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  UK retail sales grow 3.4%, but FTSE 100 slides as gold, silver and plaitnum decline to weaken miners
Reported by Proactive Investors on Thursday, 19 November 2009 (on November 19, 2009)
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Overview: the FTSE 100 was down 0.6% this morning, weighed down by declines in the mining sector, which was weakened by declines in metal prices. Base metals focused miners Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO), Anglo American (LSE: AAL) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the fallers, sliding 5%, 4% and 3.5% respectively. Non-resource stocks on the top fallers list included plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), commercial property company Liberty International (LSE: LLI) and satellite telecom company Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT), which lost about 2.5%.
The losses in the mining sector were partially offset by a strong performance from beverage group SABMiller (LSE: SAB), which emerged atop the leaderboard with a 4% climb after reporting better than expected interim results. Household products firm Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) followed, climbing 3% amid rumours of a possible merger with Colgate Palmolive (NYSE: CL). Energy company Centrica (LSE: CNA), supermarket chain Morrison (LSE: MRW) and bailed out bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) were the only other FTSE 100 constituents to gain 1% or more.
The decline was despite the better than expected UK retail sales update that came out this morning, showing the highest growth rate in 17 months at 3.4%.
Stock index futures in the US were down, signalling a lower start on Wall Street to further weaken the Footsie.
Commodities
Oil prices slightly declined form yesterday’s levels with January Brent Crude sliding to US$79.00/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for December delivery declined to US$79.02/barrel.
The oil & gas sector was mixed. BG Group (LSE: BG) was in the lead, advancing 1.2% after announcing record productivity test results from its project in Brazil. Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) rose marginally as did BP (LSE: BP), while fellow supermajor Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted small losses. Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) was flat.
Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) outperformed the sector with a 3.5% climb, while other midcaps headed in different directions with Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) posting a small gain and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) sliding marginally.
Miners weak as gold, silver and plaitnum slide
Precious metals retreated after making strong gains over the past few days with gold sliding to US$1,133/oz, silver falling to US$18.20/oz and platinum moving down to US$1,420/oz.
All major mining stocks fell in response to the declines in metal prices.
Gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.5% decline, while platinum miner Lonmin (LSE: LMI) came close with a 2.3% slide. Another FTSE 100 constituent, silver producer Frensillo (LSE: FRES), lost 1.9%.
Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) lost 1.8%.
Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was the leading faller among the midcaps with a 3% decline. Gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) declined 1.7%, while silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) started the day with a small loss.
Lesotho operating diamond miner Kopane Diamond Developments (AIM: KDD) led the juniors with a 9% rally. Africa operating gold miner GMA Resources (AIM: GMA) followed with a 6.5% advance.
Australian gold and copper prospector Solomon Gold (AIM: SOLG) and commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) went in the opposite direction, emerging among the sector’s leading fallers with losses of nearly 9%, while Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) followed with a loss of almost 5%.
Philippines focused Metals Exploration (AIM: MML) slipped 13% after the suspension of its shares was lifted after the resource estimate for its Runruno project was updated.
Kyrgyzstan focused gold explorer and developer Chaarat Gold Holdings (AIM: CGH), Africa focused gold deposit developer Cluff Gold (AIM: CLF) and South American based explorer Mariana Resources (AIM: MARL) all lost around 3.5%.
Copper and nickel slide
Base metals continued their decline with copper and nickel sliding to US$3.07/lb and US$7.66/lb respectively, while zinc slid to US$1/lb.
Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) emerged as the leading faller in the sector with a 4.7% loss, while Anglo American (LSE: AAL) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) followed, shedding 3.5% and 3% respectively. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was down 2.5% and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) all slid 2%.
Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) declined 1.6%.
London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) moved with the market, sliding 3.7%.
Small caps mostly declined.
Philippines operating nickel miner Rusina Mining (ASX: RML; AIM: RMLA) led the fallers with an 8% decline. Laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) and Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) followed, sliding 5%. Mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) and Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC) lost 3.5%, while South Africa operating chrome miner Chromex Mining (AIM: CHX) and zinc mining and recycling specialist ZincOX (AIM: ZOX) were down 3%.
Uranium and copper explorer Kalahari Minerals (AIM: KAH) lost 2.5%.
Nickel and iron ore exploration junior Landore Resources (AIM: LND) went against the tide, rising 3.5%.
