coming in slightly ahead of expectations, while at the same time announcing an 11% increase in its dividend pay-out.International energy services company Wood Group, has posted a solid 20% rise in revenue from continuing operations for its full year ended December 31st, boosted by growth in all three divisions. Earnings before interst, tax, and amortisation (EBITA) from continuing operations came in at $461.1m (2011: $341.6m), up 35%. The EBITA margin increased from 6.0% to 6.8%. Commodities trader Glencore has announced a full year adjusted net profit of $3.06bn, slightly less than was expected by the markets, although it sees a global recovery under way. The company has sets April 16th as the deadline for the completion of its merger with Xstrata.Meggitt, the international company specialising in high performance components and sub-systems for aerospace, defence and energy markets, has been selected to provide a package of thermal management products for certain types of LEAP engine for French manufacturer Snecma (Safran), in a deal valued at $175m.FTSE 250: Ophir Energy attracting some attention Shares in Ophir Energy made strong gains on Tuesday, as the outfit reported a 100% operational success rate for 2012. The company increased net contingent resources by 896m barrels of oil equivalent (boe), from 210m boe to 1.106m boe. Shares also bounced higher yesterday on the back of reports on Bloomberg highlighting the attractiveness of the company for potential suitors, such as Shell or Cnooc.Office space group Regus announced full year pre-tax operating profits of £90.2m.Equipment rental group Ashtead reported a third quarter pre-tax profit of £53.8m on the back of revenues of £333.9m, up from £271m in the year ago period. The company has also lifted its full year profit targets.FTSE 100 - RisersSerco Group (SRP) 630.00p +8.81%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 814.50p +7.45%Xstrata (XTA) 1,140.00p +3.68%GKN (GKN) 285.50p +3.48%Glencore International (GLEN) 380.40p +2.82%Meggitt (MGGT) 472.00p +2.81%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,828.50p +2.72%Kingfisher (KGF) 284.40p +2.60%Capita (CPI) 905.00p +2.38%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,391.00p +2.26%FTSE 100 - FallersIntu Properties (INTU) 335.10p -1.18%Centrica (CNA) 358.90p -0.69%SSE (SSE) 1,462.00p -0.48%Melrose Industries (MRO) 257.60p -0.43%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,550.50p -0.38%BP (BP.) 442.35p -0.35%Croda International (CRDA) 2,615.00p -0.30%Vodafone Group (VOD) 167.25p -0.27%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,307.00p -0.23%United Utilities Group (UU.) 743.50p -0.20%FTSE 250 - RisersRegus (RGU) 142.40p +9.96%Ashtead Group (AHT) 566.50p +8.01%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 495.90p +7.41%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 53.00p +6.23%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 835.00p +4.38%Michael Page International (MPI) 454.30p +3.86%Home Retail Group (HOME) 126.30p +3.78%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 775.00p +3.61%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 268.90p +3.50%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 210.80p +3.38%FTSE 250 - FallersRotork (ROR) 2,841.00p -2.14%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,431.00p -1.97%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 33.81p -1.91%Betfair Group (BET) 682.00p -1.87%Ted Baker (TED) 1,223.00p -1.77%Lonmin (LMI) 330.50p -1.72%Playtech Ltd. (PTEC) 563.00p -1.40%Britvic (BVIC) 422.50p -1.28%Laird (LRD) 241.30p -1.27%Ocado Group (OCDO) 126.10p -1.10%FTSE TechMARK - RisersFiltronic (FTC) 70.25p +5.64%Xaar (XAR) 340.00p +4.62%Gresham Computing (GHT) 85.44p +2.32%Sepura (SEPU) 96.00p +1.86%Vislink (VLK) 32.00p +1.59%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 18.50p +1.37%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 198.00p +1.02%Consort Medical (CSRT) 740.00p +0.54%Kofax (KFX) 289.50p +0.52%Innovation Group (TIG) 24.75p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersArk Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.87p -8.42%Promethean World (PRW) 16.50p -5.71%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,135.00p -1.99%NCC Group (NCC) 147.00p -1.67%Phytopharm (PYM) 1.68p -1.47%Vectura Group (VEC) 92.00p -0.54%Ricardo (RCDO) 400.00p -0.37%Innovation Group (TIG) 24.75p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 6.00p 0.00%Parity Group (PTY) 26.50p 0.00%AB