London midday: Markets shrug off strong showing by retailers

17th Jan 2013 11:45

In spite of a strong performance by retail stocks, the Footsie was trading flat by Thursday lunchtime with weakness in the mining sector limiting any upside for stock markets in London.Associated British Foods and Home Retail were standout performers in the UK, while retail peers Carrefour and Delhaize were on the rise in Europe. Nevertheless, miner Rio Tinto was providing a drag after its frontman Tom Albanese resigned.Markets were also digesting the news that Spain once again saw lower yields at debt auctions this morning, selling €4.5bn in three issuances. Analysts at Bankinter said that the Spanish Treasury is on a solid pace, having placed €11.3bn of debt in the first two auctions of the year, 5% of the gross total expected for 2013. "We can see that the country is recovering credibility," they said. Nevertheless, it's been a "slow start to the European session this morning, with US earnings and economic data likely to drive market sentiment later," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."With a number of companies due to report before the opening bell in the US, with a particular focus on Bank of America and Citigroup, we should see trading activity pick up. There'll be a lot of attention on these two earnings reports in particular this morning following the strong results from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan yesterday,"he added.While the European economic data schedule was pretty sparse this morning, a number of leading indicators are due out later on in the US, with markets likely to focus on jobless claims, building permits, housing starts and the Philly Fed index.FTSE 100: Associated British Foods surges after Primark performanceSugar and retail group Associated British Foods was registering impressive gains this morning after saying that year-to-date trading has been ahead of its expectations. This was helped by an "outstanding" performance by its Primark division, which saw constant currency sales jump 27% in the first 16 weeks of its fiscal year. Both Canaccord Genuity and Panmure Gordon raised their target prices for the stock today.Heading the other way was mining giant Rio Tinto after its CEO Tom Albanese stepped down following an announcement by the company that it expects to recognise a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $14bn in its 2012 full-year results. Sector peers Xstrata, Glencore and Anglo American were also lower.Real estate investment trust Hammerson gained after entering into a joint venture worth £1bn with Westfield to redevelop the retail centre of Croydon.Investment management group Aberdeen fell despite saying that assets under management rose 3% in is first quarter. The group did show an element of caution in its outlook, however, saying that while stock markets have begun strongly in the 2103, "we believe that uncertainty still persists and that further periods of volatility remain likely in the months ahead".Oil giant BP was subdued after yesterday's news that Islamist militants have kidnapped foreigners in a terrorist attack at one of its gas fields in Algeria. Overnight, it has been confirmed that two people have been killed in the attack.FTSE 250: Home Retail rockets after Argos beats expectationsHome Retail rocketed this morning after lifting its profit guidance for the full year after a decent performance at Argos. Sales at Argos stores open more than a year rose 2.7% in the 18 weeks to January 5th, ahead of a consensus forecast for a 0.2% increase. Seymour Pierce has upgraded the stock to 'hold', while Bank of America has retained its 'buy' rating and lifted its target price.Mining group Petropavlovsk was bucking the sector trend after saying that gold production rose 13% in 2012, while realised gold prices increased by 3%. The company also announced a potential $238m investment in IRC (a non-precious metals unit in which it holds a majority stake) to fund production growth.Translation and communications software group SDL was in the red after saying that profits would fall short of market forecasts. Transport, logistics and support services firm Stobart was also lower after saying that full-year results will miss current market forecasts after a mixed third quarter.Dixons Retail edged higher after reporting a 7% rise in like-for-like sales in the 12 weeks to January 5th.FTSE 100 - RisersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,656.00p +6.43%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 208.80p +2.86%ITV (ITV) 112.10p +1.82%Old Mutual (OML) 184.80p +1.48%Aggreko (AGK) 1,796.00p +1.47%Croda International (CRDA) 2,277.00p +1.16%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 150.60p +1.07%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 353.70p +1.03%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,780.00p +1.02%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 328.10p +0.95%FTSE 100 - FallersXstrata (XTA) 1,121.50p -1.84%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 384.70p -1.79%Glencore International (GLEN) 373.80p -1.70%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,405.00p -1.53%National Grid (NG.) 683.00p -1.37%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,672.00p -1.36%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,276.00p -1.01%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,139.50p -0.99%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,056.00p -0.99%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 716.00p -0.90%FTSE 250 - RisersHome Retail Group (HOME) 140.10p +15.31%Petropavlovsk (POG) 393.50p +6.24%Computacenter (CCC) 437.20p +4.10%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 177.50p +3.80%Pace (PIC) 219.10p +2.91%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 375.00p +2.46%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 735.00p +2.15%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 784.50p +1.95%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 37.86p +1.77%Personal Assets Trust (PNL) 34,800.00p +1.67%FTSE 250 - FallersNew World Resources A Shares (NWR) 297.40p -4.89%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 91.00p -4.26%SDL (SDL) 494.50p -3.61%Premier Oil (PMO) 361.80p -2.53%Ashtead Group (AHT) 452.40p -1.89%Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 454.30p -1.73%CSR (CSR) 350.70p -1.68%Amlin (AML) 379.60p -1.68%Hays (HAS) 88.15p -1.45%Afren (AFR) 136.70p -1.37%BC