Tuesday March 25, 03:34 PM
London shares firm, off highs midafternoon; Dow lower; UK banks gain
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Leading shares remained firm but off session highs in midafternoon trade, as the Dow turned lower after weak consumer confidence data.
UK banks were still among the top gainers, following news yesterday
of a revised Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC - news) offer.
At 3.05 pm, the FTSE 100 index was up 164.9 points at 5,660.1, having reversed from a peak of 5,704.3, with the FTSE 250 (news) index gaining 289.3 points to 9,737.7.
Volume was solid, with 2.0 bln shares changing hands in 700,712 deals.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 63.8 points at 12,484.8, having been up 23.2 points earlier in the session, with the S&P 500 index losing 2.55 points to 1,347.35. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: news) index was up 1.09 points at 2,327.84.
'Everyone expected (the confidence data) to come in weaker than expected. It (Frankfurt: A0MLX5 - news) just goes to shows the degree of nervousness out there that any slightly bad figures will adversely affect the Dow,' said Mark Priest, of tradindex.com.
In the US, the Conference Board said its March Consumer Confidence Index fell to 64.5 from an upwardly revised 76.4 in February, well below the median estimate of economists surveyed by IFR Markets of a slight dip to 73.0.
And a report on the housing sector showed a further pullback in home prices. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows US home prices declined 11.4 pct in January from a year earlier.
In midafternoon deals in UK equities, Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: 90ID.L - news) took on 26-1/4 to 347-1/2, Alliance & Leicester was up 2-1/2 at 540-1/2, while Lloyds TSB gained 23-3/4 to 457-3/4.
Meanwhile, HBOS (LSE: HBOS.L - news) rose 58-1/4 to 532, as news of a 5.7 mln stg purchase of stock by the bank's senior managers bolstered investor confidence in the group, hit last week by false rumours of a Bank of England bailout.
Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) added 32 to 461 as Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) reiterated its 'buy' stance on the group after recent sector falls.
Other financials were in favour too, with insurers helping to give the FTSE 100 a boost.
Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) was 12-1/2 higher at 247-1/4, Aviva (LSE: AV.L - news) took on 28 to 619-1/2, while Old Mutual (LSE: OML.L - news) was up 6 at 111.3.
Housebuilders also experienced good gains today, with Mark Priest of trandindex.com suggesting yesterday's stronger-than-expected housing report underpinned gains, pointing out that the further pullback in home prices, as shown in today's US housing sector report, was largely expected.
Persimmon (LSE: PSN.L - news) gained 81-1/2 to 780 and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) was up 17.7 points at 181.5. Among midcaps, Bovis Homes ticked up 76 to 599-1/2, Redrow (LSE: RDW.L - news) gained 30-1/2 to 300-1/2, and Bellway (LSE: BWY.L - news) gained 67-1/2 to 820-1/2, ahead of interim results tomorrow.
Away from housebuilders, and gaining ahead of earnings later in the week, Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news) added 8 to 133.
Bid talk provided the impetus for shares in British Energy (LSE: BGY.L - news) to move 39 ahead at 660. According to a report in the Sunday Times, Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) is examining a 10 bln stg bid for the nuclear power company.
Meanwhile, Yell gained 16.4 to 154.4 on a technical rebound.
Among today's mere handful of casualties, Morrison shed 6-1/4 to 273-1/4, as Merrill Lynch downgraded the group to 'neutral' from 'buy'. The broker said Morrison's retail recovery has been impressive, with its trading rebound catching the market by surprise and resulting in a period of sector and market outperformance.
However, Merrill Lynch said that, with a darkening consumer backdrop and the shares trading at 16.3 times the estimated 2009 earnings per share (EPS), it thinks the recovery looks to be priced in.
Cazenove also cut its stance on the supermarket group, to to 'in-line' from 'outperform'.
On the second tier, Filtrona (LSE: FLTR.L - news) was 11 pence firmer at 164-1/4, as UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) lifted its rating on the group to 'neutral' from 'sell', while cutting its target to 165 pence from 180 pence.
A broker upgrade also helped shares in Go-Ahead, which took on 36 to 1,566, with Brewin Dolphin (LSE: BRW.L - news) raising its stance to 'buy' from 'add' on valuation grounds, following the recent significant decline in the transport group's share price, with its 2,155 pence price target left unchanged.
Turning to the fallers, Mouchel Group was off 9-1/4 at 444-1/2, ahead of interims on Monday.
|
Send Article by Email
