London midday: Stocks sink as global growth forecasts cut

29th May 2013 11:45

Cuts to global growth forecasts and rising unemployment in economic powerhouse Germany sparked a sell-off on financial markets on Wednesday, as stocks pulled back following the impressive surge the day before.Following a three-day weekend for the UK and US, indices surged on Tuesday on renewed hopes of continued monetary easing in Europe and Japan. Meanwhile, US consumer confidence came in at a five-year high and American home prices registered their biggest annual jump since 2006.However, the bullish mood was quickly clobbered this morning after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cut global growth forecasts across the board and warned that the gap is widening between faster growing countries like the US and Japan and those in recession such as the Eurozone. The OECD reduced its global growth estimate for 2013 from 3.4% to 3.1%. The Organisation also slashed the UK's growth forecast from 0.9% to 0.8% and now forecasts a steeper contraction in the Eurozone (-0.6% from -0.1% previously).Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its 2013 economic growth forecasts for China from 8.0% to 7.75%, citing weak global demand."The revisions hardly come as a surprise though given that the data out of China has been well below par recently, while any positive data has been heavily questioned by analysts for its validity," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."To be honest, I would be very surprised if we don't see further revisions from both the IMF and OECD this year. Especially when you consider the fact that Chinese forecasts are still above its government target of 7.5% this year, which is even starting to look a little optimistic."Also dampening sentiment this morning was unemployment in Germany which rose by more than four times analysts' estimates in May. The number people who exited the workforce in May rose by 21,000, compared to the loss of 5,000 jobs that the consensus had expected.Ex-div stocks weigh on marketsA number of heavyweight stocks went ex-dividend this morning, meaning that new investors won't have the chance to tap into their latest payouts. These included Amec, Marks & Spencer, Cable & Wireless Communications and Premier Farnell.Smiths Group, the global technology firm, was another heavy faller after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'hold', while retailer Halfords was hit by a ratings cut by Espirito Santo to 'neutral'.Oil and gas firm BG Group was lower on rumours of a £80bn break-up bid from a number of potential bidders, including Shell, Exxon Mobil, Petrobas and Reliance Group.Defence and security group Cobham was lower despite winning a AUD$85m five-year contract extension in Papua New Guinea for its Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) aviation services to transport workers to remote mines.De La Rue, which makes banknotes, was also down after seeing sales fall 8.0% to £484m in the year to March 30th, worse than the £509m forecast.Elsewhere, software group Idox was a big mover on AIM, dropping over 20% after its bottom-line guidance for the full year came in below analysts' expectations. The company expects EBITDA to be around £18m after a slower-than-expected first half, worse than the current consensus forecast for £21m.FTSE 100 - RisersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 253.60p +2.26%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,092.00p +0.83%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 334.50p +0.77%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,901.50p +0.73%Anglo American (AAL) 1,550.00p +0.62%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,946.00p +0.39%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,043.00p +0.39%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,295.00p +0.31%FTSE 100 - FallersNational Grid (NG.) 801.00p -4.59%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,886.00p -2.93%SSE (SSE) 1,581.00p -2.89%ARM Holdings (ARM) 981.00p -2.87%CRH (CRH) 1,399.00p -2.85%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,345.00p -2.82%WPP (WPP) 1,158.00p -2.69%United Utilities Group (UU.) 766.00p -2.67%Amec (AMEC) 1,031.00p -2.64%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 472.40p -2.60%FTSE 250 - RisersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 137.30p +5.45%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 225.80p +2.73%Petropavlovsk (POG) 129.90p +2.44%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,868.00p +2.08%Rank Group (RNK) 150.00p +2.04%Lonmin (LMI) 270.20p +2.00%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 168.50p +1.81%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 39.19p +1.63%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 108.00p +1.50%Homeserve (HSV) 267.50p +1.29%FTSE 250 - FallersInternational Personal Finance (IPF) 528.00p -4.86%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 44.14p -4.64%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 107.00p -4.12%Ocado Group (OCDO) 259.10p -4.04%Marston's (MARS) 146.70p -3.87%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 552.00p -3.83%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 713.50p -3.58%Regus (RGU) 161.60p -3.52%Greene King (GNK) 760.00p -3.25%Restaurant Group (RTN) 512.50p -3.21%BC