UK Indexes Track Lower Regional Markets, Michael Page Slumps 4%

Arthi Gupta
09 Jul, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes slid tracking the market weakness in Europe and staff placements fell at the fastest pace in 3 years. China reported consumer prices fell and Japan said current account surplus declined stoking the fears of worldwide slowdown. Bonds yields of Spain and Italy rose to critical levels.

[R]3:30 PM London – The UK indexes slid tracking the market weakness in Europe and staff placements fell at the fastest pace in 3 years. China reported consumer prices fell and Japan said current account surplus declined stoking the fears of worldwide slowdown. Bonds yields of Spain and Italy rose to critical levels.[/R]

The UK indexes traded lower.

Traders look ahead to a meeting of euro area finance ministers in Brussels today. Spanish and Italian yields jumped and finance ministers gathered in Brussels for the last time before the summer break.

The latest inflation data from China confirmed the slowing economy and prices declined in June as the government clamps down lending to curb housing market speculation. Also, volatile machinery orders in Japan fell and current account surplus shrank for the fifteenth month in a row.

Ian McCafferty will succeed Adam Posen as an external member on the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, the UK Treasury said on Friday.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 33.55 or 0.6% to 5,628.98 and the pound edged lower to $1.5475.

UK Staff Placements Drop

Permanent and temporary staff appointments at UK firms declined in June at sharpest rates since July 2009, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG Report on Jobs published today.

Overall demand for staff showed the weakest increase for five months in June. Growth of permanent vacancies eased further, but temp vacancies rose at a fractionally faster pace.

Gainers & Losers

Whitbread plc fell 1.5% to 2,043 pence after the hotels and restaurants business operator reached an agreement with the group''s pension fund on the triennial valuation on March 31.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC fell 0.2% to 30.26 pence and the financial services provider is close to selling a portfolio of loans and shares in ""struggling"" companies that it acquired as part of its deal to rescue HBOS during the credit crisis, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

The newspaper variously attributes the value of the portfolio at £700 million and £1 billion.

Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc rose 0.7% to 882.32 pence after the power systems provider received a contract valued at $183 million to service M250 engines, which power the U.S. Army’s fleet of OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters.

Michael Page International plc slumped 3.8% to 350.90 pence after the recruitment consultancy reported second quarter gross profit of £138.0 million on weak hiring in London based financial services companies.