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Additional	Information
Market:	ASX
Sector:	Media
Epic:	.
News:	Latest news
Web Site:	Proactive Investors Australia
Other Articles:	04-01-201030-12-200924-12-2009

FTSE 100 declines as Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures slide ahead of Chicago PMI update

Overview: the FTSE 100 slid 0.3% today as stocks showed little movement one day ahead of the next holiday break.

Petrofac (LSE: PFC) led the blue chips after securing a US$100 million service contract in Turkmenistan, advancing 2.1%. Another oil and gas company Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) was the only other FTSE 100 constituent to add more than 1%, climbing 1.2%.

Engineering firm Invensys (LSE: ISYS) and mobile satellite company Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT) came close, tacking on nearly 1%.

Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) led the fallers with a 3.5% decline, while sector peers Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and Barclays (LSE: BARC) retreated 1.5%. Investment management firm Man Group (LSE: EMG) and plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS) also lost more than 1%.

Alliance Trust (LSE: ATST) and Experian Group (LSE: EXPN) were trading ex-dividend today.

The US stock market is also set to decline today as the futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the NASDAQ composite slid ths morning, pointing to a lower open ahead of the Chicago PMI (purchasing managers index) update for December, which is due in the afternoon today and is expected to show a decline to 55.0 from 56.1 in the previous month.

Commodities

Oil prices inched lower today with February Brent Crude moving down to US$77.83/barrel, while US light, sweet crude slid to US$78.78/barrel.

Most oil and gas stocks were in decline, except for Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE), which rose 1.5% and Petrofac (LSE: PFC), which posted a gain of nearly 2% after securing a US$100 million contract in Turkmenistan.

Supermajor BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) as well as Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) declined marginally, while BG Group (LSE: BG) lost 1.6%.

Midcaps also were in decline with Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) and Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) posting small losses, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) slid 1.7% and Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) retreated 3.2%.

Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) led the small cap with a 10% advance. Atlantic Canada operating oil and gas group Enegi Oil (AIM: ENEG) followed with a 6% gain, while Western Europe operating oil and gas company Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) and energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) tacked on 4.5% and 4% respectively.

Kazakhstan operating Max Petroleum (LSE: MXP) and North America focused oil & gas junior Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) moved in the opposite direction, shedding 8% and 4% respectively.

Gold and silver retreat to weaken miners

Precious metals were in decline as gold slid to US$1,091/oz, while silver retreated to US$16.92/oz and platinum was unmoved at US$1,495/oz.

Major mining stocks retreated with Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) showing the way with a 1.5% decline. Gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1%, while platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI) shed less than 1%.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was down 1.3%.

Midcaps were mixed as while Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) outperformed the sector with a 1.6% gain, gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) pulled back 1.3%, while Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.7% loss.

Iran focused gold explorer Persian Gold (AIM: PNG) led the sector, soaring 31%, while Tajikistan operating gold miner Kryso Resources (AIM: KYS) followed with a 6.5% climb. Turkey and Ethiopia operating gold miner Stratex International (AIM: STI) advanced 4%, while African focused nickel and gold exploration and development junior Nyota Minerals (ASX&AIM: NYO) and Africa focused gold miner Pan African Resources (AIM: PAF) both added 3.5%.

Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) retreated 5%.

Base metal miners mixed as copper and zinc rise

Base metals were mixed as while copper rose to US$3.31/lb and zinc improved to US$1.15/lb, nickel was down to US$8.53/lb.

Major base metal focused stocks didn’t show much movement today. Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO), Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Vedanta resources (LSE: VED) all added less than 1%, while Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) posted small gains and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was down 1%.

London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) slid 1.4%.

Finders Resources (AIM: FND) and Sspecialty minerals exploration and development company Thor Mining (AIM: THR) led the juniors, rising 10%. Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) gained 4%, and Philippines focused Metals Exploration (AIM: MML) climbed 3.8%.

