News of the killing sent oil prices higher, boosted precious metals such as gold and platinum, and gave a lift to the euro. Oil had already been trading strongly during the morning after reports of escalating tension between Turkey and Kurds in northern Iraq, but the events in Pakistan saw it edge closer to $97 a barrel. On top of the geopolitical worries came data showing US oil inventories fell last week to their lowest level since January 2005.
Benefiting from the oil price increases was Cairn Energy, one of this week's newcomers to the FTSE 100. It closed 175p higher at £30, with a smattering of takeover talk helping sentiment.
BP was 4.5p better at 621.5p, while Royal Dutch Shell rose 25p to £21.29 and BG added 29p to £11.42.
Defensive stocks such as United Utilities, up 18p at 767.5p, were also wanted. And predictions of a cold snap lifted Scottish & Southern Energy, 38p better at £16.59, and British Energy, 10.5p higher at 528.5p and National Grid, 23.5p ahead at 845.5p.
So the FTSE 100 ended 18.5 points higher at 6497.8, shrugging off an opening slump on Wall Street, albeit with fairly thin trading volumes. The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 100 points by the time London closed on a mixture of Bhutto, oil, and weaker-than-expected consumer durables figures. A suggestion from Goldman Sachs analyst William Tanona that Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase might have to write off another $33bn this quarter related to the credit crunch did not help sentiment across the Atlantic.
Nearer home, most of the miners moved ahead on higher metals prices and continuing hopes of further sector bids in the wake of the proposed offer from BHP Billiton for Rio Tinto. Xstrata, widely tipped to take part in any consolidation, added 23p to £36.26 and Rio rose 7p to £53.82. But BHP slipped 17p to £15.61.
The oil price strength was not good news for everyone. Transport firms fell on concerns that higher fuel costs would hit margins, with the cruise group Carnival 52p lower at £22.18 and British Airways down 5.75p at 309.25p.
Weak mortgage lending figures hit housebuilder Persimmon, down 5.5p at 790.5p, and also helped push DIY group Kingfisher 3.9p lower at 144.7p.
Apart from Cairn, other newly promoted companies had mixed fortunes. The security group G4S, which joined the 100 index, fell 2.5p to 241.5p, while the funeral group Dignity, now a member of the FTSE 250, succumbed to profit-taking and dipped 23p to 716p.
The medical equipment group Gyrus added 24p to 620p as the proposed offer from the US group Olympus Corporation received American regulatory approval. European authorities are still reviewing the deal.
The publishing group Emap slipped 17.5p to 921p on fading hopes of a counter-offer after joint bidders Guardian Media Group - publisher of the Guardian newspaper - and private equity group Apax Partners each bought 9.7% of their target's shares.
Elsewhere, the bingo and casinos group Rank rose 1.25p to 91.25p on revived hopes of a possible bid from the US group Harrah's and separate speculation that the private equity group Duke Street Capital could be interested in its Mecca bingo clubs.
Game Group gained 8.5% to 228.5p as Goldman Sachs edged up its stake in the computer games retailer, while the racecourse owner Arena Leisure slipped 0.25p to 49p. The company has denied a report it is involved in negotiations for a commercial alternative to the betting levy, which funds the racing industry.
Lower down the market, the Crosby Capital climbed 7p to 26.75p as shares in the oil and gas group IB Daiwa, where it owns 20%, avoided being delisted from the Japanese stock exchange and resumed normal trading.
The North Sea oil developer Xcite Energy was 2p better at 67.5p. It issued an upbeat report on progress at its Bentley field, where it said testing should be completed before the end of January. Analysts at Mirabaud recently started coverage of the company with a buy recommendation and a target price of 190p. They said: "Xcite is significantly less expensive than Nautical Petroleum, the only other independent heavy oil pure play operating in the UK."
The technology consultancy group Sagentia added 1p to 3.63p after this week's news that Turf Trax, the betting technology group in which it has an 8% stake, planned to join Aim.
Character Group, the toy licensee, regained some of the ground it lost when it warned this month that Christmas trading was not going as well as expected. The news knocked nearly 40% off its share price but yesterday it added 1.75p to 93.25p.
On the way down was Entertainment Rights, which dipped 0.5p to 15p on profit taking. The company announced last week that it had been commissioned by the BBC to update Swap Shop, the children's Saturday morning show. Instead of Noel Edmonds, the presenter is lined up to be Entertainment Rights' popular character Basil Brush.
By Nick Fletcher | Read more | Digg story
No comments:
Post a Comment