FTSE 100 regains some ground from opening losses
By 11:30 FTSE 100 stocks turned around, regaining some of the terrain lost in morning trading. Recovering from a peak loss of 0.98 per cent the FTSE traded down by 0.43 per cent by 13:05 BST.
Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Friday, August 20, 2010
Yesterday US unemployment data came in weaker than was expected further dampening the mood amongst investors who are staying clear of risky assets in light of slowing global economic growth.
However bid activity in the energy sector served to support the FTSE 100 index somewhat. Whilst stocks were broadly down BG Group gained 5.05 per cent in morning trading and Cairn Energy moved up by 0.96 per cent on talk of takeover bids in both cases.
BHP Billiton is edging down as talks are surfacing that a rescue bidder could muddle the Australian commodities giant's bid for Potash of Saskatchewan, the Canadian fertiliser maker. A bid earlier this week was declined by Potash directors and BHP Billiton moved to offer a bid directly to shareholders.
Banks and miners tend to move alongside risk appetite and this is the case today as well. At the bottom of the list of top shares are Eurasian Natural Resources and Kazakhmys, down 3.1 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Xstrata, Fresnillo, Lonmin and Anglo American fared no better, all losing between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
Mid-cap stocks experienced even more of a bounce this morning. The FTSE 250 reached an intraday low of 9,724.47 by 11:30, down 1.12 per cent but by 13:05 BST mid-cap stocks recovered to 9,776.54, down 0.6 per cent.
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News
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22 May 2012 - FTSE climbs as markets calm
22 May 2012 - FTSE falls further as ratings agency action worsens fears
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