Regional Business Information for the North West
FTSE modestly higher early on with miners leading the way
8th February 2012
MORNING REPORT: Headline shares were modestly higher in early deals today, with strong performances from the heavyweight miners and the bankers driving the market ahead, with Greek concerns shrugged aside.
In early trade, the FTSE100 was up 13.21 points at 5,903.47 with the FTSE250 ahead 14.2 points at 11,207.9 and the FTSE Smallcaps little changed at 3,025.4.
US & ASIA
In the US last night, the Dow rose 33 points at 12,878, the Nasdaq added 2 points at 2,904 and the S&P500 gained 3 points at 1,347.
In Asia today, the Nikkei closed up 98 at 9,016, while the Hang Seng had recently gained 319 points at 21,018.
LONDON MARKETS
Banks and miners underpinned early gains in London today as investors shrugged aside concerns over another Greek deadline passing without a deal on debt.
Household products maker Reckitt Benckiser was the star blue chip performer this morning, jumping 104p at 3,486p after better-than-expected full-year numbers.
Amongst the miners, Rio Tinto advanced 80p at 3,949.5p, spurred on by news it is to invest a further $3.4bn in expansion of its iron ore operations in Western Australia. Elsewhere, Kazakhmys gained 19.5p at 1,179.5p and Antofagasta gained 18p at 1,353p.
News of growing disquiet over merger plans amongst major shareholders, proved an incentive for gains in Xstrata and Glencore, up 20.5p at 1,220.5p and 4.93p at 448.18p, respectively.
However, BHP Billiton could only manage a modest gain of 0.25p at 2,180.25p after lacklustre interim results, growth being hit by a slowdown in demand from China.
Signs of WTI crude heading back towards $100 a barrel gave selected oil producers a lift, with Shell gaining 12.5p at 2,330.5p and Tullow Oil ahead 10p at 1,476p. BP bucked the trend, edging down 0.87p at 485.63p.
Cairn Energy slipped 10.95p at 345.65p after a downgrade to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan Cazenove.
Barclays took the lead role in the banking sector, rising 4.5p at 241.3p. Royal Bank of Scotland ticked up 0.15p at 29.03p and Lloyds lifted 0.505p at 35.77p.
On the downside with blue chips, International Power slipped to the foot of the table, down 12.35p at 330.35p, after poorly-received full-year results.
Pharmaceutical groups were out of favour, with AstraZeneca down 7.25p at 2,992.75p and GlaxoSmithKline off 6.5p at 1,399.5p.
Ex-dividend factors took their toll on business software group Sage, down 6.35p at 297.45p.
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
