logo-loader

FTSE 100 heading for weekly loss

Published: 23:18 27 Sep 2013 AEST

no_picture_pai

Britain’s blue chip index looks likely to finish the week lower after losing 50 points on Friday.

Not even a minor recovery from the energy suppliers could help the Footsie – which stood at 6,514 just after lunch – stem the decline.

British Gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) did not exactly surge, up 0.8%, but at least it was in the black, having dropped for two days in a row, from 400p to 365p.

SSE (LON:SSE) was top of the index with gains of 1.4% - not exactly the kind of rise that sends the market into a frenzy, especially after two days of falls.

The reason for this was Ed Miliband’s pledge to freeze energy prices, should the Labour Party get into office in 2015.

This sparked fears that power providers would suffer as lower margins would mean lower profits.

It was the miners that dragged the index lower, with heavyweights Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) languishing at the foot of the table.

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) was unchanged despite revealing that the European authorities have accepted a marketing application for naloxegol, a drug to treat constipation as a side-effect of taking painkillers.

The drug was developed by Nektar Therapeutics, to whom AstraZeneca will pay US$25mln.

The housebuilders crumbled on Friday on the news that the Treasury is to review the new Help to Buy scheme amid fears it could create a property bubble.

The scheme, which was designed to help first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder, has been criticised for fuelling a rise in house prices in London.

Persimmon (LON:PSN) dropped to the bottom of the blue chip index, down 4.6%, Bovis Homes (LON:BVS) lost 3.1%, Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) dipped 3.2%, while Bellway (LON:BWY) was trading down 2.2%.

Comments from Mark Carney also dampened the mood as the Bank of England Governor poured cold water on hopes he will extend the UK’s bond buying programme.

On the small cap index, Archipelago Resources (LON:AR.) jumped 17.4% to 57.5p a share as it accepted a takeover from Indonesia’s PT Rajawali Corporation, which already owns 53% of the company.

The 58 pence-a-share bid values Archipelago, which produces gold in the South East Asian country, at £338mln.

The unconditional offer is an 18% premium to yesterday’s closing market price of 49 pence, which sparked life into the shares on Friday, rising 17% to 57.5 pence each.

Junior gold companies have felt the heat of falling commodities prices, putting the livelihoods of many under threat. But Archipelago has proved there is still value to be found in the embattled sector.

Advanced Computer Software (LON:ASW) added another £10mln to its market value on the last day of the trading week.

The healthcare software provider has bought Avia Health Informatics, which fits with its strategy of making acquisitions that are earnings enhancing in the first year.

Avia’s Pathfinder referral facilitation and Odyssey clinical decision support systems are used by more than a hundred NHS customers and is already a long-term partner of Advanced Health & Care.

The shares rose 2.8% to 87.9p each.

A raft of companies also came out with interim results today as we hit the peak of the reporting season. Sound Oil (LON:SOU), Sefton Resources (LON:SER) and Trap Oil (LON:TRAP) all impressed with their half-year figures.

WANdisco, one of Aim’s shining lights, was up 3% after house broker Panmure Gordon upgraded the stock.

Panmure cut the stock recently, citing the share price strength as a reason. But today, it bumped up the share price and resumed its ‘buy’ recommendation on the shares.

Leather supplier Pittards (LON:PTD) jumped 10.6% as it rejected an offer for the company. It said that the price, while a premium to the current share price, “significantly undervalued the business and its current and future prospects”.

It was another big day of volumes for Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC) but this time it was in the other direction.

The shares almost doubled yesterday after it swung to a profit in the face of a tough environment for coal miners, but traders took profits today, with the shares down 8% - still some way baove Wednesday’s price.


Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

8 hours, 41 minutes ago