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FTSE 100 closes 21 points down ahead of Easter weekend

Last updated: 12:10 13 Apr 2017 EDT, First published: 02:02 13 Apr 2017 EDT

London skyline
  • FTSE 100 closes down 21

  • ABF is biggest gainer

  • Royal Mail posts small gain as it bows to the inevitable

FTSE 100 closed over 21 points lower ahead after recouping some losses ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Britain's blue chip benchmark closed at 7, 327, down 21.4. or 0.29%.

On Wall Street stocks being lightly traded and the Dow Jones is down 28 at 20,563, while the Nasdaq is ahead - by almost two points at 5,873.

The biggest Footsie laggard was insurer Standard Life (LON:SL), down 2.36% to 368.7p, as it joined other financial stocks in heading south.

The top gainer was Primark owner Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF), which added 3.59% to 2,709p , which is expected to deliver strong first-half growth next Wednesday.

In a preview, analysts at HSBC said that, assuming the first half accounts for around 80% of the uplift in full year profits, it expects ABF to report EBITDA of about £620mln, pre-tax profit of £600mln, and earnings per share of 58.4p, which would be growth of 28%.

In small caps Arian Silver Corp (LON:AGQ) was a notable riser, adding over 16% to 1.05p.This week the firm said it had taken out an option to acquire three lithium exploration projects in Mexico, sending shares higher.

The company previously had focused purely on silver but Jim Williams, chief executive, said it was now in a position to ‘seize opportunities in growing markets, such as lithium, as they arise’.

2.15pm...FTSE 100 close to hitting a new low for day

With US markets set to open on the back foot the FTSE 100 was close to hitting a new low for the day.

The top-share index was down 44 at 7,305, six points above its low for the day.

Among the mid-caps, Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons PLC (LON:PZC) scrubbed up well after an upbeat trading statement. THE SHARES ROSE 2.7%.

READ: Imperial Leather soap firm PZ Cussons says full-year outlook remains in line with expectations

Among the small fry, digital music specialist 7digital Group PLC (LON:7DIG) hit a high note with its news of the acquisition of the FlowRadio technology platform from under-pressure graphic chip designer Imagination Technologies Group PLC (LON:IMG).

The shares rose 8.8% as the company also revealed that social video network operator musical.ly has renewed its agreement with 7digital.

US preview

US futures are pointing to a lower open on Wall Street ahead of the Easter break and a flurry of big-cap bank earnings.

Yesterday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones closed 59 lower at 20,591, while the S&P500 lost 8.85 at 2,344. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished Wednesday over 30 points down at 5,836.

Today, Dow futures are down 29, S&P500 is trading 5.5 points lower while the Nasdaq is over ten points off.

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It comes after the Nikkei 2256 in Japan shed over 125 overnight and European indices this morning are also lower. The FTSE 100 is ooff  39 points at 7,309.

Henry Croft at Accendo Markets in London said: “European equity markets are on the back foot heading into the long Easter weekend, with a plethora of bearish motives weighing on indices while we await the unofficial earnings season curtain raiser with three of the four largest US banks reporting Q1 figures."

The analyst noted that the Trump-inspired US dollar sell off continues to hurt the FTSE and DAX's foreign earning contingents, despite a marginal recovery.

In oil, US crude is nudging higher again, up 0.23% to $53.23 as OPEC countries continue to cut output  and the cartel is even working on a proposal to extend turning the taps tighter beyond June.

JP Morgan Chase is up 0.47% at $85.80  in pre-market after its first quarter results beat analysts’ expectations, driven by better-than-expected trading results and lending margins.

11.30 ... After lower opening, Footsie moves sideways

The FTSE 100 has largely been moving sideways for the last three hours, having opened lower.

The FTSE 100 was down 38 at 7,311 just after 11, with a plethora of blue-chips going ex-dividend proving an extra handicap for the top-share index.

Royal Mail PLC (LON:RMG) defied the trend, rising 0.6% to 421.9p, after it announced it would close its current pension scheme to new entrants in a year’s time.

"This potentially eliminates one of the concerns amongst analysts over the outlook for the group," said Graham Spooner, an analyst at The Share Centre.

Precious metals miners remain in demand as the dollar slides, with FTSE 250 constituents Acacia Mining PLC (LON:ACA) and Centamin PLC (LON:CEY, TSE:CEE) outdoing their bigger brethren in the FTSE 100. The former was up 7.7% and the latter up 4.8%.

Among the tiddlers, Arian Silver Corp (LON:AGQ) is still in demand after announcing on Tuesday it is diversifying into lithium. The shares were up 25%.

 

 

Another stock still basking in the glow of an announcement from Tuesday was Fitbug Holdings Plc (LON:FITB), the digital wellness provider. The company received a contract renewal earlier this week from a large financial institution.

The shares were up 7.3%.

Going the other way was Nature Group Plc (LON:NGR), down 14% after a trading update.

