London midday: Miners unwanted ahead of Jackson Hole meeting

30th Aug 2012 12:00

- Jackson Hole speculation ramps up- Global economic data disappoints - Evraz, Kazakhmys and the miners provide a drag in LondonUK stocks were continuing to trade in the red by Thursday lunchtime as equity markets the world over showed their nerves ahead of some eagerly-awaited central bank meetings over the next week."Today is the first day of the Jackson Hole Symposium in the US. The markets are expected to remain quiet ahead of Ben Bernanke's speech tomorrow. People will be looking for any subtle hints that the Fed intend to loosen monetary policy next month, potentially in the form of QE3," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi is being forced to miss the Jackson Hole conference due to "a heavy workload", increasing speculation that he could be putting the finishes touches to plans for strong action ahead of an ECB meeting on September 6th. Losses on stock markets were cemented this morning after German unemployment increased for a fifth consecutive month in August. Meanwhile, economic data from Asia also failed to brighten the mood: Japanese retail sales came in below expectations and South Korean manufacturers' confidence remained near its post-crisis low.FTSE 100: Miners dominate the fallers in morning tradeResources stocks such as Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp and Vedanta Resources were registering losses this morning as risk appetite is scaled back ahead of the pivotal meetings of central bankers over the next week.?? After an initial stint in the blue, steel group Evraz fell after reporting a tough first half after it was hit by falling steel sales and prices. Kazakhmys was under pressure after Jefferies downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold', and said that it now prefers copper peer Antofagasta. The broker said that Kazakhmys's first-half results were "much less impressive" than Antofagasta and its 26% stake in ENRC is "not helpful". Precious metals group Polymetal was bucking the trend after reporting a 41% increase in first-half revenue as gold sales volumes and prices rose. ??Global advertising conglomerate WPP dropped after saying that it is set to achieve a full-year like-for-like (LFL) revenue increase some way short of previous expectations. The group is forecasting LFL revenue growth for 2012 of 3.5%, versus a budgeted improvement of 4.0%. ??Barclays was under the weather after promoting from within to fill its vacant CEO position, moving up Antony Jenkins, currently head of Barclays Retail and Banking. Barclays is under pressure after the Serious Fraud Office said it is investigating the lender in relation to payments made in the Middle East. ??Car insurance group Admiral was also in the red despite reporting a record half-year profit and record interim dividend payment. The company noted a "marked change" in the core UK car insurance market in 2012 "premium rates falling and competitors seeking to add market share". ?FTSE 250: Cape jumps in spite of "difficult period" Shares in Cape, the provider of non-mechanical support services, rose strongly despite the group reporting a 65% drop in adjusted pre-tax profits in the first half. Nevertheless, revenues improved by 11% and the forward order book increased by £90m. ??"I am pleased to say that, having carried out an initial review of all of our operations, I continue to believe that the core of the business is fundamentally strong," said Chief Executive Joe Oatley. ??Heading the other way was recruitment group Hays after saying that it expects the overall economic backdrop to remains "difficult" in 2013. The firm cuts its full-year dividend by more than a half due to the increasing global economic uncertainty, which slowed the pace of the profit growth. FTSE 100 - RisersMorrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 281.20p +1.59%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 224.60p +1.13%Kingfisher (KGF) 277.40p +1.06%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,933.00p +0.99%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,318.00p +0.96%SSE (SSE) 1,383.00p +0.80%Tesco (TSCO) 339.85p +0.76%Diageo (DGE) 1,737.00p +0.75%Pennon Group (PNN) 744.00p +0.74%Centrica (CNA) 331.70p +0.67%FTSE 100 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 594.00p -3.73%Vedanta Resources (VED) 858.50p -3.43%WPP (WPP) 806.00p -3.07%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,167.00p -2.42%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 307.80p -2.29%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,098.00p -2.23%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,862.50p -2.18%GKN (GKN) 213.90p -2.06%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,718.00p -2.00%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,541.00p -1.78%FTSE 250 - RisersCape (CIU) 231.10p +19.99%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 395.00p +3.67%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 96.00p +2.73%Essar Energy (ESSR) 102.60p +2.60%IP Group (IPO) 129.10p +2.46%Dialight (DIA) 1,163.00p +2.02%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,027.00p +1.88%Redrow (RDW) 148.20p +1.86%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 77.40p +1.64%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 199.00p +1.53%FTSE 250 - FallersBumi (BUMI) 292.50p -8.96%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 157.30p -8.86%Hays (HAS) 71.15p -7.18%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 37.26p -5.19%Melrose (MRO) 234.20p -3.86%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 125.90p -3.15%Shanks Group (SKS) 87.80p -2.82%Petropavlovsk (POG) 360.80p -2.78%SIG (SHI) 99.60p -2.54%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 178.90p -2.51%BC