FTSE Drifts Lower

Ivaylo
19 Jan, 2001
New York City

Large-caps in UK continue to drift just below starting point this morning. US futures pointing to a weak start on U.S. have worsened sentiment, with vague bid talk and broker comment still providing most of the excitement. Tate & Lyle remains a top advancer on reports that an equity group is considering tabling a bid for the group. Corus is higher on a likely improved bid by Tata Steel, while Mice Group plunged. The FTSE 100 was off 9 points, or 0.20%, at 6,198 in late afternoon in London.

[R]9:30AM NY-2:30PM London The FTSE was slightly lower on Friday in flat trade.[/R]
The FTSE 100 was off 9 points, or 0.20%, at 6,198 in late afternoon in London.

Advancers

Sweetener group Tate & Lyle, up 1.67%, remains a top advancer on reports that a private equity group is considering tabling a bid for the group.

Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer Corus is 1.30% higher supported by reports that Tata Steel of India could be ready to improve its offer for the group. Tata is believed to have dismissed the news.

Intercontinental Hotels is also attracting support, advancing 3.27%, on talk of private equity and buy-out interest.

UBS turned buyer on Land Securities, up 0.99%, upgrading its stance to buy from neutral to take account of its conversion to REIT status.

Online auctioneer QXL Ricardo, 11.89% higher, is strong again after yesterday''s impressive third quarter numbers.

Decliners

Mice Group plunged 25.41%, blaming project delays in the US, cancellations, bad debt and foreign exchange losses for a warning that profits for the year will be significantly reduced.

Retail software group NSB Retail dipped 10.85%, warning that annual profits will come in below market expectations owing to a delay in the signing of some customer contracts.

Miners were down once again, reacting to a decline in copper prices. The worst affected were Kazakhmys shedding 0.10% and Vedanta, 0.90% lower.

[R]7:30 AM Asia finished mxed on Friday on weak technology stocks.[/R]
Asian markets finished mixed on Friday. The Nikkei Index in Japan finished the day 0.4% lower at 17,310. Stocks closed lower on profit-taking in tech stocks such as Tokyo Electron and Nikon, while banks declined on the decision of Bank of Japan to leave interest rates intact. Advantest shed 3.5%, Tokyo Electron lost 2.5% and Fujitsu slipped 2.1%. Nikon was off 3%, while Toshiba skidded 1.5%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% to 20,328. HSBC rose 1.1%, after Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating on the bank. China Mobile gained 0.4% ahead of the weekend release of its December operating data. South Korea Kospi Index shed 1.6% to 1361. Chip maker Hynix, which plunged 5.9% to a 6-month intraday low, ended 4.9% lower. Samsung Electronics also fell 1.7%.

The Shanghai Composite Index soared 2.7% to 2,832. Advances in banks on hopes of strong earnings results and a rebound in the property sector after recent sharp falls helped stop a two-day drop on the leading stock index of China. China Merchants Bank rose 5% and ICBC gained 1.1%.

Australian S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly higher at 5,673. Energy stocks responded to lower oil prices. Woodside Petroleum, the second-largest oil producer in Australia eased 2%. Santos also fell, closing 1.4% lower. On the other hand, the banking sector ended stronger, as National Australia Bank gained 0.5% and Westpac advanced 0.8%. Taipei closed 0.7% lower at 7,840.

[R]6:30 AM European stocks dropped as tech stocks countered gains in ither shares.[/R]
European markets were lower on Friday. By mid morning, London FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 6,194.5, Frankfurt Xetra Dax fell 0.3% to 6,667.46, and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 5,544.36.

Decliners

The lower-than-expected full-year profit forecast of Lam hit chip-related stocks in Europe. Dutch company ASML Holding fell 1.2%, while German chipmaker Infineon shed 3.5%, and Franco-Italian group STMicroelectronics lost 1%.

Euronext fell 3.4%, left with few hopes of a counter bid to rival the 14 billion euros agreed merger with NYSE Group,

French utility Suez lost 1.6% in Paris and ThyssenKrupp also declined 0.8% after recent gains. It said provisional figures show that Q1 profit before tax rose to 1 billion euros, or $1.29 billion, from 425 million euros last year, after sales rose 12% to 12.2 billion euros.

Advancers

Vinci, the French public works and transport concessions company, gained 4.6% after Artemis, said it had acquired a 5.1% stake and was open for any opportunity. French building materials group Saint Gobain rose 2.3% after Credit Suisse raised its rating from neutral to outperform” and raised its price target.

Schneider Electric gained 2.2% after the French electrical products group announced that its Q4 sales rose 12.3% to 3.66 billion euros, helped by a good performance in Europe. Fiat gained 3.3% after UBS upgraded the stock from neutral to buy and lifted its price target.

Shares in Deutsche Börse, the German stock exchange operator, rose 2.8% following reports it was considering dividing its managment structure into three sectors, concentrating on internal growth rather than acquisitions.

Oil and commodities

Oil prices fell in Asian trading Friday after the U.S. Energy Department said U.S. crude inventories rose by the most in more than four years. Light, sweet crude for February delivery dropped 8 cents to $50.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude on London ICE Futures exchange added just 2 cents to trade at $51.77 a barrel.

Gold headed for its second consecutive weekly gain in London as the dollar fell. Gold for immediate delivery rose $1.10, or 0.2%, to $628.80 an ounce in early trade in London. Other precious metals also gained including silver which was up 1 cent to $12.65, palladium added $1 to $340, while platinum dropped $6.50 to $1,151.50 an ounce.

Currencies

The euro was a little higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday. The 13-nation euro bought $1.2971 in morning European trading, slightly above its level of $1.2959 in New York late Thursday. The British pound slipped to $1.9716 from $1.9733. The dollar edged up to 121.29 Japanese yen, from 121.26 yen.

[R]5:00 AM Gold and silver declined Thursday on crude oil drop.[/R]
Most-active February gold sank $5.20 to close at $628.10 an ounce and March silver also dipped 20.5 cents to end at $12.685. April platinum reached its highest level since Dec. 1 at $1,176 an ounce. March palladium settled at $343.40, up 45 cents. The most-active March copper contract settled down 7.75 cents at $2.4920 per pound

Crude oil futures slumped to a fresh 20-month low, falling briefly below $50 a barrel after the Energy Department said U.S. stockpiles advanced by the most in more than four years. The front-month February light, sweet crude settled down $1.76 at $50.48 a barrel. February heating oil settled down 2.91 cents at $1.4707 a gallon. Gasoline lost 2.33 cents to close at $1.3553 a gallon. February natural gas gained 9 cents to finish at $6.324 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, March Arabica coffee futures settled down 1.85 cents at $1.1975 a pound, with May off 1.85 cents at $1.2295. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March settled down 0.05 cent at 10.71 cents a pound, with May off 0.02 cent at 10.82 cents.