Stale session for economic and corporate data keeps FTSE flat
The FTSE is maintaining the four month high hit late in the session last night with the blue-chip index trading flat this morning on very little economic or corporate data to influence investor sentiment. At 09:47GMT, the FTSE 100 is 0.03 per cent down with a loss of just shy of two points. A mild reduction in UK unemployment hasn’t helped force much movement in early trading, with very little news expected before Thursday’s session.
Rob Hull
shareprices.com - Wednesday, September 15, 2010
According to a release from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), unemployment numbers in the UK fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July, meaning the overall unemployment rate still remains at 7.8 per cent – in line with analysts’ predictions.
However, the data also showed the number of people seeking unemployment benefit rose by 2,300 in August, up to 1.47 million.
The data did very little to inspire investors as Wednesday looks set to be a muted session with no spikes or troughs created by US market action.
The S&P 500 index ended with very little change despite positive US retail sales data. And strong gains on the Nikkei after Japanese authorities intervened in the foreign exchange markets to push the Yen lower to protect exporters didn’t translate to the FTSE with London traders looking closer to home for direction.
The singular stock that is making significant headway this morning is retailer Next (LON:NXT).
The fashion outlet is 4.8 per cent higher with a 98p improvement to its share price, regaining the losses made yesterday and more after it received a downgrade to “sell” from “hold” by Societe Generate ahead of today’s first-half report.
Investors were buoyed by the figures though, with Next confirming a 13 per cent gain in operating profits to match forecasts and retained its full-year outlook.
The news lifted sentiment in retailers with Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) gaining 1.7 per cent and Kingfisher (LON:KGF), the nation’s biggest home improvement group with B&Q and Screwfix part of its business, up by 1.5 per cent.
Insurers are also in demand with Standard Life (LON:SL) heading gains with a two per cent share price improvement, followed by RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA), Aviva (LON:AV) and Prudential (LON:PRU) all up between 1.7 and 1.4 per cent.
One sector that is out of favour this session is drugmakers with AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) losing 1.3 per cent after confirming US regulators have extended reviews of the firm’s Brilinta heart drug by three months.
Commodity stocks are also losing ground after making strong headway in the previous two sessions on the bettering economic data released from China.
BP (LON:BP) is declining at a rate of 1.8 per cent with mining heavyweight Xstrata (LON:XTA) leading losses for mining stock, down 1.4 per cent.
US job data due for release tomorrow should influence movement on the London market.
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