AFP: FTSE 100 seen flat after shedding 1.1% last week, oil and metal prices climb
The FTSE 100 is seen flat after rising 0.2% on Friday to trim its weekly losses to 1.1%. The US data released on the last day of trading subdued fears over the strength of the economic recovery in the US, showing a rise in the University Michigan consumer sentiment index, which improved from 67.8 to 69.6 in August.
Insurer Aviva (LON:AV), which has rejected an approach from peer RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA) to buy its general insurance operations for £5 billion, led the blue chips with a 5.5% gain. Tour operator TUI Travel (LON:TT) and oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) followed, climbing 4.5% ad 3.4% respectively. Insurance companies Legal & General (LON:LGEN) and Standard Life (LON:SL) added 3.2% and 3% respectively. Asset management company Schroders (LON:SDR) and interdealer broker ICAP (LON:IAP) advanced 2.8% and 2.6%, while banking group Barclays (LON:BARC) and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) tacked on nearly 2.5%.
Miner Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) declined 6% to slid to the bottom of the pile. Plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LON:WOS) dropped 3%, while Home Retail Group (LON:HOME), clothing retailer Next (LON:NXT) and satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) lost about 2%. Silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES), bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and retailer Kingfisher (LON:KGF) added over 1.5%. Gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and food manufacturer Unilever (LON:ULVR) moved up 1.5%.
US markets closed in the negative. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.15%, the broader S&P 500 index declined 0.4% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite dropped 0.75%.
Bank of America Corp (LON:BAC) and Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) were the top performers in the Dow Jones index with gains of 1.3% and 1% respectively.
Notable fallers included Intel Corp (NYSE:INTC) and DuPont (NYSE:DD) with losses of 1.5% and 1.1%.
Asian markets were mixed today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng moved up 0.2%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.3%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index and South Korea’s KOSPI slid 0.5%, as did Australia’s S&P/ASX 200.
Commodities
Oil prices were slightly higher this morning. September Brent Crude climbed to US$75.35/barrel, while US light, sweet crude doe September delivery rose to US$75.70/barrel.
Precious metals rose. Gold reached US$1,220/oz, while silver and platinum advanced to US$18.19/oz and US$1,529/oz respectively.
Base metals followed with copper and nickel improving to US$3.26/lb and US$9.70/lb. Zinc was steady at US$0.92/lb.
The EU’s CPI (consumer price index) data, the Empire State manufacturing survey and an update on the National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index will be released today.
