London midday: Tullow drops as Footsie edges higher

4th Dec 2012 11:38

UK stocks were making small gains by Tuesday lunchtime on the back of developments in the Eurozone, though the mood was cautious as budget uncertainty in the US continues to weigh on sentiment.The Ecofin is meeting today to agree to proposals on bank supervision and take stock of negotiations with the European Parliament on bank capital requirements."It still remains unclear exactly how the process will work, however the fact that European leaders are still insistent that the details will be ironed out by year end is being taken as a positive," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."We're so used to the Eurozone dragging its feet that the thought of it actually sticking to its target is a pleasant surprise," he said.Details of Greece's debt buy-back programme were revealed yesterday, which should pave the way for the next tranche of aid which will be released next week. Athens is to repurchase up to €10bn of its own debt. Meanwhile, the bailout of the Spanish banking sector received the green light from officials. Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed that the disbursement of €39.5bn will be made "mid-next week". However, the FTSE 100 finished broadly flat yesterday after the US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) purchasing managers' index fell from 51.7 to 49.5 in November, well below the 51.4 forecast."Not only did the US ISM manufacturing fall below the important 50 mark but also reignited worries similar as mentioned also in the Beige Book a few days ago that the current uncertainty concerning the Fiscal Cliff might already is having a bigger negative impact on the economy than previously thought," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital.In a letter to President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner presented a deficit-reduction proposal that included $1.4tn in spending cuts and $800bn in new revenue. However, the plan was rejected by the Obama administration as it didn't include higher tax rates for top earners.FTSE 100: Tullow hit by exploration failure offshore French GuianaTullow Oil dropped after revealing that the Zaedyus-2 appraisal well (GM-ES-2), offshore French Guiana, has completed drilling and not encountered commercial hydrocarbons. Tullow has a 27.5% stake in the Guyane Maritime licence, which contains the well.Plumbing merchant Wolseley edged lower after reporting that while like-for-like revenue growth accelerated in the US and Central Europe in the first quarter, declines in France and the Nordic markets worsened.Mining giant Rio Tinto gained after Credit Suisse increased its target price from 3,500p to 3,700p and reiterated its 'outperform' rating on the shares, adding the stock to its 'European Focus list'.Engineering and project management group AMEC was wanted after winning a contract worth over half a billion dollars to build a new oil refinery in Kuwait, expected to be the largest in the Middle East. British Gas owner Centrica rose after partner EDF Energy announced that it has extended the life of two UK power stations by seven years.Merger partners Xstrata and Glencore were under the weather after Xstrata CFO Trevor Reid announced that he does not want to take up the equivalent position at the combined entity.FTSE 250: ITE jumps after full-year resultsConference and exhibition organiser ITE Group was a high riser on the second-tier index after reporting record full-year results in "its lesser biennial year".Package tour operator TUI Travel gained after saying that the winter 2012/13 season has got off to a "very encouraging" start, though trading in France remains challenging.Pub operator Greene King edged higher after delivering solid interim results driven by a good performance from its retail division, although it warned that trading conditions are likely to remain challenging for the rest of the year.FTSE 100 - RisersShire Plc (SHP) 1,845.00p +1.88%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 121.40p +1.76%Centrica (CNA) 333.30p +1.46%Tesco (TSCO) 326.15p +1.15%Unilever (ULVR) 2,423.00p +1.13%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 347.70p +1.13%Aviva (AV.) 354.70p +1.11%Amec (AMEC) 1,064.00p +1.04%BAE Systems (BA.) 331.60p +0.88%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 295.00p +0.82%FTSE 100 - FallersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,301.00p -5.11%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,948.00p -2.06%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,550.00p -1.73%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,358.00p -1.63%Carnival (CCL) 2,484.00p -1.51%ARM Holdings (ARM) 760.50p -1.30%Polymetal International (POLY) 1,049.00p -1.13%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 263.40p -1.05%Whitbread (WTB) 2,379.00p -1.04%BP (BP.) 425.70p -1.03%FTSE 250 - RisersITE Group (ITE) 209.00p +5.98%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 604.50p +4.95%TUI Travel (TT.) 278.30p +3.46%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 99.15p +3.01%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 248.80p +2.81%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 97.00p +2.75%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 485.00p +2.65%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 252.40p +2.39%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 804.00p +2.36%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 264.70p +2.12%FTSE 250 - FallersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 55.45p -2.72%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 403.20p -2.14%Anite (AIE) 135.00p -1.82%Petropavlovsk (POG) 330.00p -1.67%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 30.52p -1.55%Galliford Try (GFRD) 711.00p -1.46%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 286.80p -1.44%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 405.80p -1.39%Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 499.50p -1.28%Laird (LRD) 217.50p -1.27%BC