RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
9th June 2011
Afternoon Report
The FTSE 100 is flat at as investors cautiously await BOE and ECB rate announcements. Data showing the UK trade deficit narrowed more than expected in April, helps the tone. But retail stocks decline amid downbeat earnings from FTSE 250 listed Home Retail Group. Home Retail down 12%, Kingfisher down 0.7% and Marks & Spencer down 1.4%. No change is expected on the BOE's monetary policy and interest rates are expected to remain unchanged. On the US data plate, weekly jobless claims and trade balance data releases are both later this afternoon
Ongoing difficulties at the catalogue-based retailer Argos continue to plague its owner Home Retail Group, which has announced an 8.1% fall in sales at the chain to £817m in the 13 weeks to 28 May. The shares are down by more than 12%. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of new openings, sales at Argos were down by 9.6% from the same period the previous year during the period.
Car parts and bikes retailer Halfords reported a solid set of full year results despite ongoing retail sluggishness, helped by improved gross margin and cost control.
Shares in African Barrick Gold rallied after it repeated its assertion that the Tanzanian government has no plans to impose a “super-tax” on the country’s mining industry, pointing out that no such proposals were in the Budget the finance minister presented to parliament yesterday.
Spreadbetting firm IG Group expects trading revenue for the year ended 31 May to be 7% ahead of last year, as strong growth in Europe and Singapore offset a weakening performance in Japan.
THE FTSE 100 at 12:00 Up 1 @ 5810
THE DOW JONES closed Down 21 @ 12048
THE NASDAQ COMP closed Down 26 @ 2675
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.6414
GBP - EURO 1.1241
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