Tantalum concentrate supplier with assets in Mozambique Noventa (AIM: NVTA), South Africa based coal exploration and production company Strategic Natural Resources (AIM: SNR) and laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) headed in the opposite direction, shedding 9.5%, 5.5% and 5% respectively.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Most financial stocks were in selling mode today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was the heaviest faller in the banking sector with a 3.5% decline. Barclays (LSE: BARC) and Standard chartered (LSE: STAN) followed with losses of over 1.5%, while Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) was flat.

HSBC (LSE: HSBA) went against the tide, posting a small gain.

Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) led the insurers with a gain of less than 1%, while RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) made little headway.

Prudential (LSE: PRU) lost 1.6%, Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) was down 1.2%, while Aviva (LSE: AV), Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) declined marginally.

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) lost less than 1%.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included mobile email and data synchronisation group Synchronica PLC (AIM: SYNC), which gained 13% after securing its sixth contract in Africa and the 13th deal for its flagship push mail product Mobile Gateway this year, and Lonrho (LSE: LONR), which gained 5% after LonZim (LSE: LZM) disposed of its investment in the company for £1 million.

Large and Mid Cap News

Commercial property company British Land (LSE: BLND) enters its fifth JV (joint venture) with retailer Tesco (LSE: TSCO) by acquiring fellow property company Segro’s (LSE: SGRO) 50% stake in the JV  in the Surrey Quays shopping centre in South East London and the Clifton Moor Retail Park in York.

Petrofac (LSE: PFC) has been engaged by Turkmenistan’s state-owned national gas company Turkmengas to provide services for the development of the South Yoloten gas field.

Copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) has secured up to US$2.7 billion in loans from China Development Bank Corporation (CDB) and Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna following two months of discussions over an unsecured loan facility.

Small Cap News

Synchronica (AIM: SYNC) has won another order for its flagship mobile synchronisation product Mobile Gateway, securing the sixth deal in Africa and the 13th operator contract in 2009.

CustomVis (AIM: CUS) said losses for the full year ended 30 June narrowed and gross profit hiked 70% as revenues jumped 82% to £2.12 million after the company sold 14 more lasers during the year, expecting additional revenue streams for new products next year.

Provider of replacement vehicles and parts to the emergency services, Accident Exchange Group (AIM: ACE), updated the market on the results of its cost cutting campaign to adjust to what the group said were “new challenges and exacerbated existing ones,” reporting narrower half yearly pre-tax losses and lower debt despite a slide in revenues, which declined to £61.6 million from £85 million a year ago.

RSM Tenon Group (AIM: TNO) and Tenon Audit Limited has completed the acquisition of professional services firm RSM Bentley Jennison for £76.3 million after raising £40 million through the issue of 88.89 million shares to fund the transaction.

Panmure Gordon (AIM: PMR) said its performance in the UK since the start of the year has been encouraging despite adverse market conditions, while operational performance in the US improved amid lower revenues with a recovery in the IPO market expected to commence in Q2 2010.

MCB Finance Group (AIM: MCRB) expects to be EBT (earnings before tax) profitable in the second half after performance improved “materially” from the first half of the year.

GeoPark Holdings Limited (AIM: GPK) has successfully drilled and tested a new oil well, Alakaluf 5 on the Fell Block in Chile, achieving a flow rate of 650 bpd (barrels of oil per day).

Eurasia Drilling Company Limited (EDC; LSE: EDCL)has acquired a 100% interest in Kogalym Well Workover Division (KWWD) and OOO Urai Well Workover Division (UWWD) from Russian oil major LUKoil’s subsidiary LUKoil-Western-Siberia for an undisclosed consideration.

ESV Group (PLUS: ESVO) said the impairment charge of £1.01 million associated with the sale of its Mozambique operation in November resulted in an interim loss of £1.24 million compared to a £0.28 million loss a year ago.

SeaEnergy (AIM: SEA) said that Crown Energy informed it today that it will announce the outcome of the third UK offshore wind farm leasing round negotiations in early January 2010.

LonZim (AIM: LZM) has sold all of its remaining holding in Lonrho (AIM: LONR) of 10 million shares for £1 million to generate a profit on disposal of £0.5 million, intending to use the proceeds for working capital purposes.

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