UK Indexes Dip; Carnival Swings to Loss

Arthi Gupta
12 Mar, 2012
New York City

In listless trading, stocks in London edged lower. The OECD leading indicator for the UK increased 0.1% in January. Activity in the Irish construction sector fell in February. Carnival swung to quarterly loss. Misys confirmed the termination of merger discussions.

[R]4:30 PM London – In listless trading, stocks in London edged lower. The OECD leading indicator for the UK increased 0.1% in January. Activity in the Irish construction sector fell in February. Carnival swung to quarterly loss. Misys confirmed the termination of merger discussions.[/R]

The UK indexes edged lower following weak global markets and a cautionary report from the Bank of International Settlements.

The clearing house for the central banks noted in its report that bank lending in the euro zone declined 6% from a year ago in the second half of 2011 on the elevated tensions in the region as Greece teetered on the verge of a default.

In addition, China''s trade deficit widened to $31.48 billion in February, the highest since 1989 as weak global demand dampened exports in February, while imports surged after the New Year holiday, data published by the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday.

Imports soared 39.6% to $145.9 billion and exports increased 18.4% from a year ago to $114.5 billion in February.

In London trading, FTSE 100 Index declined 7.78 or 0.1% to 5,879.69 and the pound edged lower to $1.5633.

OECD Leading Index Up

The OECD economic indicator index rose for the third consecutive month in January to 100.9 from 100.5 in December, data showed today.

The leading indicator for the UK increased 0.1% in January.

Irish Construction PMI Declines

Ireland''s Purchasing Managers'' Index for the construction sector fell to 45.8 in February from 46.4 in January, data from a survey by Markit Economics and Ulster Bank showed today. The latest PMI reading is the lowest since last October.

The housing activity index slumped to 42.4 in February from 47.2 in January.

Gainers & Losers

Carnival Corp. & plc rose 1.8% to $31.11 after the cruise operator reported first quarter revenues rose 5.9% to $3.6 billion from $3.4 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $139 million or 18 cents per diluted share compared to a profit of $152 million, or 19 cents per share last year.

Carillion plc climbed 2.3% to 312 pence after the support services firm has been asked to deliver additional construction work for the Thameslink program, the cross-London rail network upgrade in a contract deal worth around £120 million.

Man Group PLC, the alternative investment management business fell 2% to 137 pence after a broker downgrade.

Misys plc slumped 3.6% to 328.90 pence after the supplier of IT solutions to the banking industry confirmed the termination of merger discussions with Temenos Group AG.