UK Indexes Fall 1.6%; Australia Approves SABMiller, Foster

Arthi Gupta
28 Sep, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes fluctuated after home prices in England and Wales and Irish retail sales dropped in August. The UK corporate credit availability remained unchanged in the third quarter. LCH.Clearnet entered into exclusive talks with LSE.

[R]4:15 PM London – The UK indexes fluctuated after home prices in England and Wales and Irish retail sales dropped in August. The UK corporate credit availability remained unchanged in the third quarter. LCH.Clearnet entered into exclusive talks with LSE.[/R]

The Bank of England policymaker David Miles said that another round of quantitative easing will be effective in boosting the UK economy, reports said on Wednesday citing his interview with the Times.

Euro-zone countries are divided over the terms of Greece''s second €109 billion bailout deal as many as 7 of the 17 member countries demanding private creditors to share a bigger write-down on their Greek bond holdings.

In London, FTSE 100 Index slumped 82.28 or 1.6% to 5,206.04 and the pound edged higher to $1.5662.

England/Wales Home Prices Decline

Home prices in England and Wales decreased for the eighth consecutive month in August, data released by Land Registry showed on Wednesday.

The home price index decreased 2.6% from a year ago in August, following the 2.3% fall in July. On a monthly basis, home priced dropped 0.3% in August, reversing the 1.2% increase in July.

The average home price in England and Wales declined to £162,347 in August from £162,771 in July.

UK Corporate Credit Availability to be Flat

The availability of credit to corporations remained broadly unchanged for large and medium-sized firms in the third quarter and it is forecast to stay stable in the coming quarter, the Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England showed on Wednesday.

Irish Retail Sales Drop

Retail sales in Ireland dropped a seasonally adjusted 3.6% from a year ago in August, after dropping 1.3% in July, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed on Wednesday.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco dropped 0.7% annually, and clothing and footwear prices decreased 1% in August.

On a monthly basis, retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in August following the 1.5% fall in July.

LCH.Clearnet in Talks with LSE

LCH.Clearnet Group Limited entered into exclusive discussions with London Stock Exchange Group plc relating to a possible transaction. LSE''s bid reportedly values LCH at around €1 billion or $1.4 billion.

Gainers & Losers

Domino''s Pizza UK & IRL Plc plunged 10.5% to 455 pence after the pizza delivery firm said its system sales for the 13-week period ended September 25 increased 9.8% to £127 million from £115.7 million in the previous year.

Man Group Plc plummeted 23.1% to 184.30 pence after the asset manager said that it expects lower profit for its first-half of fiscal 2012, reflecting decline in net management fees amid weak investor demand.

Personal Group Holdings Plc gained 2.1% to 268 pence after the short-term accident and health insurance provider reported first-half revenues rose 2.3% to £13.6 million from £13.3 million a year ago. Earnings per share rose to 11.5 pence per share from 11.1 pence per share last year.

SABMiller Plc, the brewer climbed 0.3% to 2,182 pence after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced that it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of Australian beer maker Foster''s Group Ltd. as it finds that the acquisition is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the Australian market for supply of beer.