UK MARKET TALK ROUNDUP: SHARES LOSING

14th Jun 2010 10:11

Stocks on the fall in the UK today. Compiled by Dow Jones Newswires Markets Desk, [email protected] Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 [email protected] 0911 GMT [Dow Jones] BP (BP.LN) shares -3.1% at 380p, on concerns about dividend payments and news that the cost of the oil spill so far amounts to USD1.6Bln, traders say. Also, talk that the U.S. government will be pushed to take legal action on BP spooks the market and "would, in effect, make the company almost bankrupt if such a move was to be initiated," adds one trader. Concerns over dividend payments add further pressure on the shares. "Although we believe its balance sheet is strong enough to pay for the clean-up costs and a dividend, we believe it will look for some form of compromise where it can ease some of the political pressure while not cutting the dividend and annoying shareholders," says Panmure Gordon. ([email protected]) 0816 GMT [Dow Jones] UBS lowers Logica (LOG.LN) target price to 134p from 155p. Says investor concern is rightly focused on the possibility of severe cuts in European public sector spending (with a particular focus on Holland and the UK), along with the risks that corporate IT expenditure suffers as corporate confidence is dented by fears over sovereign debt and the deteriorating euro. "Last week at its analyst day, Capgemini (CAP.FR) highlighted these risks, and with 33% of Logica's sales coming from the public sector (13% from UK), we expect it too to acknowledge the risks," adds UBS. Has a neutral rating. Shares -0.7% at 122p. ([email protected]) 0739 GMT [Dow Jones] JPMorgan Cazenove downgrades Home Retail Group (HOME.LN) to underweight from overweight. Says the downgrade reflects concerns about the longer-term structural challenges for the group as well as the brokerage's near-term view that its exposure to the mass market customer places it at a disadvantage to peers. Says most of its peers either benefit from overseas cashflows or are exposed to a more affluent consumer/more attractive product categories. Adds "with the [UK] budget yet to come and likely pressures on the consumer set to intensify, it seems likely that consumer trading generally will remain soft and in that instance, Argos' greater exposure will not be helpful." Has 230p target price. Shares -0.1% at 233p. ([email protected]) Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9288 [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 14, 2010 05:11 ET (09:11 GMT)