London close: Footsie underperforms on weakness in commodities

The top flight index underperformed as commodity markets weakened on the back of soft Chinese fixed asset investment and industrial production figures.

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology

19,193.54

08:35 18/11/24

-0.33%

-64.18

Shire Plc

4,690.00p

16:39 08/01/19

0.00%

0.00p

By the closing bell the Footsie was to be seen down by 25.71 points at 6,352.33.

In the commodities space meanwhile, three-month copper futures dropped by 1.3% to reach $5,201.00 per metric tonne out on the LME.

That came alongside a 3.3% hit to front month Brent crude futures which fell back to the $48.85 per barrel level on the ICE. Iran’s nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said he expected a deal to be implemented by year-end.

Figures from China's statistics office revealed the country's gross domestic product expanded at a 6.9% year-on-year clip in the three months ending in September, down a touch from the 7% pace seen over the first two quarters of 2015.

Economists had pencilled in growth of 6.8%.

The breakdown of the data suggested that stronger growth on the services side of the economy mostly offset weaker factory output, analysts at Capital Economics said in a research note sent to clients.

However, speaking on Bloomberg TV other economists such as Alberto Gallo at RBS emphasised the fact that when looking out over the medium-term Beijing might not have as much ‘dry powder’ as one might think.

For their part, economists from HSBC took aim at the highly credit intensive GDP growth in the Asian giant.

Shire, Compass lead gains

After US regulators on Friday said they did not have enough data to grant Shire's lifitegrast dry-eye treatment drug prescription status yet, chief executive Flemming Ornskov said a major study has now been completed and top-line data are expected before the end of the year. "If the study is positive, we plan to refile our liftegrast submission in the first quarter of 2016".

Compass Group was close to the top of the leaderboard as well after ratings agency Fitch changed sector peer Elior’s outlook to positive and reaffirmed its BB- rating. That sent shares in Compass up over 1%.

Stock in Barclays was buoyed by a weekend report in the FT citing sources who said incoming chief Jes Staley would in fact speed up the lender’s retreat from investment banking.

ITV will purchase UTV Media’s television assets for £100m. It said once the deal is approved by regulators and shareholders ITV will hold 13 of the 15 regional licences for the Channel 3 network.

Broker Investec initiated coverage on Poundland with a 'hold' recommendation and a 300p price target, saying it sees "better opportunities elsewhere with less risk". The integration of the 99p Stores acquisition is expected to add 69% to full year pre-tax profit over the next three years and return Poundland to around 20% growth in the 2017 and 2018 financial years, but Investec had concerns about the quality of the sites, estimating "at least a third were bought from administration".

Inland Homes delayed the release of its financial results of the year to 30 June 2015. The AIM listed company said on Monday the delays stem from the consolidation of the results and financial position of Drayton Garden Village.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,349.84 -0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,919.76 0.16%
techMARK (TASX) 3,031.07 0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Shire Plc (SHP) 4,616.00p 2.33%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,072.00p 1.71%
Hammerson (HMSO) 623.50p 1.46%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,100.00p 1.45%
Barclays (BARC) 254.15p 1.34%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,746.00p 1.33%
Carnival (CCL) 3,439.00p 1.30%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 604.00p 1.26%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,311.00p 1.16%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 659.50p 1.07%