The waste treatment services provider confirmed that far from getting better in the second half of last year they actually got worse.

 

8.30 ... FTSE 100 sheds 38 points as traders close positions ahead of the long weekend

FTSE 100 was in the red ahead of the Easter weekend as traders wound down positions for the four day weekend.

The blue chip index shed 38 points at 7,311 with few investors seemingly willing to leave bets open while the invective flies between the US and Russia over Syria.

US president Donald Trump, meanwhile, has a new target in the shape of the US dollar, which is too high in his opinion.

Gold is the traditional counterweight to the US currency and miners Randgold Resources (LON.RRS) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) were over 1% higher.

Best performer though was Middle East hospital group Mediclinic International Plc (LON:MDC), which rose 4.6% to 770p on an upbeat trading update.

Primark owner  Associated British Foods PLC (LON:ABF) was 80p better at 2,695p as Jefferies upgraded ahead of next week’s interims.

Fallers include a batch of ex-dividend stocks with Standard Life, Reckitt Benckiser and Taylor Wimpey accounting for 3.8 points of the FTSE 100's decline.

Among the small caps, engineering/tech recruiter Gattaca (LON:GATC) slumped 17% on a profit warning while SRT Marine Systems PLC (LON:SRT)  jumped 21% to 43.52p on its optimistic trading comments. 

Proactive news highlights

Drug research specialist Ergomed Plc (LON:ERGO) has told investors that the boss of its PrimeVigilance subsidiary, Neil Clark, is stepping down from his position.

After eight years with the company, Clark will vacate his post on Monday (16 April) to become chief executive at Destiny Pharma.

One of Advanced Oncotherapy PLC’s (LON:AVO) non-executive directors has pumped £27,500 of his own cash into the proton therapy specialist.

In a show of confidence, Enrico Vanni snapped up 100,000 shares at 27.5p a piece on Wednesday, meaning he now owns 1.4% of the company’s shares.

Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN) has been named as Microsoft’s official global tournament partner for the Forza Racing Championship on the Xbox. The AIM quoted eSports group is providing the platform that will host and broadcast the gaming competition, both online and offline.

Shares in Ferrum Crescent Limited (LON:FCR) opened sharply higher on Thursday after the metals developer moved another step closer to starting drilling at its Toral lead-zinc project in Spain.

The company has contracted Spanish firm SPI to carry out the planned phase 1 drill programme which will focus on three areas of an untested two kilometre-long “geochemistry anomaly”.

7.00am... FTSE 100 seen on back-foot ahead of Easter break

London’s FTSE 100 is set to start the last day before the Easter weekend slightly lower as markets react to President Donald Trump’s latest provocative comments.

This time, Trump was talking down the US dollar.

He reckons the greenback is too strong and said he want interest rates kept low, and it comes somewhat in contrast with Janet Yellen’s commentary from the previous day – the Federal Reserve chair claimed a neutral stance would be appropriate. At the same time, faith wavered over Trump’s fiscal promises.

The Dow Jones closed Wednesday’s session down 0.29% at 20,591. The S&P 500, meanwhile, finished 0.38% lower at 2,344 and the Nasdaq dipped around 0.5% to end the day at 5,836.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.68% to 18,426 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng moved into positive territory, up 17% to 24,357. The Shanghai Composite nudged 0.16% higher to 3,279.

Australia’s ASX 200, meanwhile, dropped 0.77% to 5,888.

Back in London, CFD and spread betting firm IG Markets sees the FTSE 100 start on the back foot, calling the blue-chip benchmark down about 5 points at 7,342 to 7,346 about an hour before the start of trading.

Headlines

Central London house prices fall in March on Brexit, tax – Reuters

EU migrants make up 11% of manufacturing workforce - BBC News

Trump tanked the dollar, but it'll bounce back soon – CNBC

EDF hikes prices for customers for second time in months – The Telegraph

City Schedule

Trading Statement: Hays PLC (LON:HAS), PZ Cussons PLC (LON:PZC)

Finals: Avocet Mining PLC (LON :AVM)

AGM: Drax PLC (LON:DRX)

First day dealings: Ten Entertainment Group PLC (LON:TEG

Ex-Dividends: Secure Trust Bank PLC (LON:STB); Standard Life PLC (LON:SL.); Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LON:RB.); STV Group PLC (LON:STVG); Savills PLC (LON:SVS); Taylor Wimpey PLC (LON:TW.); Travis Perkins PLC (LON:TPK); Savills PLC (LON:SVS);  Private & Commercial Finance Group PLC (LON:PCF); Northamber PLC (LON:NAR); Globaldata PLC (LON:DATA); Clarke (T) PLC (LON:CTO);  Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC (LON:ARBB); esure Group PLC (LON:ESUR);  Gulf Marine Services PLC (LON:GMS);  Johnson Service Group PLC (LON:JSG); JPMorgan American IT PLC (LON:JAM);  International Personal Finance PLC (LON:IPF); AFH Financial Group PLC (LON:AFHP)

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