London open: Stocks in search of direction after sell-off

24th May 2013 08:47

Markets opened tentatively on Friday morning with sentiment still fragile following a plunge the day before as traders reacted to concerns about stimulus measures in the US and a slowdown in China.Worries about the Federal Reserve scaling back its asset purchase programme prematurely and a negative reading of factory activity in China saw markets across the globe tumble on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 falling 2.1% and Japan's Nikkei dropping a massive 7.3%. Many saw these sharp swings as inevitable with investors looking to book profits after the strong gains seen by equity markets so far this year - before yesterday's slump, the FTSE 100 had risen nearly 16% in the year to date. Stocks Stateside fared a little better last night, finishing with only moderate losses, as better-than-expected US jobless claims and new-homes sales data tempered concerns about the world's largest economy.Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said: "Once the dust settled on the events of the last 24 hours, it became very apparent that even if the Fed begins to taper this summer, they will still be injecting huge amounts of liquidity into the financial system. And that is a big if, a phasing out of asset purchases is in no way a guarantee. "We may see a lot more caution from traders over the coming months, with many more small corrections than we've become accustomed to recently, but I still think this rally has some way to go yet."Next hit by downgradeWith corporate news thin on the ground and stocks still looking for direction early on following yesterday's sell-off, there weren't any major movers on the FTSE 350 early on.However, retail group Next edged lower after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'underweight' . Smiths Group, the global technology firm, was slightly higher after saying that its full-year guidance remains unchanged after underlying revenues and profits in the first three quarters were ahead of last year.IT infrastructure firm Computacenter rose after giving details of a £75m cash return for investors.FTSE 100 - RisersRexam (REX) 536.00p +1.90%Meggitt (MGGT) 530.50p +1.63%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,203.00p +1.09%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,397.00p +0.80%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,296.00p +0.78%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,163.00p +0.78%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,345.00p +0.75%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 478.40p +0.72%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,953.00p +0.67%Compass Group (CPG) 899.00p +0.67%FTSE 100 - FallersNext (NXT) 4,607.00p -1.79%BT Group (BT.A) 310.00p -1.31%Hammerson (HMSO) 515.00p -1.25%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 262.20p -1.24%WPP (WPP) 1,148.00p -1.20%Land Securities Group (LAND) 955.50p -1.19%Antofagasta (ANTO) 947.00p -1.15%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 734.30p -1.01%BG Group (BG.) 1,204.50p -0.99%Polymetal International (POLY) 658.50p -0.98%FTSE 250 - RisersBTG (BTG) 354.70p +4.48%Aveva Group (AVV) 2,390.00p +3.78%FirstGroup (FGP) 139.40p +3.57%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 109.60p +2.43%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 12.5 +2.04%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 937.50p +1.79%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,272.00p +1.76%Computacenter (CCC) 449.60p +1.70%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 151.20p +1.68%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 477.30p +1.55%FTSE 250 - FallersHalfords Group (HFD) 323.20p -3.03%Perform Group (PER) 537.00p -2.36%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 193.90p -2.07%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 387.20p -2.02%Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,071.00p -1.74%Henderson Group (HGG) 170.90p -1.61%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 325.50p -1.57%Unite Group (UTG) 365.50p -1.46%Lonmin (LMI) 266.20p -1.41%Carpetright (CPR) 635.00p -1.40%