London open: Stocks rebound on German GDP data

15th May 2012 08:27

- German GDP surprises to the upside- Eurogroup rules out Greek exit- G4S on track to meet full-year guidanceBlue-chip stocks opened broadly higher on Tuesday morning following a steep sell-off yesterday which saw the Footsie set a new low for 2012. Helping sentiment this morning was an upwards surprise in German economic growth figures.German real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.5% over the first three months of 2012, much better than the 0.1% gain expected by the consensus and the 0.2% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2011. "The unexpectedly strong GDP outcome for Q1 will most likely trigger upward revisions for the annual 2012 GDP outlook for Germany although downside risks stemming from the euro area sovereign crisis continue to loom large," said analysts at Barclays Capital."The strong showing by the German economy clearly raises some doubt about claims by British officials that the UK recession is predominantly caused by the euro area crisis instead of austerity measures in the UK," they said.French GDP was flat in the first quarter, in line with consensus forecasts, however fourth-quarter growth was revised down from 0.2% to 0.1%.Global stock markets suffered heavy falls on Monday on the back of concerns that the ongoing Greek crisis could force the nation out of the Eurozone if they feel fail to meet the term of the EU/IMF bailout. At yesterday's Eurogroup meeting, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker insisted that Athens had the Eurozone's full backing and considers that its possible exit from the euro is nothing more than "nonsense" and "propaganda".FTSE 100: G4S, Smiths Group rise after updatesInternational security solutions firm G4S was a high riser early on despite saying that profits in the first three months of 2012 were, as expected, at similar levels to the corresponding period of last year. Looking forward, the company said organic growth has continued to improve in developed markets and remains strong in developing markets, and the organic growth rate is expected to continue to improve during 2012.Medical devices group Smiths Group was in demand after saying that full-year expectations remain in line with earlier guidance. Both sales and underlying headline operating profit in the nine months to April 28th were ahead of last year.Russian steel giant Evraz climbed despite saying that revenue, prices and sales volumes were all flat in the first quarter of 2012, with currency movements making operations more expensive. Telecoms titan BT Group rose after Espirito Santo upgraded its rating on the stock, while Royal Bank of Scotland was helped higher by an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.Heading the other way was International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) was under pressure after JP Morgan Cazenove downgraded its recommendation from overweight to neutral.Quality control group Intertek was lower following the purchase of Vigalab, a minerals testing laboratory in Chile, for £3.4m in cash.FTSE 250: Renishaw jumps, sees signs of electronics upturnPrecision tool maker Renishaw said despite continuing global macroeconomic headwinds, it has seen good growth over the year to date and has started to see signs of an upturn in the electronics market. Shares surged early on.Also wanted was Babcock International, the engineering support services company, as it said it expects earnings in the current year to be ahead of previous expectations, thanks to its bulging order book.Oil exploration firm Afren rose after saying profits rose considerably in the first quarter after significant oil finds. The firm posted pre-tax profits of £143.2m, compared with £2m in the first quarter of 2011. FTSE 100 - RisersG4S (GFS) 276.30p +3.56%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 510.00p +2.12%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,047.00p +2.05%Evraz (EVR) 330.00p +1.98%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,408.00p +1.96%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,471.00p +1.80%Polymetal International (POLY) 808.50p +1.76%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,590.00p +1.73%Carnival (CCL) 2,001.00p +1.73%Anglo American (AAL) 2,154.50p +1.68%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.80p -1.00%Experian (EXPN) 913.50p -0.81%United Utilities Group (UU.) 640.50p -0.23%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,014.00p -0.20%Serco Group (SRP) 538.50p -0.19%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,701.00p -0.18%Land Securities Group (LAND) 737.00p -0.14%International Power (IPR) 419.40p 0.00%FTSE 250 - RisersRenishaw (RSW) 1,511.00p +12.68%Babcock International Group (BAB) 838.00p +4.88%Soco International (SIA) 263.90p +3.53%Supergroup (SGP) 330.30p +3.06%Essar Energy (ESSR) 128.40p +2.80%Afren (AFR) 124.10p +2.73%Travis Perkins (TPK) 981.00p +2.62%Savills (SVS) 350.00p +2.55%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 127.10p +2.50%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 341.60p +2.46%FTSE 250 - FallersAnglo Pacific Group (APF) 268.00p -5.90%Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 2,055.00p -4.82%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 760.50p -2.81%Carpetright (CPR) 605.50p -1.54%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 99.95p -1.53%Shanks Group (SKS) 84.55p -1.23%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 139.00p -1.21%Perform Group (PER) 306.90p -1.00%Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 613.00p -0.89%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 566.50p -0.79%BC