London open: Stocks fall ahead of fiscal cliff deadline

31st Dec 2012 08:26

The Footsie opened firmly in the red on Monday morning with just one day to go before the automatic spending cuts and tax increases in the US come into effect.Without a deal by politicians Stateside to avert the so-called fiscal cliff by tomorrow, analysts expect the US economy to plunge back into recession and the jobless rate to rise back above 9%."The most important weekend for the fiscal cliff has ended without a hint of progress," said research analyst Joshua Mahony from Alpari. "It emerged late on Sunday that the crucial discussions between both Republican and Democratic representatives are still wide apart despite the clear urgency. Therefore, as it stands, the US looks likely to go over the fiscal cliff on January 1st and subsequently the markets are expected to respond negatively."In other news, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to say this evening in her televised New Year's speech that "the Eurozone crisis is far from over"."The reforms that we've agreed on are starting to take effect. Nevertheless, we still need a lot of patience. The crisis is far from over," she is scheduled to say.StocksAs has been the case over the holiday period, company news was thin on the ground this morning with few blue-chip constituents reporting.Consumer packaging giant Rexam announced this morning that is had completed the disposal of its Personal Care division for £439m, selling off the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Household care products business to Sun European Partners.Hochschild Mining, the precious metals company, gained after saying that its wholly owned subsidiary, Alberta, has satisfied the conditions of its previously announced offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Adina Minerals.Mining group Bumi was higher after confirming that CEO Nalin Rathod will step down from the role today and be succeeded by Nick von Schirnding.AIM-listed sugar and ingredients firm Real Good Food rose after confirming that it has completed a new five-year £50m bank facility with its current financiers PNC Financial Services UK ahead of the maturity of its existing facilities in July 2013.Hydrocarbon group Jubilant Energy was in demand after hailing an important milestone at its Tripura project in India with a 'Declaration of Commerciality' having been submitted for the Kathalchari gas discovery.FTSE 100 - RisersBP (BP.) 427.55p +0.59%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,376.00p +0.47%Aggreko (AGK) 1,747.00p +0.40%Prudential (PRU) 868.00p +0.35%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,117.50p +0.29%Wolseley (WOS) 2,888.00p +0.21%Serco Group (SRP) 539.00p +0.19%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,704.00p +0.12%WPP (WPP) 889.00p +0.11%SABMiller (SAB) 2,849.00p +0.09%FTSE 100 - FallersEvraz (EVR) 251.80p -1.99%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 352.50p -1.48%ITV (ITV) 104.70p -1.23%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.13p -1.14%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 144.20p -1.03%Anglo American (AAL) 1,885.00p -1.00%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 381.90p -0.99%Amec (AMEC) 1,004.00p -0.99%Melrose Industries (MRO) 229.60p -0.91%BAE Systems (BA.) 337.90p -0.91%FTSE 250 - RisersJD Sports Fashion (JD.) 699.00p +2.49%Restaurant Group (RTN) 389.90p +1.83%Diploma (DPLM) 547.50p +1.39%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 676.50p +1.35%Marston's (MARS) 122.00p +1.33%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 530.00p +1.24%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 112.30p +1.17%SVG Capital (SVI) 289.00p +1.16%ITE Group (ITE) 241.40p +1.09%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 31.50p +0.96%FTSE 250 - FallersMoneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 156.80p -3.74%Grainger (GRI) 116.20p -2.76%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 78.75p -2.66%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 37.00p -2.63%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 101.10p -2.51%SDL (SDL) 493.90p -2.20%United Drug (UDG) 270.00p -2.17%Homeserve (HSV) 231.20p -1.95%Laird (LRD) 205.00p -1.91%Unite Group (UTG) 275.50p -1.78%BC