London open: Stocks slip after QE3 hopes fade

4th Apr 2012 08:21

- ECB to hold rates- Pearson and host of ex-div stocks fall- Kentz drops after major shareholder slashes stakeUK stocks fell into the red on Wednesday morning after the US Federal Reserve quashed speculation that it would start another round of quantitative easing (QE) in the near-future.US benchmark indices finished lower last night after the publication of the minutes of the March 14th Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the body which sets interest rates for the US central bank. The minutes appeared to imply that the committee had become less inclined to boost the economy with QE3 - expected to be the third bout of printing money and buying government bonds. In domestic news, the next instalment of Purchasing Managers' Index readings are due out this morning, this time covering the Services sector. It is tipped to have dipped to 53.4 in March from 53.8 in February, although it is worth noting that any value above 50 indicates growth. Meanwhile, the first Wednesday of the month will see the European Central Bank (ECB) announce its interest rate decision and, more importantly, the ECB President Mario Draghi will give the rune readers some exercise in his afternoon press conference. The bank is widely expected to keep interest rates at the record-low level of 1%.FTSE 100: EX-DIV STOCKS AND BANKS FALL EARLY ONPearson was a heavy faller after going ex-dividend. Wolseley, Bodycote, Interserve and Phoenix Group were also among the stocks trading without the rights to their latest dividends.Part-nationalised banking peers Lloyds and RBS were making headlines after the Taxpayers' Alliance said that the UK government should offload their stakes in the lenders and stop gambling with public money. Both stocks were lower early on. "Politicians shouldn't play the stock market with other peoples' money, imagining that they might get a better or worse price if they buy or sell today or tomorrow. Who's got a crystal ball and can say they'll be worth much more in the future?"said the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign director Emma Boon.Shares in power producer International Power advanced after the board rejected the indicative 390p-a-share offer from majority shareholder GDF SUEZ, saying that it undervalues the company.Other risers included the pharmaceuticals stocks with Shire, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca eking out moderate gains. Meanwhile, mining peers Vedanta, Antofagasta and Kazakhmys were heading the other way.FTSE 250: BTG IN DEMAND, WHILE KENTZ FALLSBTG, the specialist healthcare company, has upped its full year revenue guidance after a strong showing at its licensing & biotechnology business. The firm is raising its revenue estimate for the year ended March 31st 2012 from a forecast of £160m-£165m to £190m-£195m. Engineering services group Kentz took a tumble after announcing that two non-executive directors are to substantially reduce their shareholdings. Kerbet, a company which represents the holdings of Tan Sri Mohd Razali Abdul Rahman and Hassan Abas, intends to sell 12m Kentz share via a secondary placing. Tan Sri Mohd Razali Abdul Rahman is Chairman of Kentz. Iron ore miner Ferrexpo fell after saying that its bid to move a long-running shareholder dispute (relating to the ownership of an iron ore deposit) from Ukrainian courts to the UK has been denied. According to Reuters, Ferrexpo believes that the Ukrainian courts are not neutral grounds.Waste disposal expert Shanks Group fell despite saying that results for the fiscal year just ended should be in line with management expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersShire Plc (SHP) 2,062.00p +1.58%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,440.50p +0.84%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 563.20p +0.77%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,402.00p +0.59%Vodafone Group (VOD) 176.50p +0.54%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 714.00p +0.35%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,834.50p +0.23%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 676.50p +0.15%International Power (IPR) 403.00p 0.00%National Grid (NG.) 640.00p 0.00%FTSE 100 - FallersEvraz (EVR) 367.60p -3.16%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,737.00p -2.91%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 26.16p -2.71%Pearson (PSON) 1,152.00p -2.70%Barclays (BARC) 224.85p -2.39%Next (NXT) 2,990.00p -2.29%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,453.00p -2.20%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,128.00p -2.08%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 32.02p -2.00%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 899.00p -1.96%FTSE 250 - RisersBTG (BGC) 345.50p +2.13%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,082.00p +2.08%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 305.00p +1.63%Renishaw (RSW) 1,360.00p +1.04%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,304.00p +1.01%AG Barr (BAG) 1,155.00p +0.87%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 194.30p +0.78%Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 381.10p +0.71%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 142.40p +0.71%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 386.00p +0.65%FTSE 250 - FallersKentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 433.50p -8.35%Amlin (AML) 321.90p -5.21%Petropavlovsk (POG) 524.50p -4.81%Logica (LOG) 94.15p -4.71%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 544.50p -4.05%Savills (SVS) 350.70p -3.94%Interserve (IRV) 283.70p -3.83%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 288.90p -3.57%Northgate (NTG) 200.10p -3.38%Melrose (MRO) 417.00p -3.09%BC