21st Mar 2014 08:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened higher Friday, following gains in the US and Asia overnight, as the London market looked to take back its recent losses while still digesting the UK budget, US central bank comments, and the situation in Ukraine.
BG Group PLC and Maersk Oil UK have announced that changes set out in the UK budget have allowed them to develop two new high-pressure high-temperature projects in the North Sea.
Among broker recommendations issued early Friday, Barclays has cut RBS to Equal Weight from Overweight, UBS has raised Meggitt to Buy from Neutral, and HSBC has initiated Royal Mail with Overweight.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,555.51
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 16,231.63
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 861.61
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Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 21,436.70
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.7% at 14,224.23
DJIA: closed up 0.7% at 16,331.05
S&P 500: closed up 0.6% at 1,872.01
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6476
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3770
GOLD: down at USD1,329.90 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD106.41 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
09:00 EU Current Account
09:00 Italy Industrial Orders
09:00 Italy Wage Inflation
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
12:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
12:30 Canada Retail Sales
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
20:30 US Fed Minneapolis's Narayana Kocherlakota speech
22:30 US FOMC Member Stein Speech
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Confidence among British households regarding the value of their homes rose sharply in March, and hit a record high, survey data published by Knight Frank and Markit Economics revealed. The seasonally adjusted house price sentiment index climbed to 61.5 in March from 60.7 in February, and reached the highest level since records started.
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Ukraine Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due Friday to sign parts of a highly symbolic deal on closer political ties with the EU, hours after Russia and Western states traded sanctions over actions in Ukraine. The signing of the political chapters of the association agreement is a "concrete sign of the EU's solidarity with Ukraine," EU President Herman Van Rompuy said, adding that it would give Ukrainians "a prospect of a European way of life they deserve." Former president Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the text in November prompted the wave of protests that led to his ouster. At the time it included wide-ranging trade concessions which the EU plans to formally grant to Ukraine later this year. Meanwhile, the EU is paving the way to unilaterally lift import duties on Ukrainian goods, in an attempt to bolster the country's faltering economy. Brussels has also outlined economic aid measures that could total EUR11 billion.
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The EU added 12 Russians and Ukrainians Thursday to a list of people hit with travel bans and asset freezes over developments in Crimea, while Russia and the US traded sanctions on key individuals. "Sanctions are not a question of retaliation. They are a foreign policy tool," said EU President Herman Van Rompuy after a meeting in Brussels of the bloc's 28 leaders. "Our goal is to stop Russia's actions against Ukraine." The 12 new names, due to be published Friday, include some "really high-ranking" individuals, Van Rompuy said. It will bring to 33 the total number of people on the EU's sanctions list, which overlaps with US targets, according to French President Francois Hollande. The EU also took steps towards implementing "economic, trade and financial restrictions regarding Crimea," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. This would mean restricting "products from Crimea," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The bloc cancelled a planned June 3 summit with Russia, but stopped short of imposing economic sanctions. Such measures would come if Russia further escalates tension in Ukraine, the leaders warned.
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Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook on the Russia economy to 'Negative' from 'Stable', and confirmed the 'BBB' rating, citing the potential impact of the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on the economy following the annexation of Crimea.
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Standard and Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Russia's rating outlook to 'Negative', citing the possible consequences of the EU and US sanctions on the country's creditworthiness following the incorporation of Crimea. The agency, however, confirmed its 'BBB/A-2' foreign currency and 'BBB+/A-2' local currency ratings on the economy.
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The US Thursday said Russia would only further isolate itself if it withdrew from the Iran nuclear talks because of US sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine crisis. "Were they to amend their posture, they would only further be isolating themselves," a senior administration official told reporters who asked about the issue. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Wednesday said he hoped that Washington's sanctions against Russia over its military intervention in Crimea would not affect relations among the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany during their talks with Iran.
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Syrian government troops have retaken an ancient crusader castle from rebels in the centre of the war-torn country, ending a three-month siege, Syrian state media reported Thursday. President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed dozens of rebels after seizing the 12th-century crusader Fort Krak des Chevaliers - also known as al-Hosn Castle - near the central province of Homs, state television said. Rami Abdel-Rahman, head of the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least 60 people, including 15 rebels, were "killed or injured" as they tried to flee to the Lebanese border. The Krak des Chevaliers was built between 1142 and 1271. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 2013.
