UK Retail Sales Rebound, Man Group Plunges 10%

Arthi Gupta
18 Oct, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes edged higher after retail sales rebounded in September. BP plans to sell its stake in TNK-BP. Kier Group completed the sale of its 50% stake in two private finance initiative projects for

[R]6:30 PM London – The UK indexes edged higher after retail sales rebounded in September. BP plans to sell its stake in TNK-BP. Kier Group completed the sale of its 50% stake in two private finance initiative projects for £5.4 million.[/R]

The UK indexes climbed after retail sales rebounded and tracked higher European markets.

Investors look to the EU Summit as Spain and Greece remain in focus and the euro trade at a five-week high.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 gained 6.14 or 0.1% to 5,917.05 and the pound edged higher to $1.6140.

UK Retail Sales Rebound

The UK retail sales rebounded in September.

Retail sales volume that includes sales of automotive fuel, increased 0.6% from a month ago in September compared to a revised 0.1% drop in August, data published by the Office for National Statistics showed today.

On an annual basis, retail sales including fuel climbed 2.5%, the same rate of growth as in August.

Sales excluding automotive fuel also expanded 0.6% on a monthly basis in September from the 0.2% fall in August.

Annual store price inflation was estimated to have increased to 0.7%.

Gainers & Losers

Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC rose 1.6% to 642.72 pence after the financial services provider said it made steady progress in the third quarter with both retail banking and private banking trading well.

BP plc climbed 0.6% to $43.81 after media reports suggested the oil and gas explorer is nearing a deal to sell its 50% shareholding in the Russian oil producer TNK-BP to Anglo-Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft for about $25 billion in cash and stock.

Hochschild Mining Plc fell 0.5% to 508.50 pence after the precious metals company reported third quarter attributable production of 5.1 million silver equivalent ounces, comprising 3.4 million ounces of silver and 28.5 thousand ounces of gold.

Kier Group plc slid 0.4% to 1,331.21 pence after the construction group said it had completed the sale of its 50% stake in two private finance initiative projects for £5.4 million.

Man Group Plc plunged 9.9% to 83.40 pence after the hedge fund manager stated that assets under management at the end of September quarter were $60 billion, up 14% since June quarter with the FRM acquisition closing on July 17 and adding assets under management by $8.3 billion.

SABMiller plc declined 2.3% to $42.14 after the brewer said its first-half organic lager volumes were 4% higher than last year with growth across most regions; and soft drinks volumes for the six months were 6% ahead of the prior year on an organic basis.

UBM plc slumped 3.6% to 696.57 pence after the media company reported revenue for the nine months ended September 30 increased 4% to £734.6 million from last year.