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  ICAP, TUI Travel, Legal & General, Prudential and Man Group slide, but FTSE 100 gains
Reported by Proactive Investors on Friday, 29 January 2010 (on January 29, 2010)
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*Overview:* the FTSE 100 recouped most of yesterday’s losses, climbing 1% after today’s US GDP update for the final quarter of the past year revealed a 5.7% annual growth to beat expectations and lend support to global stock markets after a few days of declines.
The markets got another boost when it was reported that the Chicago PMI index increased from 58.7 to 61.5 in January, signalling a higher level of manufacturing activity in the Midwest.
*Xstrata (LSE: XTA)* emerged atop the leaderboard with a 3.5% advance. Hospitality *Whitbread (LSE: WTB)* and banks *Barclays (LSE: BARC)* and *HSBC (LSE: HSBA) *followed with gains of over 2.5%. Quality and safety company Intertek (LSE: ITRK) was another notable risers with a 2.2% improvement.
Just five FTSE 100 constituents lost more than 1% today. Interdealer broker *ICAP (LSE: IAP)* and tour company *TUI Travel (LSE: TT)* were at the bottom with losses of over 2%. Insurers *Legal & General (LSE: LGEN)* and *Prudential (LSE: PRU) *and hedge fund manager *Man Group (LSE: EMG) *added 1.5%.
US stock markets were off to a positive start after the GDP update. The *Dow Jones Industrial Average* rose 0.5%, the broader *S&P 500* index added 0.7% and the technology heavy* NASDAQ* composite advanced 0.6%.
/Commodities/
Oil prices partially recovered from yesterday’s falls when the commodities got hit by an update from the* Energy Information Administration (EIA)*. While the *Department of Energy (DoE)* said that oil stockpiles unexpectedly decreased by 3.9 million barrels last week, which was an even larger fall than the 2.2 million barrel draw reported by the *American Petroleum Institute (API)* on Tuesday, the EIA said that gasoline stockpiles were up 2 million barrels, which was a greater than expected increase, while distillate stocks rose by 0.4 million barrels instead of the decline of 1.8 million barrels projected by Platts.
Yesterday’s weekly jobless claims update, which showed a lesser than expected decrease of 470,000 for the previous week, further dented sentiment.
The prices were supported by today's strnegth in European stock markets. Today's US Q4 GDP update will impact further movements in the commodity markets.
*Brent Crude* for March delivery last traded at US$72.19/barrel, while* US light, sweet crude* improved to US$73.68/barrel.
Most blue chip oil and gas companies rose today. *Shell (LSE: RDSB) *took the lead with a 1.4% advance, while fellow supermajor *BP (LSE: BP)* gained less than 1%, as did *Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW)*. *BG Group (LSE: BG)* also did well, tacking on 1.2%.
*Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE)* was unmoved, as was *Petrofac (LSE: PFC)*, while fellow engineering firm *Amec (LSE: AMEC)*, which announced the acquisition of project services consultancy Currie & Brown, added slightly less than 1%.
Midcaps were mixed. *Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS)* led the sector in the FTSE 250, advancing 3.5% and *Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO)* was a distant second with a 1.5% climb.* Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL)* and *Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR)* posted small gains and *JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) *and *Soco International (LSE: SIA)* remained around the opening levels.
*Premier Oil (LSE: PMO)* was at the bottom of the pile with a 1.2% loss, while *Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX)* followed with a decline of less than 1%.
Services companies *Wood Group (LSE: WG)* and *Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) *added less than 1%.
Africa and FSU operating oil and gas junior *Victoria Oil & Gas (AIM: VOG)* and Western Europe operating oil and gas company *Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) *led the small caps with gains of 6% and 5% respectively.
Irish oil and gas exploration company* Petroceltic International (AIM: PCI)* and energy investor *Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR)* headed in the opposite direction, shedding 6%.
/Gold, silver and platinum slide on strong US Dollar/
Gold prices were lower today after hitting three month lows at US$1,075/oz on Thursday as the *US Dollar *strengthened against the euro, which was pushed down to six month lows against the American currency by concerns over the debt situation in Greece and Portugal.
Gold slid to US$1,084/oz, while *silver *held steady at US$16.23/oz and *platinum* inched higher to US$1,515/oz.
Mining stocks were mixed. *Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS)* led the sector in the FTSE 100 with a gain of nearly 2%, while platinum producer *Lonmin (LSE: LMI)* added less than 1% and silver and gold miner *Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) *posted a small loss.
Specialty chemicals firm *Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT)* climbed 1.3%.
*Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP)* dropped 2%, while fellow FTSE 250 constituent gold miner *Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) *lost 1.2%. Silver producer *Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC)* did better with a 2.2% gain.
Most juniors declined with a few exceptions including diamond miner with assets in Sierra Leone and Guinea *West African Diamonds (AIM: WAD)*, which rose 6.2%.
Uzbekistan focused gold miner *Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS)* headed in the opposite direction, slipping 9.5%. Fiji focused gold miner *Vatukoula Gold Mines (AIM: VGM)*, commodity asset development company *Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) *and Latin American precious metal miner *Minera IRL (AIM: MIRL) *followed with losses of 5.5%, 5% and 4.5% respectively. Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer *Frontier Mining (AIM: FML)* also shed 4.5%. Copper and gold miner *EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) *and South American based explorer *Mariana Resources (AIM: MARL)* both dropped 4%.
/Copper, nickel and zinc rise/
Base metals were slightly higher with copper and nickel rising to US$3.11/lb and US$8.47/lb, while zinc reached US$0.97/lb.
