Leading shares continued their rally in a shortened day's trading ahead of the festive break.
The FTSE 100 rose 55.73 points to 5512.70, a 1% rise which meant the index has now recorded a gain for December, something which seemed unlikely earlier in the month as the eurozone crisis continued. But the 7 point increase could easily be wiped out in next week's trading.
Banks came under pressure again on renewed worries about sovereign debt, with Lloyds Banking Group 0.16p lower at 25.69p and Royal Bank of Scotland down 0.07p at 20.54p. But Barclays bucked the trend, adding 2.9p to 179p. Hedge fund group Man moved higher after its recent falls, up 2.5p to 127.9p as it announced plans to buy back shares early next year.
With copper edging higher, mining group Antofagasta added 29p to £12.289.
Among the few corporate announcements United Carpets said half year profits fell from £604,000 to £267,000 and cut its dividend payment, to save cash in the current difficulty trading environment. Its shares dropped 0.25p to 5.75p, and rival retailer Carpetright lost 18p to 490p.
Still with retail, beleaguered Blacks Leisure dropped 1p to 0.75p after it said any sale of the business would probably leave nothing for shareholders. However HMV rose 0.5p to 3.25p on hopes it would survive the crucial Christmas trading period.
Outsourcing group Capita climbed 1p to 627p after it paid £7.5m for translation specialist Applied Language Solutions.
BP added 9.4p to 459.7p on hopes it would raise its dividend after reaching a number of settlements relating to the Gulf of Mexico disaster, while a rise in the oil price is also doing it no harm. On top of that non-executive director Brendan Nelson bought 11,040 shares at 449p each on Thursday.
Elsewhere Skyepharma fell 6.25p to 33p after it said the European Drugs Agency would decide on its asthma treatment flutiform after member states failed to reach a unanimous decision on approving the drug. This means a delay of up to nine months, but chief executive Axel Muller said the company was confident about the treatment's effectiveness and safety.
London and Stamford added 3.9p to 108.8p after selling a group of properties for £265m, prompting talk of a possible deal in the pipeline. Panmure Gordon analyst Mark Hughes said:
This is the second large disposal in a short period of time. A big acquisition must be looming, in our view.
Finally Zoltav Resources, the company controlled by the son of billionaire Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, slipped 5.5% to 6p. Its shares had risen sharply recently on talk of stakebuilding and possible deals, but it said it knew of no specific reason for the move. It added it continued to look at a number of possible investment opportunities.
Comments
23 December 2011 5:00PM
American Apparel
23 December 2011 5:46PM
Seems to me a key factor in the economic contraction is the lack of "bankable projects" in our credit- and resource-constrained era. Why would any financial institution lend money - and there must be some fantastically wealthy ones out there to balance all the debt - to a client who cannot generate a reasonable return?
So, with the entire basis of capitalism so compromised, where is all this cash to find safe haven at a time of record low interest rates? (Gold? probably the bird has flown.) I conclude that a sizeable proportion of it finds refuge in bluechip stocks, and that is why we have the FTSE & DOW at levels inflated beyond all relation to the fundamental malaise. Oh, and £270Bn of QE has surely had a similar effect.
Naive?
23 December 2011 7:15PM
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23 December 2011 9:25PM
I conclude that a sizeable proportion of it finds refuge in bluechip stocks, and that is why we have the FTSE & DOW at levels inflated beyond all relation to the fundamental malaise
FTSE 30/12/1999 was 6930
FTSE today 5512
A 20% decline over 12 years represents inflated values you reckon?
23 December 2011 9:30PM
Yep.
23 December 2011 9:32PM
In 1999 peak oil was still nearly 10 years away and could be discounted in practice. Now it is killing the global economy yet many pundits still dismiss it in theory.
23 December 2011 9:57PM
In 1999 peak oil was still nearly 10 years away and could be discounted in practice. Now it is killing the global economy yet many pundits still dismiss it in theory.
I assume you've put your money where your mouth is and have bought short positions on the FTSE?
23 December 2011 11:22PM
The headline next month will be replaced by something like this.
“FTSE 100 slumps due to unexpected poor economic data within the Eurozone; fear of contagion within the UK”. Actually, I guess the headline has already been written.
I have noticed that there are appears to be some banter between the TV presenters when administering gloomy news. I must admit I am very worried about the economic future in the UK and I fear very few people will have the luxury to remain upbeat during the transition to a lower standard of living. I have accepted the fact that the golden days are over, and this has mentally prepared me for the future. I noticed that a previous post highlighted that we have passed peak oil, absolutely spot on. We still have plenty of oil, it’s just that it will take more energy to extract, this coupled with the emerging economies wishing to have their share of the cake (and why not), will contribute to our falling standard of living. If a fairer society can be achieved, then once we have adjusted to a lower standard of living, I suspect we may start to feel content. What makes me angry at the moment, is the shear greed of the elite, getting richer on the backs of the poor, unfortunately that is exactly how I view quantitative easing, it’s just a redistribution of wealth.
24 December 2011 2:38AM
With the low or negative returns of shares, government debt, gold, the UK needs to reform planning and investment rules to encourage this money to go into less glamorous infrastructure opportunities, such as, renewable energy, modernisation of grid, broadband, telecoms, etc. to build the efficiency UK infrastructure for future growth.
24 December 2011 5:49AM
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24 December 2011 3:30PM
Yes IXY001, we need to incentives to encourage Heat Networks and Combined Heat and Power opportunities . Great co2 reductions and long term cost savings to be made there, if we are serious about tackling global warming.
To the Tories out there , just see it as 1 network doing the work of many more buildings thus making the additional energy needs of individual redundant , thus avoiding duplication and cutting costs .
You see, you were environentally friendly and you didn't even know it.
24 December 2011 3:33PM
individual buildings that is.
A collective solution to individual waste.
ooops I'm undoing the message..
26 December 2011 1:24AM
trebles all round
26 December 2011 2:22AM
Hmm, and the banks are being prevented from making back up plans in case Europe go back to drachmas, escudos and lira in case the Euro breakup becomes reality:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/denial-swift-degree-how-europe-even-admission-plan-b-equivalent-failure
26 December 2011 11:54AM
I was missing the Guardian daily ration of Euroscepticism. Please give me your Euroarmagedon, Euromeltdown, craking eurozone and do not forget te New Drahmas, Neo Liras, the South of Englad prepared to receive refugees flying the EZ on inminent crakcdown (that was very good).
My nephews like this kind of tales before sleeping. I used to read your blog every night to them, though you are lately losing nerve...
27 December 2011 6:02PM
Such a great article.