ST: FTSE modestly lower in nervous early trade as crude oil surges
StockMarketWire.com - MORNING REPORT: Headline shares were modestly lower in early deals today, with investors nervous as crude oil soared and base metals prices fell as the Libyan situation began to resemble a full-blow civil war.
At 8:30am, the FTSE100 was down 15.89 points at 5,974.5 with the FTSE250 off 22.1 points at 11,700.9 and the FTSE Smallcaps little changed at 3,273.85.
US & ASIA
In the US Friday, the Dow lost 88 points at 12,170, the Nasdaq Composite fell 14 points at 2,785 and the S&P500 shed 10 points at 1,321.
In Asia today, the Nikkei closed down 189 points at 10,505, while the Hang Seng was recently off 96 points at 23,313.
LONDON MARKETS
The escalating violence in Libya again dominated proceedings today, sending crude oil over $106 a barrel on Nymex and pushing gold towards $1,440 an ounce, while base metals prices eased.
Among the miners, Chile's Antofagasta, which updates the market tomorrow, was the biggest casualty of the morning, down 18p at 1,419p. Vedanta Resources slipped 27.5p at 2,424.5p and Rio Tinto lost 33.75p at 4,280.25p.
However, Fresnillo and African Barrick joined the winners list on the back of further rises in the price of gold, gaining 23p at 1,631p and 1.25p at 567.25p, respectively.
Banking stocks were under pressure as Eurozone problems and regulation fears refused to go away, with Lloyds losing 0.58p at 61.54p, Barclays off 1.57p at 311.53p and Royal Bank of Scotland 0.08p lower at 43.98p. HSBC bucked the trend, up 3p at 655.5p as it moved to deny weekend press speculation that it plans to move its HQ out of London.
Satellite operator Inmarsat slumped to the foot of the blue chip league, down 77.5p at 607p, despite reporting profit before tax of $333.5m for the year to end-December 2010, up 69.4% from $196.9m in the previous year.
Similarly, oil industry services group Petrofac slipped 11p at 1,455p, although it reported a surge in full-year profits following a record order intake.
Other notable casualties included Primark owner Associated British Foods, down 5.25p at 972.75p, plumbing giant Wolseley, off 25.5p at 2,135.5p, and aero engine maker Rolls-Royce, 7.75p lower at 596.25p.
On the upside, oil producers enjoyed rising crude prices, with Shell ahead 3p at 2,193.5p and BP edging up 0.33p at 494.23p, while BG Group also benefited from a Bernstein outperform rating, with its target for the stock raised to 1,650p from 1,500p. BG shares added 5.5p at 1,481.5p in response. Further consolidation in the world of luxury brands, as LVMH moves to take over Bulgari, gave a boost to retailer Burberry, the shares jumping to the top of the blue chip leaderboard, ahead 52.5p at 1,210.5p.
Publishing group Pearson jumped 8.5p at 1,099.5p on news it has agreed to acquire Educational Development International (EDI) for nearly £113m.
Product testing firm Intertek was in big demand, ahead 58p at 1,957p after reporting total revenue growth of 11% in the year to end-December 2010, with EPS and dividend increasing 10%.
Elsewhere, there were solid gains for satellite broadcaster BSkyB on hopes of a raised offer price from News Corp, the shares adding 6.895p at 831.75p.
