- Bernanke comments weigh on markets
- Investors nervous ahead of Chinese data this weekend
- Spain denies rumours of imminent bank bail-out petition
Blue chips were off their intraday lows but still firmly in the red by Friday lunchtime as concerns over Spain continued to dampen the mood.
Spain and the European Union has denied reports of an imminent petition by Spain for bank rescue funds. According to earlier reports, Eurogroup finance ministers were to hold a conference call tomorrow to discuss the details and issue a statement thereafter.
Fitch Ratings said last night that the "likely 'fiscal cost'" of restructuring and recapitalising the Spanish banking sector would be between 60bn and 100bn in a worst-case scenario. This came as the ratings agency downgraded its sovereign debt rating for the country from A to BBB.
Also weighing on sentiment today were yesterday's comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who "performed his usual trick of depressing the markets", according to Craig Erlam from Alpari. Analysts were hoping for hints of imminent stimulus measures but Bernanke failed to say whether the Fed would be embarking on QE3 any time soon.
Investors will still be digesting the recent interest rate cut from China, which initially spurred impressive gains for equity markets on Thursday. However, ahead of some key inflation and industrial production figures due out this weekend from the world's second-largest economy, some analysts are questioning whether the rate cut was a pre-emptive move ahead of what could be some disappointing data.
In other news, German exports decreased for the first time this year in April, falling 1.7% from March. Producer prices in the UK came in below expectations in May, showing an 0.2% month-on-month drop (consensus: +0.1%) in factory gate inflation, while input prices fell by 2.5% month-on-month (consensus: -1.6%).
FTSE 100: Resources out of favour as commodity prices drop
Metals prices were retreating on Friday morning, pressuring mining stock lower: Vedanta, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Glencore and ENRC were among the worst performers. A stronger dollar was making greenback-denominated commodities more expensive early on with crude prices also taking a tumble, denting the likes of Tullow Oil and BP.
BHP Billiton was among the fallers after Bank of America Merrill-Lynch reduced its profit forecasts for the group on the back of lower oil prices estimates. A hold recommendation was maintained.
Power systems group Rolls-Royce fell after announcing that it is to take full control of Aero Engine Controls (AEC), the engine controls joint venture it established in January 2009 with US aerospace giant Goodrich.
Heading the other way was the defensive utilities sector as investors fled from risk and into 'safer' assets, including Severn Trent, Centrica, United Utilities, SSE and National Grid.
FTSE 250: Lamprell plummets after profit warning
Energy markets-focused engineer Lamprell was battered after sneaking out a profit warning on Thursday after the London market closed, saying that it now expects to make a half-year loss of between $15m and $20m, compared with earlier guidance of "a small loss". The group also said that Chairman Jonathan Silver would step down.
"We continue to believe that management's credibility has fundamentally deteriorated," Nomura said in a research note this morning.
Budget airline easyJet edged higher after revealing that passenger numbers in May were 14.4% higher than a year ago. Traffic has been steadily increasing since February.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Capita (CPI) 645.00p +2.14%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,759.00p +1.38%
Diageo (DGE) 1,595.50p +1.17%
Centrica (CNA) 311.60p +1.04%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 675.00p +0.97%
Next (NXT) 3,050.00p +0.93%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,486.00p +0.87%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,867.00p +0.86%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,439.50p +0.66%
National Grid (NG.) 657.50p +0.61%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 932.50p -5.38%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,865.00p -4.98%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 421.90p -4.37%
Evraz (EVR) 276.40p -4.16%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 699.00p -3.98%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,753.00p -3.68%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,055.50p -3.63%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,530.00p -2.98%
Barclays (BARC) 187.35p -2.85%
Xstrata (XTA) 943.30p -2.43%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Bumi (BUMI) 358.00p +9.78%
RPS Group (RPS) 206.00p +4.57%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 682.00p +4.36%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,256.00p +2.11%
Grainger (GRI) 89.00p +1.83%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 318.60p +1.79%
Synergy Health (SYR) 880.00p +1.79%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 232.50p +1.48%
PayPoint (PAY) 712.50p +1.28%
Bellway (BWY) 753.50p +1.28%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Lamprell (LAM) 83.40p -23.28%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 49.49p -8.52%
Afren (AFR) 110.60p -5.63%
Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 238.80p -5.50%
Essar Energy (ESSR) 118.10p -4.99%
Lonmin (LMI) 755.50p -4.61%
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 121.50p -4.56%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 70.70p -4.27%
Hays (HAS) 72.30p -3.66%
Investec (INVP) 338.80p -3.61%
BC
Source: www.lse.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics: David Beckham set for inclusion in Stuart Pearce's Team GB football squad for Games - Daily Telegraph
There are still over one million football tickets up for sale, with interest slowing down to the rate of just 150,000 sales over the last month. Beckham's inclusion in the tournament would certainly drive interest.
Last month Beckham fiercely defended his career record and insisted his involvement with Team GB would be on merit and not because of his fame.
"I have never said it before but that suggestion has always felt a but disrespectful," said Beckham.