Most base metal focused stocks rose today. *Xstrata (LSE: XTA)* was in the lead, climbing 3%. *Anglo American (LSE: AAL)* and *BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT)* followed with gains of over 2%. *Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO)* added 1.7%, *Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC)* was up 1.3%, while *Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO)* and *Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED)* posted small gains.
*Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ)* was flat.
London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, *Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) *went against the tide with a marginal loss.
Australia focused coking coal producer *Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) *waqs among the top performers in the sector with a 6% gain.
Copper and nickel explorer* Regency Mines (AIM: RGM)* and Indonesia operating coal miner *Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL)* were in the red with losses of 6.5% and 6% respectively. Mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) slipped 4%.
/Banks, insurance, private equity/
Most banking stocks were on the rise with* Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN)*,* Barclays (LSE: BARC)* and *HSBC (LSE: HSBA)* gaining 2.5%.* Lloyds (LSE: LLOY)* rose 1%, while fellow bailed out bank *Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) *posted a small loss.
Insurance stocks were mixed today. *Old Mutual (LSE: OML)* led the pack, climbing 1.6%. Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) added 1.2%, while *Standard Life (LSE: SL) *rose marginally and *RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) *and *Aviva (LSE: AV)* were flat. *Legal & General (LSE: LGEN)* and* Prudential (LSE: PRU)* lost 1.3%.
Private equity group *3i (LSE: III)* was flat.
/Large and Mid Cap News/
One of *Carillion’s (LSE: CLLN)* Local Education Partnerships (LEP) has been appointed as the preferred bidder for the £370 million Wolverhampton Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. To date, the construction and support service group has been selected for or signed contracts worth approximately £1.7 billion under the UK government's BSF programme, which will ultimately total £65 billion.
Engineering group *AMEC PLC (LSE: AMEC)* said it bought cost and commercial management consultancy Currie & Brown (Australia) Pty Ltd from its shareholders Currie & Brown International Ltd and other owner-managers for A$36.4 million in cash.
Outsourcing and asset management business *MITIE Group PLC (LSE: MTO)* said it has performed well since 1 October 2009 and has had a good start to the second half of the year. Earnings continue to grow in line with management expectations and it is confident that earnings for the full year will also meet management expectations.
*BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP) *has approved a US$1.93 billion capital expenditure programme to further accelerate the growth of its Western Australia Iron Ore business. The investment is part of the company's Rapid Growth Project 6 (RGP6), which is expected to increase installed capacity of the Western Australia Iron Ore assets to 240 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) during calendar year 2013
International infrastructure group *Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) *has won five contracts in the UK highway and rail sectors worth a combined £270 million. The contracts were awarded by the Highways Agency , Network Rail and the Welsh Assembly Government.
*Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX)* has been awarded interests in nine offshore blocks under six new production licenses by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, which were made through the 2009 Norwegian APA Licensing Round.
/Small Cap News/
Live interactive TV gambling specialist *NetPlay TV PLC (AIM: NPT)* finance director Nichola Halverson has resigned with immediate effect following the decision of the company to relocate its head office, finance, billing and marketing team to London from Lancaster.
*Finders Resources (AIM, ASX: FND) *ticked off a Definitive Feasibility Study for the Wetar Copper Project during the December quarter, which was positive with estimated life of mine operating costs of US$1.00/lb Cu.
*Nyota Minerals (AIM, ASX: NYO)* said that an additional RC (reverse circulation) rig was on its way to its flagship Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia to accelerate its ongoing RC and diamond drilling programme aimed at increasing the current JORC resource of 0.69 Moz (million ounces) of gold to 1 Moz and upgrading part of that resource to the measured and indicated category. The results so far received have already been dispatched for sampling and assay, with results expected during the current quarter.
*Range Resources (ASX: RRS; AIM: RRL)* said its Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) over the Dharoor and Nugaal Valley exploration areas has been modified in December 2009 in agreement with JV (joint venture) partner Africa Oil Corp and the government of the Puntland State of Somalia to extend the initial exploration period for both blocks from 36 to 48 months with a revised expiry of 17 January 2011.
Budget-airline *EasyJet (LSE: EZJ)* has announced the latest appointment to the board as the company’s managerial merry-go-round begins to come to an end. EasyJet has appointed EMI music’s chief investment officer, Chris Kennedy as the group’s new Group Finance Director.
Copper miner *Weatherly International (AIM: WTI)* has terminated the agreement for the sale of the Kombat mine following the agreement on the sale of its Tsumeb smelter business to Dundee Precious Metals.
London-based independent research group Growth Equities and Company Research has maintained its ‘speculative buy’ recommendation for *Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR)*.
Technology commercialisation company *Ipso Ventures plc (AIM: IPS)* said it has added value to its portfolio through the establishing another new entity and by developing its existing businesses in the first half
Perth-based gold explorer *Exco Resources (ASX: EXS)* has continued to make progress on its White Dam gold project in South Australia. During the quarter ended 31 December 2009, the company has been conducting exploration work and has successfully completed a AU$10.1m placing. Exco said the White Dam project remains on track for first gold production in late March/early April 2010.
*London Mining (AIM: LOND; XETRA: L9K)* said the JORC compliant resource estimate for its Marampa iron ore project in Sierra Leone showed that the resource was sufficient to support a 1.5 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum) operation starting in 2011 with the potential to double production from tailings. Additional tailings and primary ore resource estimates are expected by the end of Q1 2010.
Workforce- optimisation software specialist *Allocate Software (AIM: ALL) *announced a strong set of first half results, In the six months ended 30 November 2009, Allocate increased revenue by 38% to £9m and delivered a 43% increase in trading profits to £1.12m.
Links: Full news story
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