London open: Markets start week on a weak footing

26th Nov 2012 08:37

- Market eyeing Eurogroup meeting tonight- Inconclusive election results in Catalonia- Qatar to sell warrants on BarclaysUK equities began the week with light losses despite what appears like relatively positive news-flow on a number of fronts. Thus, the easiest explanation for the above contradiction would seem to be that stocks may be taking a breather and consolidating last week's large bounce back. In any case, there can be little doubt that was is forefront and centre on market's minds is tonight's meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, with an agreement that would allow for the disbursement of the next tranche of aid to Greece thought to be a possibility. In what would apparently amount to a worst case scenario, Finland has indicated that an agreement may not be reached until a meeting on December 3rd. Meantime, and in the United States, retail spending in stores and online rose by 13% to $59.1bn in the four days starting November 22nd, trade group National Retail Federation announced yesterday. A year ago, sales advanced 16% over the holiday weekend.As regards regional elections in Catalonia over the weekend; these seem to have been somewhat inconclusive, with barely any change in the balance of power between pro-independence and non-independence parties. But two trends seemed clear: a shift towards left-wing and anti-austerity political formations and a greater polarisation in the distribution of votes towards each extreme. FTSE 100: Qatar takes profits on BarclaysBarclays is now leading fallers on the top share index. Qatar Holding plans to sell its remaining warrants in the lender, which are worth around £775m, yet it will remain its largest shareholder with a 6.7% stake.Aberdeen Asset Management, Europe's second largest fund-manager, has just announced a 15% full year increase in underlying profit before tax, to £347.8m, versus £301.9m a year ago. Of interest, speaking on Bloomberg TV the company's Chief Executive, Martin Gilbert, indicated that one of his company's aims is to maintain a "progressive dividend policy", targeting a growth rate in the mid-teens. Compass is an early gainer this morning after analysts at Nomura raised their target price on the company's shares to 832p (from 800p). "Compass Group's results encapsulated the key attractions of the investment case: strong turnover growth (5.4%), excellent cash flow conversion and continued margin expansion (+8bp), these analysts wrote. FTSE 250: SDL warns Bacon and sausage supplier Cranswick served up a hefty increase in half year profit but said higher pig prices during the period were an on-going concern. Pre-tax profit rose 21% to £22.5m for the six months ended September 30th 2012, while revenues climbed 6% to £418.6m. India-focused Essar Energy almost doubled revenues in the first half but saw this wiped out by costs, as well as regulation and coal supply problems in India. Group revenue was up 97% to $12.8bn, driven by the acquisition of the UK Stanlow refinery as well as higher refining revenues in India. Business, translation and communications software company SDL said it expects a profits shortfall, following a review of the firm, as its struggles against poor sales and marketing execution, as well as the tough economic environment. "Management forecasts for the year are now considered to be too optimistic against market expectations," the group said in a company statement. FTSE 100 - RisersBritish Land Co (BLND) 541.50p +1.22%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 664.50p +1.06%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,257.50p +1.04%Compass Group (CPG) 722.00p +0.84%Land Securities Group (LAND) 801.50p +0.82%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 170.30p +0.77%Vodafone Group (VOD) 159.85p +0.72%Hammerson (HMSO) 466.90p +0.62%Unilever (ULVR) 2,387.00p +0.51%Melrose (MRO) 217.40p +0.51%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 245.20p -3.54%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 290.00p -1.36%BG Group (BG.) 1,065.50p -1.02%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,379.00p -1.00%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 620.20p -0.91%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.05p -0.78%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,605.00p -0.75%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,427.50p -0.70%ARM Holdings (ARM) 738.00p -0.61%Wolseley (WOS) 2,799.00p -0.57%FTSE 250 - RisersCranswick (CWK) 776.50p +5.07%Essar Energy (ESSR) 124.30p +2.64%IP Group (IPO) 112.20p +2.00%NMC Health (NMC) 173.00p +1.88%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,320.00p +1.30%Perform Group (PER) 400.00p +1.27%Bumi (BUMI) 267.90p +1.21%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 459.90p +1.17%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,133.00p +1.07%Britvic (BVIC) 408.10p +1.01%FTSE 250 - FallersSDL (SDL) 468.00p -8.41%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 60.30p -6.80%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 106.30p -3.71%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 573.50p -2.38%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 577.00p -2.37%Betfair Group (BET) 737.00p -2.06%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 29.71p -2.04%Supergroup (SGP) 602.00p -2.03%Rank Group (RNK) 146.80p -2.00%Drax Group (DRX) 531.00p -1.76%FTSE TechMARK - RisersTorotrak (TRK) 29.50p +6.31%Innovation Group (TIG) 22.50p +1.12%Optos (OPTS) 186.50p +0.95%Corin Group (CRG) 69.50p 0.00%Kofax (KFX) 280.00p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 6.75p 0.00%Parity Group (PTY) 19.50p 0.00%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 3.44p 0.00%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.40p 0.00%Hiwave Technologies (HIW) 0.85p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersAntisoma (ASM) 1.60p -8.57%Promethean World (PRW) 16.25p -4.41%E2V Technologies (E2V) 109.00p -3.54%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 188.25p -2.21%Corin Group (CRG) 69.50p 0.00%Kofax (KFX) 280.00p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 6.75p 0.00%Parity Group (PTY) 19.50p 0.00%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 3.44p 0.00%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.40p 0.00%AB