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Lebanon's new government headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam won Thursday a parliamentary vote of confidence. The session was attended by 101 out of 128 lawmakers, and 96 voted in favour. The government was formed on February 15 after more than 330 days of deadlock between political parties divided over the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
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The Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) exhorted supporters Thursday to keep up protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the face of the arrest of one of its leaders. San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos was arrested late Wednesday, along with Enzo Scarano, mayor of the city of San Diego, who belongs to a local party. Voluntad Popular leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested last month after protests started.
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Thailand's Constitutional Court annulled the February 2 general election for failing to hold nationwide voting in every constituency on the same day, court officials said. The court's judges voted 6 to 3 to void the election, which was boycotted by the opposition Democrat Party and could not be held in 28 of 375 constituencies nationwide.
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Maritime surveillance planes taking off from the Australian city of Perth fly half-way to Antarctica before reaching the patch of ocean where satellites spotted what might be pieces of a missing Malaysia Airlines jet. It takes 4 hours to fly the 2,500 kilometres to the target area, leaving enough fuel for only 2 hours of searching before another of the four aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the US takes over.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS CUTS RBS TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 300 (370) PENCE
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CS REMOVES OPHIR ENERGY FROM SMALL & MID CAP FOCUS LIST - TARGET 346 (392) P.
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HSBC INITIATES ROYAL MAIL WITH 'OVERWEIGHT' - TARGET 710 PENCE
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UBS RAISES MEGGITT TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 520 (530) PENCE
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NOMURA CUTS KAZAKHMYS TO 'REDUCE' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 225 (270) PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS TO 'HOLD'
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH CUTS BURBERRY TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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UBS REMOVES ROLLS-ROYCE FROM ''LEAST PREFERRED LIST'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BG Group PLC and Maersk Oil UK have announced that changes set out in the UK Budget have allowed them to develop two new high-pressure high-temperature projects in the North Sea. According to a report from the HM Treasury, the projects will lead to an investment of GBP6 billion across the new fields and both Maersk and BG estimate that the sites will create more than 700 jobs, with 8,000 more jobs being supported along the supply chain.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Balfour Beatty PLC said its Dubai-based joint venture has won a GBP214 million contract in downtown Dubai for the expansion of the world's largest shopping centre, the Dubai Mall. The FTSE 250-listed infrastructure group said its subsidiary, Dutco Balfour Beatty has be awarded the contract for Emaar Properties PJSC.
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC said it intends to raise up to GBP6 million in a share placing and list for trading on the AIM market, as it announced its conditional acquisition of AIM-listed 2ergo Group PLC's mobile coupon and loyalty business. Eagle Eye, a digital consultancy which operates in the retail and hospitality industries, said it intends to float on AIM following a share placing raising approximately GBP6 million, with dealings expected to commence in April 2014. Following completion of the offer, it is expected that Eagle will have a free float of at least 30% of the issued share capital of the company.
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Energy XXI Ltd said it was the apparent high bidder in 10 shallow-water blocks in the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 231, for a total investment of roughly USD2.6 million.
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Rare Earth Minerals PLC said it has elected to exercise its option to move to a 10% interest in the San Gabriel, Buena Vista and Megalit Concessions in northern Mexico. The rare metals and minerals projects investment company said that it has formally advised its joint-venture partner Bacanora Minerals Ltd that it has elected to exercise its option to go to a 10% interest in the sites, which surround the Sonora Lithium Project.
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3Legs Resources PLC said its pretax loss narrowed in its full year 2013 as reduced impairments, foreign exchange losses and administrative expenses helped company finances. The oil and gas exploration and development company with shale gas interests in Poland said its pretax loss narrowed to GBP4.3 million in 2013 from GBP6.0 million the previous year, in part because the company's administrative expenses fell 42% to GBP2.1 million from GBP3.6 million in 2012.
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The Office of Fair Trading, the UK's antitrust regulator, said it has closed an investigation into misleading prices by furniture and flooring retailers, including flooring retailer Carpetright PLC, bed retailer Dreams and sofa and carpet specialist ScS, as they have now agreed to change their pricing practices. "We are pleased the OFT has publicly welcomed Carpetright's commitment to open and transparent pricing. When customers visit Carpetright they can be confident of getting good quality products at a competitive price, which is supported by our price promise," said Philip Harris, Executive Chairman of Carpetright in a statement Friday.
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CVS Group PLC reported an increase in profit and revenue for the recent half year, reflecting a strong performance across the business. The veterinary services provider posted pretax profit of GBP3.2 million for the six months to end December 2013, from GBP3.0 million a year before, as revenue rose 18% to GBP68.5 million from GBP58.3 million. The firm declared an interim dividend of 2.0 pence per share up from 1.5 pence per share.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
No events scheduled
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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