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 |  Subject: ADVFN Evening Euro Markets Bulletin - May. 28th 2010  Fri May 28, 2010 4:47 pm | |
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BP and miners drag Footsie under
Market Movers
techMARK 1,572.38 +0.84%
FTSE 100 5,188.43 -0.13%
FTSE 250 9,637.14 -0.10%
Though risers outnumbered fallers by more than two to one among FTSE 100 constituents the blue-chip index ended the day in the red, thanks to weakness of heavily weighted stocks such as BP and the miners.
BP was the major blot on the landscape. It says it won’t know if the ‘top kill’ procedure to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has worked for another 24 to 48 hours, but in the meantime the costs keep rising, up to $930m (£639m) so far. The oil firm started the top kill option, which involves pumping massive amounts of mud and cement into the well at high pressure, on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere in the sector Royal Dutch Shell has joined the rush to snap up US shale gas assets with the $4.7bn purchase of East Resources. Pennsylvania-based East's primary activity is focused on the Marcellus shale, in the north-east of the US.
With metals prices heading south mining stocks did likewise with Lonmin and BHP Billiton the two biggest losers.
Fresnillo was a bright spot in the sector however. Its chairman Alberto Baillères is confident of a successful year for the Mexican silver and gold miner after a strong start to the year, underpinned by higher than expected precious metal prices.
The best performing Footsie stock was water group Severn Trent. The company lifted its full year dividend by 7.4% after an uplift in revenues and cost-cutting measures brought about a sharp rise in profits in the year to March 31. Underlying pre-tax profits rose to £338.4m from £273.5m the previous year, on revenues that climbed to £1.704bn from £1.642bn.
Life group Prudential this morning confirmed it has had talks over the terms of the purchase of AIG's Asian arm (AIA). Reports overnight said Tidjane Thiam, Pru's chief executive, was in the US trying to get the price of buying AIA deal reduced from $35.5bn to $30bn to head off a shareholder revolt that could scupper the deal completely.
Plumbers merchant BSS Group was sharply higher after it revealed it is in bid talks with fellow building materials merchant Travis Perkins. The two parties are discussing an indicative offer made up of 232.91p in cash, 0.2608 new Travis Perkins shares per BSS share and the payment of BSS's final dividend for the year to 31 March 2010 of 6.09p a share. The terms value BSS at about £553m.
Distributor Electrocomponents staged a strong recovery in the second half that it says has continued into the current year so far. But underlying profits increased by 11% in the second half of the year while sales continued to pick up throughout the period and were 15% higher in the fourth quarter than the comparable period.
Internet gambling group 888 has warned that full-year profit is likely to be significantly lower than previous market expectations due to ongoing weakness at the online poker business and the strong dollar. Sector peer Partygaming folds in sympathy.
Beer flow monitoring system firm Brulines has decided against launching a bid for Universe Group, eight months after it first approached the electronic payment and loyalty card provider.
Another prospective takeover biting the dust was the proposed bid for Forth Ports from the Northstream consortium. Forth Ports had rejected a 1400p per share offer and the consortium felt unable to increase its offer and so decided not to continue with its pursuit of Forth. |
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The port operator last month rejected an improved takeover offer worth about £640m, or 1,400p a share in cash, received yesterday.
Solar power technology group Jetion Solar Holdings plunged after warning that the weak euro will cause a drop in first half profits. Business has been “satisfactory” during the first quarter, but margins have suffered as most of its sales are into Europe, the world's largest solar market.
Quantity surveyor Baqus was another bearer of bad news. It has warned that results for the year ending 30 June 2010 will be below expectations due to extended lead-times on projects in the construction industry. “This slow-down has been increasingly pronounced since the result of the General Election and the continued lack of bank lending for construction schemes,” the group said.
Gulf of Mexico-focused Leed Petroleum has recompleted the A-7 well in the Eugene Island 183 Field to a shallower horizon and is currently producing at a gross rate of 802 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shares in Shieldtech, which supplies body armour, goggles and other protective equipment, took a knock after it said an upturn following delays in orders from the UK police is now not expected until the first quarter of the next financial year.
