UK Unemployment at 16-Year High; Tullow Plunges 5%

Arthi Gupta
18 Jan, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes climbed. The UK jobless rate surged to a record high since 1995. Irish surplus increased in November. BHP Billiton reported record quarterly iron ore output.

[R]3:30 PM London – The UK indexes climbed. The UK jobless rate surged to a record high since 1995. Irish surplus increased in November. BHP Billiton reported record quarterly iron ore output.[/R]

The UK indexes climbed on the hopes that the International Monetary Fund will boost its lending resources by $1 trillion and German yields fell in an auction of two-year notes today.

However, traders were cautious after the World Bank and the International Energy Agency lowered global economic outlook and oil demand growth forecast for the year.

Greece and its bondholders remain at odds in restructuring debt ahead of the resumption of talks today. Greece is looking to cut its total debt load by $130 billion from the $450 billion before the nation can access more loans from euro zone bailout fund.

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 2.03 or 0.1% to 5,696.22 and the pound edged higher to $1.5387.

UK Jobless Rate Up

The UK unemployment rate reached its highest level since 1995, data from the Office for National Statistics showed today.

The jobless rate was 8.4% during the three months ended November.

The number of unemployed rose 118,000 on the quarter to 2.68 million, which was the biggest since 1994.

Employment among 16-24-year-olds rose 22.3% to a record high of 1.04 million.

Total pay, including bonuses rose 1.9% on a year earlier, and, excluding bonus, regular pay grew 1.9%.

Irish Surplus Rises

Ireland''s seasonally adjusted trade surplus increased to €4.31 billion in November from €3.72 billion in October, preliminary data released by the Central Statistics Office showed on Wednesday.

Exports grew a seasonally adjusted 5% from a month ago to €8.02 billion in November.

Gainers & Losers

BP plc rose 0.2% to $44.31 after the international energy explorer said that global energy demand is likely to grow 39% by 2030, or 1.6% annually, almost entirely in non-OECD countries. Consumption in OECD countries is expected to rise by just 4% in total over the period.

Fresnillo Plc gained 0.1% to 1,754 pence after the silver and gold mining company said fourth quarter attributable silver production decreased 1.5% to 10.3 million ounces from the prior-year quarter, due to lower than expected ore grade at the Fresnillo mine.

Man Group Plc surged 6.9% to 114.50 pence after the alternative investment management business said assets under management declined 9.5% in the third quarter.

Sales in the third quarter were $3.1 billion, while redemptions were $5.6 billion for the quarter compared to $7.3 billion in the quarter ended September, the company noted.

Tullow Oil Plc plunged 4.9% to 1,384 pence after the oil and gas firm said its revenues for the full-year 2011 more than doubled from last year, helped by increased production and strong commodity prices.

Tullow expects to report full-year sales revenues of about $2.3 billion, significantly up from $1.09 billion reported in the year 2010.

WPP Plc dipped 0.3% to 740.50 pence after the media communications services company''s wholly owned operating company, Ogilvy acquired a 33.33% stake in the capital of DTDigital Pty Limited, a digital marketing firm in Australia.