Banks, insurance, private equity
Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) posted a small gain, as did Lloyds (LSE: LLOY), while fellow part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was flat. Barclays (LSE: BARC) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) lost about 1%.
Most insurers were in selling mode today. Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) led the fallers with a loss of almost 1%, while Aviva (LSE: AV), Old Mutual (LSE: OML), Prudential (LSE: PRU) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) posted marginal losses. RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) did better with a small gain, while car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) was flat.
Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) declined marginally.
Small cap movers
Other notable movers among the small caps included African focussed soft commodity specialist, Agriterra Limited (AIM: AGTA), which tacked on almost 6% and machine to machine (M2M0 communications specialist Telit Communications (AIM: TCM) rose 5.5%.
Large and Mid Cap News
In its half year interim statement, international brewers SABMiller PLC (LSE: SAB) said that weak currency conversions offset a ‘strong underlying performance’ . Revenue fell 6% and reported earnings were down 2%.
In an interim management statement, Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) said it expects full year production to average between 43,000 and 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), which represents a substantial increase from 36,500 boepd in 2008. The company also said its development programme is on track and through its significant production increases in the future, scheduled in 2011 and 2012, it remains on track to reach production levels of 75 mboepd.
Sinclair Pharma PLC (LSE: SPH) said trading in the first quarter starting July 1 has met company expectations and it is in discussions about appointing new partners for oral health product Decapinol to support its drive to seek faster access to the over-the counter-market in the US.
National Grid (LSE: NG.) announced this morning that it would hike its interim dividend by 8% to 13.65 pence after reporting solid first half results.
PV Crystalox Solar PLC (LSE: PVCS) said second half shipments are expected to be significantly above those achieved in the first half. According to today’s statement, total wafer shipment volume for 2009 is now anticipated to reach the ‘upper end’ of previous guidance, between 230-235MW.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets (‘Morrison’s’) (LSE: MRW) reported solid third quarter results this morning, buoyed by its continuing investment in delivering a better service and product to its customers while maintaining tight cost management control.
AstraZenec (LSE: AZN) announced the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the drug ticagrelo. The application is for an investigational oral antiplatelet treatment for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
BG Group (LSE: BG.) reported this morning that recent drill stem tests on the Iracema Well in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil had confirmed the presence of high quality light oil and “record” productivity. The Iracema appraisal well is located 33 kilometres north-west of the Tupi discovery well. Iracema was drilled to a depth of 5 000 metres and completed in September 2009.
FTSE 250 constituent Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) confirmed this morning that it had moved into “Phase 2” of the restarting operations at the Everest Platinum Mine in South Africa.
Small Cap News
Multi-currency payment and data processor Planet Payment (AIM: PPT, PPTR) has announced the appointment of Robert Cox as chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer, while the company’s current CFO Seth Asofsky will now serve as senior vice president for the US region.
US focused junior Empyrean Energy (AIM: EME) has completed the planning for the fracture stimulation of each of the three horizontal wells at its Sugarloaf project onshore Texas, and the wells are now prepared for the start of the fracture operations, which is slated for December, with each stimulation expected to take 10 to 14 days.
Brainspark (AIM: BSP) said it has agreed to invest €475,536 in Mediapolis Investments SA to acquire a 10.87 percent interest in that company.
Pharmaceutical company ImmuPharma (AIM: IMM) has announced the final results from a Phase IIb trial of its drug Lupuzor aimed at treating Lupus, which displayed clinically significant improvements in patient response rate compared to placebo plus standard of care.
African focused company, Lonrho (LSE: LONR) informed the market that, the investment company Blackrock Inc (NYSE: BLK) has increased its shareholding in the company by more than 1%. Blackrock now owns or controls 48.5 million shares in the diversified AIM listed company, representing a total equity stake of 6.07%.
Gene therapy company Oxford Biomedica (AIM: OBX) has reported several positive developments, having secured further clinical and regulatory support for its anti-cancer drug TroVax and being on track to start clinical trials of ocular programmes in 2010 with Sanofi-Aventis, while cash burn remained in line with budget.
Greencore Group PLC (LSE: GNC) announced it has agreed to sell its bottled water business to Highland Spring Limited in a structured deal for up to £17.5m. Following the sale of the loss making division, the company intends to use the proceeds to reduce overall group borrowings.
Links: Full news story
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