London open: Markets flat despite Chinese data

24th Oct 2012 08:30

- Earnings and Eurozone concerns weigh on sentiment- BATS and IHG disappoint early on- Miners gain on upbeat Chinese dataUK stocks failed to rebound from yesterday's steep sell-off despite some upbeat economic data out from China overnight, as investors continued to digest some disappointing corporate earnings the world over."Continuing weak US corporate data with several top-tier companies projecting very challenging conditions in the months ahead and news out of Spain where Moody's downgraded several key regions to junk resulting in higher periphery yields has many investors worried that things might be taken a turn for the worse again, especially with no visible progress in the past few days what an aid package for Spain is concerned," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW Trading at ETX Capital.HSBC's China purchasing managers' index (PMI) for October ticked higher to 49.1 points from 47.9 in September, the best reading for three months. "October's flash PMI reading continues to recover for the second month, thanks in part to a gradual improvement in the new orders index, which picked up to a six-month high," said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for HSBC Holdings PLC's China arm. Markets will also be keeping an eye on the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in the US which comes to a close this evening. However, with no change neither in rates nor in the wording of the FOMC statement expected, "most are expecting it to be a non-event", according to ETX Capital's Huber."Overall short-term sentiment remains negative, further losses today would be considered especially damaging as many indices are near the lower band of the most recent trading range, if these major supports are being broken more losses in the next few days are likely with a change in the overall positive trend possible," Huber said.FTSE 100: BATS and IHG disappoint after Q3 updatesCigarette and tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BATS) was under pressure after organic revenue growth and volumes were worse than expected in the third quarter. On a reported basis, sales fell 1% on the back of adverse exchange rate movements. Sector peer Imperial was in demand after Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to 'neutral'.Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) saw growth in US revenue per available room (RevPAR) moderate in the third quarter as a result of a seasonal impacts.Information services provider Experian was pulling back following yesterday's strong rise after it said it was increasing its stake in Brazilian credit bureau Serasa from 70% to 99.6% for $1.5bn in cash. Jefferies labelled the stock as a "core support services holding" but downgraded its rating on the shares from 'buy' to 'hold' on valuation grounds.Meanwhile, media giant WPP was being weighed down after UBS cut its recommendation on the shares to 'neutral', saying that a "macro slowdown poses a risk to expectations".Chip designer ARM Holdings continued to make gains after its impressive third-quarter results yesterday. Meanwhile, the miners were also performing well on the back of the decent Chinese data: Kazakhmys, EVRAZ, ENRC and Vedanta were among the best performers.FTSE 250: Home Retail gains on Argos plansArgos and Homebase owner Home Retail jumped after announcing its decision to close 75 Argos stores over the next five years. "We have concluded a comprehensive business review of Argos which highlighted a clear opportunity to transform the business through increased investment in digital technologies," the group said. Sportswear and accessories retailer Sports Direct slipped after saying that revenue growth had slowed from 25.3% in the first quarter to 18.0% in the second.Bus and train group National Express gained despite saying that third-quarter trading remained resilient, despite increasing austerity measures, with profit on target for the year.FTSE 100 - RisersARM Holdings (ARM) 653.50p +2.11%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,554.00p +1.04%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,780.00p +0.79%Compass Group (CPG) 676.00p +0.67%Serco Group (SRP) 569.50p +0.62%Croda International (CRDA) 2,273.00p +0.58%Sage Group (SGE) 302.70p +0.56%BP (BP.) 435.30p +0.47%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,351.00p +0.45%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,139.00p +0.44%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,658.00p -2.76%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,030.00p -2.55%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 39.57p -1.79%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 708.00p -1.73%Barclays (BARC) 228.95p -1.59%Old Mutual (OML) 170.30p -1.45%Experian (EXPN) 1,072.00p -1.38%ITV (ITV) 85.60p -1.33%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 274.30p -1.22%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 844.50p -1.11%FTSE 250 - RisersHome Retail Group (HOME) 109.00p +4.71%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,952.00p +4.46%Grainger (GRI) 108.80p +3.52%Lonmin (LMI) 496.90p +2.22%Cranswick (CWK) 790.00p +2.20%COLT Group SA (COLT) 120.90p +1.77%Ocado Group (OCDO) 65.50p +1.31%Interserve (IRV) 366.50p +1.13%F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 103.00p +1.08%Essar Energy (ESSR) 134.10p +1.05%FTSE 250 - FallersOphir Energy (OPHR) 547.50p -5.77%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 192.40p -5.17%Savills (SVS) 396.30p -3.34%Fenner (FENR) 349.40p -2.46%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 75.90p -2.44%Diploma (DPLM) 446.00p -2.43%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 492.00p -2.19%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 261.40p -2.10%National Express Group (NEX) 202.30p -2.03%Perform Group (PER) 430.00p -1.71%BC