18th Dec 2015 08:32
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks were mixed Friday morning, with miners recovering some ground after the losses seen on Thursday, while broker rating changes are driving most of share movements in a quiet day on the economic data calendar.
The FTSE 100 was flat at 6,102.65 shortly after the open, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.4% at 17,100.23 points, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 722.67 points. In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both down 0.6%.
The FTSE 350 mining sector was the only sector in the green at the open. The index was taking back some of the losses seen on Thursday, up 0.9%. Anglo American was the best blue-chip performer, up 1.8% and BHP Billiton was adding 1.3%.
Gold miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources, both up 1.2%, were recovering from Thursday's losses, when the gold price retreated to an intraday low of USD1,047.40 an ounce.
Gold was higher Friday at the equities open, priced at USD1,055.90 an ounce.
Carnival was the worst performer in the FTSE 100, down 2.5%, ahead of the release of its full-year results, due at 1500 GMT.
Sports Direct International was up 0.5%. The retailer said founder Mike Ashley will personally oversee a review of all agency worker terms and conditions in order to ensure its employees and casual staff work in good conditions.
Ashley, who is deputy chairman and owns a 55% stake in the retailer, is expected to begin that review in the New Year, Sports Direct said.
The review comes in the wake of serious questions raised about the conditions faced by the company's workforce. Last week, the Guardian newspaper reported that workers at the company's Shirebrook warehouse were effectively paid under the minimum wage because of the conditions there.
On Friday, Sports Direct denied that the workhouse tannoy is used to 'harangue' or 'name and shame' staff, one of the allegations in that report, amid a broader move to defend itself against the claims.
In the FTSE 250, Bodycote was the best mid-cap performer, up 6.4%, after N+1 Singer upgraded the specialty chemicals company to Buy from Hold.
Peer stock Victrex was down 2.0% after Barclays downgraded the specialty chemicals company to Equal Weight from Overweight.
Meanwhile, Restaurant Group was up 1.8% after UBS initiated its coverage on the company with a Buy recommendation.
The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Japan governed by Haruhiko Kuroda decided by an 8-1 majority vote on Friday to hold its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY80 trillion.
Nonetheless, the BoJ said it will establish a new program for purchases of exchange-traded funds at an annual pace of about JPY300 billion, in addition to the current program of ETF purchases. Further, the bank will extend the average maturity government bond holdings.
The bank said the average remaining maturity of the bank's Japanese government bond purchases will be about 7-10 years until the end of this year and be extended to about 7-12 years from the beginning of the next year.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index spiked higher after the announcement, but the rally proved short lived, as it rapidly gave back its gains, closing down 1.9%.
"In reality, the measures were negligible, especially as the ETF purchases came alongside a commitment to sell stock it has purchased since 2002, also at a rate of JPY300 billion per year, creating zero net purchases. The only marginal boost comes from the kind of stocks the BoJ is now targeting, but again, this is negligible," said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.
"Moreover, the JPY300 billion in purchases comes on top of its 3 trillion yen of ETF purchases and JPY80 trillion of asset purchases under its QQE [stimulus] program. So, hardly anything to write home about," Erlam added.
In China, the Shanghai Composite ended flat, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished down 0.3%
Still in the economic calendar, eurozone current account data are due at 0900 GMT. In the US, the Markit services and composite Purchasing Manager's indices are due at 1445 GMT, while Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker gives a speech in the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce at 1800 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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