Germ killing technology company Byotrol pulled out of its recent share price slump after it revealed it has received a £0.44m three year research grant from the North West Development Agency to assist in funding the development of an innovative bio-medical product.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,198.00p +3.36%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 539.50p +2.86%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,385.00p +2.67%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 353.70p +2.55%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,264.00p +2.43%
Fresnillo (FRES) 904.00p +2.38%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,421.00p +2.08%
Experian Group (EXPN) 618.50p +2.06%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 252.00p +1.98%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,126.00p +1.90%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BP (BP.) 494.80p -4.99%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,637.00p -2.68%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,684.00p -2.32%
Man Group (EMG) 232.80p -2.31%
British Airways (BAY) 201.20p -1.37%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,913.00p -1.32%
Barclays (BARC) 305.10p -1.23%
Schroders (SDR) 1,329.00p -1.12%
Prudential (PRU) 541.50p -1.10%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,533.00p -1.10% |
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| | Small caps round-up |
Shieldtech, Electronic Data Processing...
Shares in Shieldtech, which supplies body armour, goggles and other protective equipment, have taken a knock after it said an upturn following delays in orders from the UK police is now not expected until the first quarter of the next financial year.
Its subsidiary Aegis has been continuing to seek opportunities in other countries but has also experienced delays there, including in Belgium.
The outcome for the financial year is likely to be below expectations, Shieldtech said.
Electronic Data Processing, which provides software to the wholesale distribution market, saw profits fall in the six months to March 31 as customers cut back on IT expenditure.
Profit before tax fell to £227,000 from £340,000 the previous year on revenues that slipped to £2.8m from £3.1m.
Shares in Nostra Terra Oil & Gas fell back after it said production levels at one of its Boxberger wells in Kansas is ‘below expectations’ while oil flows from a well at the Hoffman property, also in Kansas, ‘so far been very modest.’
Software Radio Technology’s new AIS Class A Transceiver has received all formal EU, US and Canadian certifications and the first units are now being shipped to customers. The Class A product is sold at a considerably higher price than the Class B, the company said.
Germ killing technology company Byotrol pulled out of its share price slump Friday after it revealed it has received a £0.44m three year research grant from the North West Development Agency to assist in funding the development of an innovative bio-medical product.
Asset Management Investment saw its net asset value per share edge higher to 74.12p at the end of March from 72.46p a year earlier.
Pre-tax profit tumbled to £0.3m in the six months to 31 March from £1.1m a year earlier as a result of a change in the date of payment of the final dividend from IFDC Group SA in respect of its financial year to 31 December 2009, which this year fell after 31 March 2010. Had the dividend been received during the period as previously investment income would have been £0.78m compared with £1.09m for the previous half year. The interim divided is being maintained at 2.5p.
Revenue more than halved at oil firm Empyrean Energy in the year to end March, sliding to £0.3m from £0.7m the year before.
Total expenditure increased to £3.8m from £1.6m the year before, contributing to a widening of the pre-tax loss to £4.3m from £1.5m a year earlier. |
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| | US Market |
Major Averages Move More Firmly Into Negative Territory
After seeing some volatility earlier in the session, stocks have shown a notable move to the downside over the course of morning trading on Friday.
The major averages have pulled back more firmly into negative territory after ending the previous session sharply higher.
The weakness in the markets comes as traders digest mixed economic data from the U.S., with some traders likely reluctant to hold onto stocks ahead of the long weekend.
Oil service stocks are helping to lead the way lower amid concerns about the impact of the Obama administration's extended moratorium on new deepwater drilling.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Index is currently down 4.5 percent after closing higher in the three previous sessions.
Most of the other major sectors have also moved to the downside, with semiconductor, banking, and networking stocks showing notable downward moves.
Airline stocks have also come under considerable selling pressure after seeing recent strength.
The major averages have moved off their lows for the session in recent trading but remain firmly in the red.
The Dow is down 75.43 points or 0.7 percent at 10,183.56, the Nasdaq is down 20.96 points or 0.9 percent at 2,256.72 and the S&P 500 is down 9.34 points or 0.9 percent at 1,093.72. |
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