A big chunk of the morning’s hard-fought gains went up in smoke late in the session as an early rally on Wall Street quickly turned into nothing.
Miners were the main culprits. All the big guns gave back big leads mid-afternoon following stronger-than-expected US home-price data that helped the dollar claw back losses against the euro.
Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, which earlier announced a small decline in first half copper production, had all been up about 2% before the report, but ended the day little changed.
Things would have been worse but for banking stocks, which wrenched attention away from BP. The high street players were lifted by strong figures from European peers Deutsche Bank and UBS and also by rumours that banking regulator the Basel Committee is set to lower its minimum capital and liquidity requirements.
Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland topped the blue chip risers. Net profit at UBS in the second quarter came to 2bn Swiss francs from a loss of 1.4bn francs last time, well above expectations for a 1.26bn francs profit. Deutsche Bank reported a 9% rise in Q2 earnings despite a weaker performance at its investment banking unit.
Oil giant BP confirmed Tony Hayward is to step down as chief executive on 1 October to be succeeded by fellow executive director, American Bob Dudley.
The group also unveiled a $32.2bn (£20.7bn) charge for the Gulf of
InterContinental Hotels is leading the fallers after it emerged that the Barclay brothers, owners of the Daily Telegraph, have sold their 10% stake in the Holiday Inn owner. Shares in Premier Inn firm Whitbread have also fallen.
Profit takers hold ARM in their thrall. The shares are lower, even after revenues and profits continued soaring at the chip-designer in the second quarter as it continued to see strong demand for its technology from makers of mobile ‘phones and other must-have gadgets. It posted a pre-tax profit of £43.5m in the three months to June 30, up from £16.3m over the same period the previous year.
Higher production and a rising gold price sent half-year net income at African Barrick Gold up by 217% to $99m, but the shares are slightly lower. Revenue rose by 64% to $424m up 64% as production rose by 23% to 356,208 ounces and realised gold prices jumped by 28% to $1,155 per ounce.
Updates in the FTSE 250 have been mostly well received though.
Strong numbers from Croda have sparked a positive reaction in the speciality chemicals supplier’s share price
Software group Misys is wanted after saying it has reduced the number of shares it will sell in the proposed disposal of its healthcare division Allscripts.
The size of the planned placing will be reduced from 36m shares to 25m shares as Misys’ board believes the current share price of Allscripts undervalues the business. The proceeds of the sale are still expected to be approximately $1bn, which will be returned to shareholders.
Engineer Tomkins' board has backed the 325p per share cash offer from Onex and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, prompting gains in the company’s share price. The offer values Tomkins' existing issued and to be issued share capital at approximately £2.89bn. The independent directors intend unanimously to recommend to Tomkins shareholders to vote in favour of the offer.
The top riser in the FTSE 250 is Connaught, which rallies partially after sliding yesterday when it warned it is set to breach its banking covenants.Shares in PZ Cussons fell back after results. The international consumer products group saw profitable growth last year in all three of its operating regions.
Car parts and bicycles retailer Halfords drove through a 9.6% rise in group revenue from 3 April to 26 July, helped by its acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres in February, but it issued a cautionary stance on the economic environment.
Shares in Clipper Windpower dropped after the wind turbine blade maker said it expects to report an operating loss for the first half.
Shares in sweetener maker PureCircle slumped after it warned full year profitability will be below levels seen in 2009.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 71.52p +8.36%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 50.35p +7.89%
Barclays (BARC) 339.20p +7.46%
Prudential (PRU) 552.50p +4.74%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,520.00p +3.19%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,678.00p +2.94%
3i Group (III) 292.80p +2.81%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,273.00p +2.74%
ICAP (IAP) 411.70p +2.67%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,899.00p +2.65%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,109.00p -7.51%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,685.00p -4.21%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 850.50p -3.79%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,543.00p -3.68%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 333.90p -3.52%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,870.00p -3.01%
BP (BP.) 404.85p -2.90%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,241.00p -2.76%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 270.20p -2.60%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,037.00p -2.45%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Yell Group (YELL) 30.19p +12.86%
Croda International (CRDA) 1,272.00p +8.44%
Connaught (CNT) 33.45p +6.33%
Tomkins (TOMK) 324.00p +5.37%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 137.50p +5.28%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 659.50p +4.93%
Fidessa (FDSA) 1,548.00p +4.74%
Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 68.55p +3.86%
Victrex (VCT) 1,226.00p +3.81%
Forth Ports (FPT) 1,297.00p +3.59%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Promethean World (PRW) 145.00p -7.94%
Provident Financial (PFG) 821.00p -6.97%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 567.00p -5.03%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 343.90p -4.47%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 104.50p -4.13%
Computacenter (CCC) 310.00p -3.94%
Carillion (CLLN) 313.80p -3.77%
Halfords Group (HFD) 497.80p -3.62%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 130.00p -3.42%
Centamin Egypt (CEY) 153.40p -3.28%
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