London open: Markets waits on Fed decision

3rd Nov 2010 08:50

Leading shares are mixed in London as traders get to grips with the implications of yesterday's US mid-term election results. The Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, raising the prospect of the next two years of President Obama's tenure in the White House being even more confrontational than the last two years. Later today the US Federal Reserve will make its pronouncement on whether to resume quantitative easing.High tech defence group Cobham is under fire this morning after a cautious trading update and sector peer BAE Systems is taking collateral damage. Cobham said its commercial markets remain stable, but fragile, with some US customers still reluctant to put pen to paper. The board is of the opinion that, given the uncertainty over growth prospects in the fourth quarter, that it could see only limited underlying progress in the full year. Next will raise its prices by 8% early next year due to soaring cotton prices, the high street fashion giant said this morning. "As a result of further rises in the price of cotton, retail price rises are likely to be at the top end of our previously stated 5% to 8% range for the first quarter of next year," the firm commented. That overshadowed a solid third quarter update with sales growth of 2.2% towards the top end of its indicated 0-3% guidance. Next shares head lower, taking fellow clothing retailer Marks & Spencer with them.Insurer Standard Life enjoyed a 60% increase in net inflows during the first nine months of 2010, lifting assets under administration (AUA) by 13%. Net inflows increased to £7.2bn over the nine months ended 30 September from £4.5bn in 2009. That sent AUA up to £192.4bn from £170.1bn at the end of last year thanks to the strong net inflows, a stock market rally and a significant increase in fee business, up 14% at £157.7bn and £12.1bn better in the third quarter.Not much has changed at Admiral since August's interim results and the car insurer remains on track to meet analysts' consensus profit estimates for 2010. Turnover jumped more than 50% during the third quarter to £446m and group vehicle count was 28% higher than the same time last year.Capital Shopping Centres, the shopping centre arm of what used to be Liberty International, continued to see an improvement in its occupancy rate in the second half of the year. The occupancy rate at the beginning of November stood at 98.8%, up from 98.1% at the end of June, while tenant failures have continued to reduce.The share price of kitchen and joinery group Howden Joinery, formerly known as Galiform, is cooking after it said it now expects full year pre-tax profit to be ahead of current market expectations. Online gaming group 888 kept income steady in the last three months as a good performance in bingo offset sharp falls in its casino and poker income.Bus and train group FirstGroup revealed a 14% increase in first half profit, driven by continued strength at its UK rail and bus businesses.Business consulting and information technology contracting specialist Logica returned to year on year revenue growth in the third quarter, albeit only by a whisker. Third quarter revenue increased to £863m from £862m in the corresponding period of 2009, but the UK remains in ex-growth mode.Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, the old Peter Hambro Mining, has cut its full-year production target again following delays at its Pioneer mine, first flagged in August.FTSE 100 - RisersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,665.00p +2.34%Experian (EXPN) 757.50p +2.09%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.52p +1.68%BP (BP.) 438.25p +1.53%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,290.00p +1.42%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,833.00p +1.08%Wolseley (WOS) 1,748.00p +1.04%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 664.10p +0.94%Investec (INVP) 509.00p +0.89%British Airways (BAY) 275.40p +0.88%FTSE 100 - FallersCobham (COB) 218.40p -6.59%Next (NXT) 2,145.00p -3.77%BG Group (BG.) 1,228.00p -1.92%BAE Systems (BA.) 346.80p -1.90%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 420.40p -1.66%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,457.00p -1.35%Sage Group (SGE) 272.40p -1.05%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,044.00p -0.99%Xstrata (XTA) 1,282.50p -0.97%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,374.00p -0.87%FTSE 250 - RisersHowden Joinery Group (HWDN) 87.50p +10.06%Grainger (GRI) 107.90p +3.35%Gartmore Group Ltd. (GRT) 124.00p +2.90%FTSE 250 - FallersAvis Europe (AVE) 216.00p -3.79%Logica (LOG) 128.50p -3.53%Provident Financial (PFG) 756.00p -3.51%Petropavlovsk (POG) 908.00p -3.30%