London open: Footsie holding on to five-year highs

12th Mar 2013 09:05

The FTSE 100 opened in cautious manner on Tuesday morning as investors paused for breath after the index hit fresh five-year highs the day before.London's benchmark is now hovering around the 6,500 mark, a level not seen since late 2007 before the financial crisis sparked a sell-off in financial markets worldwide.Traders are likely to focus on UK trade balance and manufacturing figures which are due for release this morning. The trade balance is expected to have remained more or less flat in January, while output data is forecast to show a continuing decline.Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said: "With the pound continuing to sink on the currency markets and investors continuing to focus more on the UK's fragile fundamentals every piece of economic data is being subject to greater and greater scrutiny ahead of next week's budget, as the pressure continues to build on the Chancellor to come up with some creative measures to help boost the UK's struggling economy."FTSE 100: Antofagasta jumps after strong yearCopper miner Antofagasta was a high riser after unveiling a 10.9% rise in revenues in 2012, helped by a year of record production. Revenues reached $6.74bn, beating the $6.5bn forecast from Investec.Heading the other way was precious metals miner Fresnillo after reporting that profit contracted by 19% last year due to lower silver prices and grades, and higher depreciation and exploration expenses.Real estate group British Land saw shares fall after announcing its plan to raise £500bn through a placing to fund investment opportunities. The company also said that it has sold Ropemaker Place in London for £472m.UK banking group Lloyds was higher after trimming its holding in wealth management outfit St James's Place via a placing in an effort to strengthen its capital cushion. Lloyds is cutting its stake from 57% to 37% and will realise a gain of around £400m from the move.FTSE 250: IG Group welcomes "conducive" conditionsInterdealer broker IG Group surged early on after beating its own guidance in the third quarter, helped by volatile financial markets over the past few months. Revenue in the three months ended February 28th was up 18% year-on-year to £88.6m as "client sentiment improved in more conducive market conditions".Translation and communications software firm SDL slumped after saying a weak performance in technology and underinvestment in the company hurt its full-year performance. Shares dropped as much as 11% early on despite the company saying it remains confident in its outlook for sales in 2013. Kenmare Resources, operator of the Moma titanium minerals mine in Mozambique, gained after unveiling a jump in profits and revenues for 2012. FTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,141.00p +4.20%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 536.50p +3.07%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,025.00p +2.53%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 50.76p +1.52%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,501.00p +1.49%Barclays (BARC) 316.15p +1.49%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 249.10p +1.47%TUI Travel (TT.) 315.60p +1.45%Whitbread (WTB) 2,616.00p +1.24%ITV (ITV) 129.30p +1.09%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Land Co (BLND) 562.50p -3.10%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,451.00p -2.62%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,416.00p -1.19%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,039.00p -1.14%Land Securities Group (LAND) 823.50p -1.08%Hammerson (HMSO) 513.00p -1.06%Aggreko (AGK) 1,891.00p -0.94%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,409.00p -0.84%Vodafone Group (VOD) 184.60p -0.62%Unilever (ULVR) 2,734.00p -0.58%FTSE 250 - RisersIG Group Holdings (IGG) 560.50p +7.38%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 32.91p +5.14%Alent (ALNT) 384.00p +1.86%Ladbrokes (LAD) 244.00p +1.75%Computacenter (CCC) 510.00p +1.59%Cairn Energy (CNE) 296.70p +1.57%RPS Group (RPS) 251.60p +1.45%Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 565.50p +1.44%Pace (PIC) 229.50p +1.41%Homeserve (HSV) 238.20p +1.36%FTSE 250 - FallersSDL (SDL) 440.00p -11.84%Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) 72.50p -3.27%Inchcape (INCH) 516.50p -2.55%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,398.00p -2.37%Bumi (BUMI) 337.00p -2.15%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 346.50p -2.12%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 760.00p -1.94%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 249.50p -1.85%St James's Place (STJ) 527.00p -1.77%Dignity (DTY) 1,409.00p -1.47%BC