London open: Taylor Wimpey and Ashtead drive markets higher, Barclays falls

3rd Mar 2015 09:11

The FTSE 100 was closing in on another record high on Tuesday morning as impressive German data and gains from Taylor Wimpey and Ashtead helped markets higher.However, upside was limited as Barclays and Travis Perkins underwhelmed with their annual results, while the heavyweight mining sector inched lower.The Footsie was up 0.3% at 6,960.03 early on, nearing the intraday all-time high of 6,974.26 reached on Monday.The positive start followed a strong performance on Wall Street the previous session, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both closing at record highs and the Nasdaq finishing above 5,000 for the first time in 15 years.Economic data was thin on the ground on Tuesday, though the focus was on German retail sales which jumped 2.9% in January after a revised 0.6% gain in December. This was well ahead of the 0.4% increase expected by analysts.Elsewhere in the Eurozone, a Spanish official claimed that the region is discussing a third bailout for Greece worth €30bn-50bn, though Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem dismissed the rumours.Earnings under the spotlightShares in Barclays fell after the bank set aside a total of £1.25bn for provisions to cover litigation costs related to ongoing probes into mis-selling PPI and rigging foreign exchange rates. The news came as Barclays reported a pre-tax loss of £532m for the fourth quarter.Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey impressed by doubling its dividend payment after unveiling 54% operating profit growth in 2014 and enjoying better-than-expected trading in the new year.After a strong third quarter of growth in both the UK and US produced a record profit, Ashtead said it expected full-year results to be ahead of its previous expectations, helping shares higher.Builders merchant and home improvement group Travis Perkins reported a double-digit increase in profits for 2014, but the stock weakened on a cautious outlook as the company warned about possible "volatility" arising from the general election in May.Commodities trader and mining group Glencore was leading miners lower after posting a 2% decline in operating profits in 2014 and slashing its investment budget for this year. Sector peers BHP Billiton and Anglo American were also falling.Shares in RSA Insurance were under the weather after Bernstein analysts lowered their rating on the stock from 'outperform' to 'market perform', while Intertek was downgraded by HSBC from 'overweight' to 'neutral'. Market MoverstechMARK 3,175.58 +0.63%FTSE 100 6,960.03 +0.28%FTSE 250 17,280.75 +0.18%FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 368.20p +3.05%Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,149.00p +2.07%Shire Plc (SHP) 5,255.00p +1.84%Centrica (CNA) 251.00p +1.83%SABMiller (SAB) 3,714.00p +1.66%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,179.00p +1.64%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,199.00p +1.52%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 147.10p +1.52%British Land Co (BLND) 856.50p +1.36%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 440.80p +1.36%FTSE 100 - FallersGlencore (GLEN) 293.20p -2.45%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,039.00p -2.44%Barclays (BARC) 257.45p -2.02%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,512.00p -1.95%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,990.00p -1.73%Fresnillo (FRES) 797.50p -1.73%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 428.80p -1.27%ITV (ITV) 225.60p -0.97%Standard Chartered (STAN) 971.00p -0.92%Antofagasta (ANTO) 758.50p -0.85%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 353.80p +5.39%Vesuvius (VSVS) 500.00p +5.26%Rotork (ROR) 2,557.00p +4.54%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,209.00p +4.22%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 83.00p +3.49%Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 900.00p +2.16%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 671.50p +2.13%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 897.50p +2.05%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 106.60p +2.01%Hunting (HTG) 482.10p +1.92%FTSE 250 - FallersDunelm Group (DNLM) 873.00p -6.73%Lonmin (LMI) 147.30p -4.66%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 336.20p -4.49%Serco Group (SRP) 204.90p -4.03%Ocado Group (OCDO) 360.90p -3.22%Afren (AFR) 9.60p -3.08%Countrywide (CWD) 517.00p -2.91%Regus (RGU) 235.40p -2.53%Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 416.70p -2.30%Synthomer (SYNT) 285.50p -2.16%