London open: Markets cautious ahead of German ZEW survey

19th Feb 2013 08:22

Stock markets began Tuesday's session in a cautious fashion ahead of a closely-watched reading of German confidence this morning.The ZEW index which measures economic sentiment in Germany is expected to have risen to 35 in February, up from 31.5 last month. An increase this month would be the sixth consecutive monthly gain, the longest winning streak in two years.Meanwhile, the current-situation index is forecast to increase from 7.1 to 9.0. Figures are due out at 10:00."With US markets closed for a public holiday on Monday and Asian markets overnight trading in a mixed manner, European stock indices have little cues for firm direction to the upside or downside," said market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital."Corporate news is not helping so far, prompting investors to refrain further from adding risk exposure," he said.In focus this morning were food producing giants Danone and Nestle, with the former announcing 900 jobs cuts and the latter removing products that have been found to contain horse DNA.InterContinental falls as RevPAR slipsHoliday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels was among the worst performers early on after saying that revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell 5.2% in 2012. Nevertheless, strong growth in the US and cost cuts helped to produce a 10% increase in operating profits.Banking group HSBC was a heavy faller this morning after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'equal weight' and reduced its target price from 740p to 737p. However, the same broker raised its rating for sector peer Standard Chartered to 'overweight' and hiked its target from 1,656p to 1,924p, causing shares to rise.Power station company Drax gained despite reporting a 4.4% fall in underlying earnings in 2012. The company said it will be investing significant capital to transform the business.Dairy foods group Dairy Crest edged higher after announcing "reorganisation" plans, which include targeted cost savings and a number of senior management changes. The company also revealed that it has managed to keep hold of its contract to supply milk to supermarket giant Sainsbury for another three years.Speciality chemicals firm AZ Electronic Materials was flat after saying that revenues were broadly unchanged in 2012. However, the company did say that it expects revenues and profits to show "positive momentum" in 2013.FTSE 100 - RisersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,772.50p +2.49%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 430.40p +1.44%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 134.20p +1.36%TUI Travel (TT.) 320.60p +1.26%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,313.00p +1.18%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,541.00p +1.09%Reed Elsevier (REL) 702.00p +1.08%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,833.00p +0.99%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,012.00p +0.80%National Grid (NG.) 698.00p +0.79%FTSE 100 - FallersVodafone Group (VOD) 162.60p -2.52%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,948.00p -2.06%Hammerson (HMSO) 499.40p -0.91%Anglo American (AAL) 1,968.00p -0.76%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,685.50p -0.69%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,273.00p -0.62%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 331.00p -0.54%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 388.70p -0.41%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 723.00p -0.41%Wolseley (WOS) 3,060.00p -0.39%FTSE 250 - RisersDrax Group (DRX) 632.00p +4.55%Ladbrokes (LAD) 229.50p +3.75%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 780.00p +2.50%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 435.30p +2.40%St James's Place (STJ) 476.90p +2.21%Betfair Group (BET) 719.50p +2.06%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,470.00p +2.06%Carillion (CLLN) 311.30p +2.00%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 95.45p +1.76%RPS Group (RPS) 240.00p +1.69%FTSE 250 - FallersRank Group (RNK) 162.60p -2.87%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 277.30p -2.01%Perform Group (PER) 404.10p -1.44%Diploma (DPLM) 575.00p -1.37%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 117.50p -1.26%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 94.00p -1.05%Spirent Communications (SPT) 166.80p -1.01%Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 501.50p -0.99%Galliford Try (GFRD) 887.00p -0.89%Scottish Inv Trust (SCIN) 544.20p -0.87%BC