Date: Monday 02 Apr 2012
- Market Movers
- techMARK 2,059.98 +0.21%
- FTSE 100 5,792.21 +0.41%
- FTSE 250 11,577.57 +0.34%
LONDON (ShareCast) - - Miners wanted after Chinese PMI reaches 11-month high
- RBS to dish out dosh to preference shareholders
- LSE acquisition of LCH.Clearnet passes milestone
UK stocks opened with decent gains on Monday morning as miners rose on the back of some better-than-expected manufacturing data from China.
China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for March increased from 51 to 53.1 it was announced yesterday, showing that growth in the manufacturing sector of the world's second-largest economy is accelerating. Consensus estimates were for a reading of 50.5 and the 53.1 figure represented an 11-month high, which is sure to ease concerns of a 'hard-landing' for the Chinese economy.
Investors will still be digesting the increase to the Eurozone's rescue fund announced at the end of last week. The 17 finance ministers of the Eurozone, which form the so-called Eurogroup, agreed to boost the region's firewall to €800bn. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter announced that the amount represents the €500bn ESM, €200bn in EFSF funds already assigned to Ireland, Greece and Portugal, €53bn in bilateral loans and €49bn from the original EFSM.
MINERS PROVIDE A LIFT
Resource stocks were dominating the risers' list in the opening hour as the upbeat China data boosted hopes for demand in the metals industry. Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Vedanta, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Glencore Evraz, Xstrata and Anglo American opened with solid gains.
Financials were heading the other way though with Lloyds, Standard Chartered, Aviva, Standard Life and HSBC among the heaviest fallers. State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was bucking the trend however, on reports that it is looking to resume dividend payments to holders of its preference shareholders to signal its progress on the road to financial stability. “Paying a dividend is good market behaviour and is an important signal to debt holders and equity holders,” an RBS source told the Daily Telegraph.
Airline peers IAG and easyJet were on the rise despite concerns about the impact of Air Passenger Duty (APD) after it was hiked yesterday. CEO's from the UK's major airlines have jointly warned of "an increase in APD of double the rate of inflation which will hit millions of hard working families in the UK as they book or fly away on their well-earned break".
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline was wanted after it reported positive results from an initial study into its development of a drug for HIV treatment.
Shareholders of real estate investment trust Land Securities were pleased after Robert Noel, previously Managing Director of the company's London Portfolio, took over from long-standing Francis Salway as Chief Executive.
It's all-systems-go for the London Stock Exchange's agreed takeover of clearing house, LCH.Clearnet, as the FTSE 250 bourse operator confirmed it has received acceptances of its offer from holders representing more than half of Clearnet's shares. Shares edged higher early on.
3SE, a joint venture owned by waste management group Shanks and utilities firm SSE, has signed a contract worth with Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Councils for the treatment of black bag waste. The 25-year agreement is worth more than £750m, something that investors of both stocks seemed to be happy about, with shares rising in early trading.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 383.50p +3.79%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,636.00p +2.38%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 927.00p +2.09%
SABMiller (SAB) 2,558.00p +1.93%
Glencore International (GLEN) 396.60p +1.85%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,507.50p +1.78%
IMI (IMI) 988.50p +1.65%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 601.50p +1.60%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,084.50p +1.54%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,934.50p +1.42%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,305.00p -1.21%
Barclays (BARC) 233.20p -0.87%
Shire Plc (SHP) 2,004.00p -0.79%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.35p -0.76%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,548.50p -0.74%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 551.60p -0.58%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 259.80p -0.57%
ICAP (IAP) 390.70p -0.53%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 330.00p -0.42%
Aviva (AV.) 330.30p -0.36%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Cookson Group (CKSN) 723.50p +4.70%
Ruspetro (RPO) 224.00p +3.70%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 440.00p +2.97%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 520.50p +2.56%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 51.35p +2.39%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 70.25p +2.18%
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 440.70p +2.11%
Avocet Mining (AVM) 187.80p +1.84%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 697.00p +1.83%
Soco International (SIA) 301.20p +1.76%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Carpetright (CPR) 660.00p -3.72%
FirstGroup (FGP) 229.50p -3.45%
Misys (MSY) 347.70p -2.88%
Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 478.80p -2.29%
Perform Group (PER) 303.60p -2.06%
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 139.30p -1.90%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 173.70p -1.86%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 112.10p -1.67%
Redrow (RDW) 127.10p -1.55%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 79.75p -1.30%
BC
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