UK Indexes Gain, Manchester United Loss Widens

Arthi Gupta
19 Sep, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes advanced after Japan announced stimulus measures to boost economic growth. The Bank of England policymakers were unanimous in their decisions on quantitative easing and interest rate. Lonmin reached a settlement with management on wages.

[R]3:30 PM London – The UK indexes advanced after Japan announced stimulus measures to boost economic growth. The Bank of England policymakers were unanimous in their decisions on quantitative easing and interest rate. Lonmin reached a settlement with management on wages.[/R]

The UK indexes climbed tracking global indexes after the Bank of Japan expanded its asset purchase program in what appears to be a coordinated move with other central banks of Europe and the U.S.

The central bank decided to increase the total size of the asset purchase program by 10 trillion yen or $127.12 billion to about 80 trillion yen. The central bank will purchase treasury discount bills by about 5 trillion yen and Japanese government bonds by about 5 trillion yen.

The Bank of England policymakers unanimously decided to maintain quantitative easing at £375 billion and the interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, according to the minutes of the meeting held on September 5 and 6 released today.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 gained 9.45 or 0.1% to 5,877.92 and the pound edged lower to $1.6209.

Gainers & Losers

Accenture PLC slid 0.2% to $65.15 after the outsourcing provider and TPP signed a new three-year agreement with Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to implement a full hospital system that will connect clinicians with 1.1 million patient records.

ASOS plc soared 5.7% to 2,158 pence after the Internet retailer said fourth quarter total retail sales rose 31% to £141.04 million. Retail sales for the year increased 38% to £538 million.

Kingfisher plc, the home improvement retailer advanced 0.3% to 274.40 pence after a broker downgrade.

Lonmin Plc rose 1.2% to 657.50 pence after the miner reached a settlement with the management.

Manchester United plc rose 0.1% to $12.59 after the English soccer club reported fourth quarter revenue declined 25% to £74.5 million. Net loss for the quarter widened to £15 million compared with a net loss of £0.5 million in the prior-year period.

On a per share basis, loss was 10 pence per share compared to breakeven in the year-ago quarter.

Smiths Group plc gained 1.6% to 1,059 pence after the technology firm reported fiscal year revenue rose 7% to £3.03 billion. For the year, pre-tax profit declined to £365.9 million from £397.9 million last year.