FTSE Gains, British Land Drops

Ivaylo
13 Feb, 2007
New York City

UK market traded higher on Tuesday in spite of weakness in the property sector. The market sentiment was boosted by the news of lower inflation ahead of the release tomorrow of the key inflation report by the Bank of England. Mining stocks were among the leading advancers as the price of copper firmed. British Energy plunged although the company invited partners to build new nuclear power plants. By mid-day, the FTSE 100 was 13.7 points higher at 6,367.1.

[R]9:30AM NY-2:30PM London FTSE 100 advanced Tuesday on easing inflation.[/R]
The UK market was higher on Tuesday. By mid-day, the FTSE 100 was 13.7 points higher at 6,367.1.

Advancers

Mining stocks were among the big advancers as the copper price was higher. Antofagasta gained 1.6% and BHP Billiton added 1.3%. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are reported to have worked out plans separately for a possible $40 billion takeover of Alcoa, one of the largest aluminium groups in the world. InterContinental Hotels Group continued to benefit from takeover talks, up a further 1.1%. Mobile operator Vodafone has been left as a buy at Nomura. The broker added that the price paid for Hutchison Essar was not as pricey as some insisted. Vodafone advanced 0.2%.

Decliners

The property group British Land declined 2.2% as it posted a fall in net asset value to 16.10 pounds, from 16.24 pounds three months ago on a weak performance from its shopping centres and a higher-than-anticipated cost of converting to a real estate investment trust. The rest of the sector declined in sympathy. Slough Estates shed 2.3%, Liberty International fell 2.1% and Land Securities Group gave up 1.6%. British Energy lost a further 2% as the power group invited potential partners to submit plans to build new nuclear power stations and announced that repairs to its existing facilities would be completed by the end of March.

[R]8:30AM Asian markets closed mixed with Japan ending up, while HK down.[/R]
Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday. The Nikkei Index ended 0.7% higher at 17,621, after Japanese markets were closed on Monday. Mitsubishi Estate advanced 3.9%, Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 6.4% and Mitsui Fudosan, which Friday revised its profit outlook upwards for the fiscal year to March, surged 6.8%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index shed 2.2% to 20,132. Declines were led by China-related firms and property developers. Hang Lung Properties dipped 4.9%, Sino Land lost 3.9% and Cheung Kong also declined 3.9%.

South Korean Kospi Index gained 0.3% to 1,418. The benchmark index was given a boost following news of an agreement on the six-nation talks with North Korea on its nuclear disarmament. Hyundai Merchant Marine advanced 3.3% and Hyundai Elevator jumped 3.5%. The Shanghai Composite Index in China added 0.9% to end at 2,832. Airline, railway and taxi companies advanced on expectations of strong earnings from holiday traffic. Air China gained 6.3%, Daqin Railway rose 4.8% and bus and taxi operator Shanghai Bashi Industrial advanced 3.8%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2% up at 5,937. Merger and acquisition activities lifted the market. Alumina rose 5.9% after the Times of London reported that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto separately had plans to buy Alcoa.

[R]6:30AM Europe advances Tuesday on strong gains in auto and airline stocks.[/R]
European markets were higher on Tuesday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.4% to 6,882.86, the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,664.97 and London FTSE !00 climbed 0.2% to 6,366.4.

Advancers

Automaker Peugeot shares were up 1.1% and airline Ryanair Holdings shares 2.2% higher in the transport segment as crude for March delivery closed down $2.08 at $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Norway Renewable Energy Corp gained 4.5% after reporting a better-than-expected 86% jump in Q4 core earnings. French telecoms and construction group Bouygues gained 1.4% after reporting a 10% rise in 2006 revenues, beating expectations, helped by sales growth at its telecoms unit.

Decliners

Sanofi-Aventis, the French drugmaker, fell 1.9% despite beating expectations with its Q4 operating profit and forecasting further growth for 2007. UBS shares lost 0.8% after the banking company reported a 47% drop in Q4 net profit but also said that it would buy back up to 10% of its shares. British Land shares fell 2.1%, Land Securities shares dipped 1.6% and Liberty International shares lost 2.2%.

Oil and gold

Oil slipped below $58 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a $2 drop from the previous day on signs that OPEC will refrain from further oil supply cuts when it meets in March. U.S. crude was off 23 cents at $57.58 a barrel. London Brent crude slipped 12 cents to $56.48 a barrel. Gold traded at $665.90 an ounce on Tuesday, up $1.30 an ounce from its close of $664.60 on Monday.

Currencies

The euro advanced after a report showed German economic growth unexpectedly quickened in Q4, underpinning expectations the European Central Bank will keep raising interest rates. The euro gained to $1.300 in early trade in London from $1.2966 in New York yesterday. It was also at 157.75 yen from 158.13. The yen traded at 121.34 against the dollar from 121.94 late in New York yesterday.

[R]5:30AM Gold settles lower on Monday on firm dollar and weaker oil.[/R]
Most-active April gold plunged $5 to$667.30 a troy ounce while March silver lost 20 cents to finish at $13.715. April platinum settled down $10.50 at $1,191.30 an ounce while March palladium declined $3.90 to end at $337.75. Most active March copper shed 4 cents to end at $2.4775 per pound.

The March crude oil slid $2.08 to close at $57.81 a barrel while March heating oil lost 7.97 cents to $1.6454 a gallon. March gasoline was off 6.21 cents to end at $1.5527 a gallon. March natural gas declined 60.1 cents to close at $7.226 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, March Arabica coffee futures closed down 0.80 cent at $1.1475 a pound, with May off 0.75 cent at $1.1780. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March slipped 0.10 cent to close at 10.39 cents a pound.