London midday: Stocks rise as emerging-market turmoil eases

28th Jan 2014 11:31

- Markets rebound from six-week low- UK GDP rises 0.7 per cent in Q4, as expected- US data, FOMC meeting awaitedtechMARK 2,780.12 +0.66%FTSE 100 6,579.20 +0.44%FTSE 250 15,711.22 +1.18%Data showing the best annual growth in Britain since 2007 gave UK markets a lift on Tuesday, helping stocks to recover from their worst levels in nearly six weeks.According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, a slight slowdown from the 0.8% growth registered the preceding three months but in line with expectations.However, over 2013 as a whole, the economy expanded at a 1.9% rate, compared with just 0.3% growth in 2012."Today's estimate suggests over four-fifths of the fall in GDP during the recession has been recovered, although it still remains 1.3% below the pre-recession peak," said ONS Chief Economic Advisor Joe Grice.The FTSE 100 was trading up 0.4% at 6,579 by midday, rebounding after hitting 6,550.66 on Monday - its worst closing price since December 18th.The sell-off in emerging-market currencies - which had sparked big falls across global stock markets in recent days - stabilised today after Turkey's central bank said it would hold an emergency monetary policy meeting to take measures to halt the sharp slide in the lira. Investors were also beginning to look ahead to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting which concludes tomorrow. The Fed, which began scaling back its monthly asset purchases in December from $85bn to $75bn, will make another $10bn cut this month, according to the consensus forecast.Ahead of the meeting, investors Stateside will be focusing on a number of key economic indicators out today, including US durable goods orders for December, US home-price figures for November and US consumer confidence data for January.Fresnillo falls after production reportPrecious metals producer Fresnillo was lower despite beating silver output targets in 2013 and hitting its forecasts for gold. Silver production in 2014, however, is expected to be flat.Sector peer Randgold also fell, tracking the price of precious metals lower this morning.Oil and gas firm BG Group was in the red again after sinking sharply yesterday on disappointing production guidance for 2014 and 2015. Analysts across the board trimmed their target prices for the stock this morning, with JPMorgan also downgrading the shares to 'neutral'.Leading the upside was fund manager Aberdeen as the stock recovered after bearing the brunt of the sell-off in recent days due to its exposure to the emerging markets.RBS rebounded slightly after sinking late yesterday as it detailed nearly £3bn of provisions for new claims. The stock was upgraded this morning by Investec from 'sell' to 'hold'.Chip designers ARM Holdings and Imagination Technologies were lower after an IDC report showed that while global smartphone shipments rose 38% growth was driven by lower-margin cheap devices.Fund manager F&C Asset Management, which rocketed yesterday after a £708m offer from a division of Canada's Bank of Montreal, was still making gains this morning after recommending the deal to shareholders. Chief Executive Officer Richard Wilson said that the offer "represents a unique opportunity to broaden and accelerate our ambitions".FTSE 100 - RisersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 405.10p +3.53%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,347.00p +3.18%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 82.96p +3.18%easyJet (EZJ) 1,634.00p +2.96%Carnival (CCL) 2,551.00p +2.95%Persimmon (PSN) 1,286.00p +2.88%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,469.00p +2.80%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,219.50p +2.53%Royal Mail (RMG) 572.50p +2.42%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,757.00p +2.21%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 751.00p -3.10%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,034.00p -2.96%ARM Holdings (ARM) 936.00p -2.25%G4S (GFS) 246.00p -1.56%BG Group (BG.) 1,070.50p -1.06%Tesco (TSCO) 321.40p -0.99%Centrica (CNA) 314.40p -0.91%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 99.80p -0.89%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,000.50p -0.79%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,235.00p -0.75%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 509.50p +5.77%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 122.00p +4.81%Foxtons Group (FOXT) 338.70p +4.34%Afren (AFR) 151.10p +4.28%Xaar (XAR) 1,074.00p +4.27%Greencore Group (GNC) 248.50p +3.93%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,608.00p +3.90%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 175.20p +3.79%Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,293.00p +3.52%International Personal Finance (IPF) 480.80p +3.40%FTSE 250 - FallersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 175.10p -1.96%Evraz (EVR) 92.90p -1.59%De La Rue (DLAR) 800.00p -1.54%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 645.50p -1.30%Perform Group (PER) 234.00p -1.27%Polymetal International (POLY) 594.50p -1.16%Cairn Energy (CNE) 234.40p -1.14%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 210.00p -1.04%Hunting (HTG) 780.00p -0.95%Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 506.50p -0.69%BC