"Whenever I have been asked about shirt sales or filling stadiums it has always felt it is a bit disrespectful. Throughout my career I have been pretty successful, I’ve played for some pretty big teams, represented my country quite a few times, and played for managers without sentiment.
“When you play for Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello, Sven Goran Eriksson or the manager that I have played under, they don’t pick players because they want to fill a stadium or particularly to sell shirts.
“I have always found it an honour that people have wanted to buy my shirt and an honour that fans turn up to watch the team I am playing in. I have always found that a huge honour.
“But no, I don’t want to be picked for shirt sales or as a stadium-filler, I want to be picked for what I can bring to the team. That has been the case throughout my career and I don’t want that to change.”
Team GB play a friendly against Brazil at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on July 20 before taking on Senegal, UAE and Uruguay in Group A at the Games.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Ben and Kate Goldsmith call Twitter truce after online divorce spat - Daily Telegraph
But earlier this week on Twitter he branded his estranged wife’s decision to call the police to the family home “appalling” as he prepared for a lengthy divorce battle with the Rothschild heiress.
Today they issued a joint statement admitting that they should have kept their private life to themselves.
"We are both deeply saddened that our marriage has ended after nine years," the statement said.
“It is a matter of regret to us that, at a time when our emotions and those of our friends have run high, things have been said in public which should have been kept private. We accept our full share of responsibility for this.
“Contrary to what has been publicly stated, neither of us anticipates any major issues of contention to arise in the divorce, in which the interests of our children will come first.
“There will be no further comment, either directly or indirectly, from us on any aspect of our family’s private life.”
Mr Goldsmith will file for divorce on the grounds of adultery, reportedly believing there is “no way back” following what he claims was a “serious” affair as opposed to a brief fling.
He is currently on holiday in Sicily with his mother Lady Annabel. The couple’s £20 million home in Kensington, West London, has been put up for sale.
The acrimonious split has been played out on the social networking site Twitter, with Mr Goldsmith unable to contain his fury over the alleged betrayal.
Yesterday, when a supporter expressed incredulity that Mrs Goldsmith, 29, had called the police, he replied: “agree, appalling.”
As scions of two of Britain's most illustrious families, the Goldsmiths are both wealthy in their own right.
Mr Goldsmith inherited an estimated £300 million after the death of his father, who built up a £1.2 billion fortune as a food magnate and then investor. His wife inherited an £18 million fortune after the suicide of her banker father Amschel Rothschild.
A divorce will almost certainly cause further frictions within the family however, not least because Mrs Goldsmith’s sister Alice is in a relationship with her husband’s brother, Zac Goldsmith, the Tory MP.
The brothers’ sister Jemima Khan is also believed to be close to Mrs Goldsmith.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
London 2012: Tickets For Olympics Opening And Closing Ceremonies Go On Sale - huffingtonpost.co.uk
More tickets for some of the most popular events at the Olympic Games go on sale today.
Thousands of tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as for athletics, swimming, boxing, table tennis, volleyball and football at Wembley Stadium, will be available through the official Olympic website from 11am.
Prices range from £20 to £720 across the 96 available sessions, while tickets for the two ceremonies start at £995.
All the remaining tickets, both for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, are on sale on a first come, first served basis, and more will be available in coming weeks.
As with previous tickets, they can only be bought using a Visa card.
Locog, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said more than eight million tickets have now been sold across both games.
But there are still about three million tickets left up for grabs, including more than half a million Olympic tickets, 1.2 million Paralympic tickets and 1.25 million tickets for Olympic football.
Locog commercial director Chris Townsend said: "There are still plenty of ways to join in and be part of London 2012.
"We are at advance stages of venue planning and these represent the final release of ceremonies and other sport tickets tickets.
"Over the next few weeks we will release further tickets for other Olympic sports and keep people informed when tickets are available.
"We are delighted with ticket sales to date, and have sold another 1 million tickets in the last four weeks, prioritising people who were unsuccessful last time around."
For more information or to buy, visit www.tickets.london2012.com.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
London 2012: Selection 'a fairytale' for Mohamed Sbihi - BBC News
Mohamed Sbihi has described his selection in the men's eight boat for the London Olympics as "a dream".
The 24-year-old took up the sport nine years ago after being discovered through a talent identification scheme while at school in Surbiton.
He told BBC London 94.9: "An opportunity has become a dream and the dream has started to become a reality.
"I feel very fortunate. It's almost like a fairytale. If I hadn't gone into school that day, I wouldn't be here."
The Molesey Boat Club member was identified after British Rowing's World Class Start programme visited Hollyfield School in south west London.
"They wanted all the tall kids in the year to go to a special PE lesson," Sbihi added.
"I didn't really want to go because I wanted to play football but my PE teacher pulled me back and told me that as I was the tallest guy in the year, I had to go.
"Before I knew it, I was in the top four out of 10,000 kids who had been tested in our area. I didn't like it to start with but then it slowly hooked me.
"I feel honoured and proud to wear the GB flag. I have to thank everyone who has been involved in my development."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment