UK Indexes Sideways; Braveheart Plunged 8%

Arthi Gupta
29 Dec, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes pared gains after Italy sold long term debt at an auction today. The indexes swung as the Italian yields declined less than expected and metals and oil diverged. The euro declined to a 10-year low against the yen.

[R]3:15 PM London – The UK indexes pared gains after Italy sold long term debt at an auction today. The indexes swung as the Italian yields declined less than expected and metals and oil diverged. The euro declined to a 10-year low against the yen.[/R]

The UK indexes pared early gains after an Italian bond auction.

Italy sold €7.02 billion of long term debt at an auction today, less than its maximum target of €9 billion in the final sale for this year.

The Treasury in Rome sold €2.5 billion of 10-year bonds at an average yield of 6.98%, down from 7.56% in the previous auction on November 29. The bid-to-cover ratio was 1.34 compared with the bid-to-cover ratio of 1.36 last month.

The agency sold €2.5 billion in 3-year bonds at an interest rate of 5.62% compared to 7.89% at the previous sale on November 29. The country also sold €2 billion in bonds due for repayment in 2021 and a floating-rate security due 2018.

Italian 10-year yield climbed 12 basis points to 7.12% after the auction and Italy plans to raise at least €450 billion in debt in 2012.

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 14.63 or 0.3% to 5,521.13 and the pound edged lower to $1.5419. For the year, the FTSE 100 index declined 6%, the smallest decline in the European Union.

Gainers & Losers

Braveheart Investment Group plc plunged 8% to 18 pence after the private equity and venture capital firm reported first-half revenue surged 94% to £0.62 million from £0.32 million last year. Net loss in the period widened 45% to £0.84 million or 4.91 pence per share from a net loss of £0.58 million or 4.15 pence per share reported for the corresponding period last year.

600 Group plc dropped 2.6% to 18.75 pence after the machine tools manufacturer reported first-half revenue increased 8% to £24.7 million from £22.8 million last year. Pre-tax loss in the period was £6.41 million compared to a profit of £1.47 million. Loss per share was 10.2 pence compared to per share earnings of 1.6 pence last year.

Shaft Sinkers Holdings PLC rose 2.5% to 83 pence after the underground construction company announced it has suspended work for its Russian client EuroChem.