London midday: Markets trim losses after UK data, StanChart

6th Aug 2013 11:23

Markets had recovered some lost ground by Tuesday lunchtime following some early falls, as data showed that the UK economic recovery continues to gather momentum and results from banking group Standard Chartered were well received.The FTSE 100 opened firmly in the red this morning, dampened by weakness in the heavyweight mining sector with Fresnillo leading the decline after a disappointing sector of first-half results. The wider sector however was being weighed down by falling metals prices.Nevertheless, losses on London's benchmark index were mostly erased by midday after some strong industrial production figures. The data, which indicates a welcome improvement in the economy, showed a 1.1% month-on-month increase in industrial output, significantly beating predictions of 0.6%. Within this, manufacturing surged 1.9% over the same period, which in turn was boosted by a 5.3% increase in transport equipment. According the Office for National Statistics (ONS), each component within manufacturing registered growth, the first time this has happened since June 1992. "June's surge in industrial production was the most convincing sign yet that the sector is sharing in the recovery already underway in the rest of the economy," said UK economist Samuel Tombs from Capital Economics. He said: "While industry will struggle to replicate June's strong growth, a gradual recovery in production now appears to be taking place."Looking elsewhere, US stock futures were pointing to a flat start on Wall Street later on following yesterday's slight falls. Remarks by Richard Fisher, Head of the Dallas Federal Reserve, sparked a negative reaction on US benchmarks last night after he said that the fall in the unemployment rate in July (to 7.4%) moves the Fed closer to scaling back quantitative easing."I would say that the [Fed] is now closer to execution mode, pondering the right time to begin reducing its purchases, assuming there is no intervening reversal in economic momentum in coming months," he said. "I would have personally started dialling back some time ago."FTSE 100: StanChart, Fresnillo in focus after H1 reportsLeading the upside was emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered after posting a 4.0% rise in adjusted first-half profits to $4.09bn and lifting its interim dividend by 6.0%.Fresnillo dropped sharply this morning after it posted a 27% decline in gross profit to $518.9m in the first half as revenues dropped on falling gold and silver prices. Sector peers Glencore Xstrata, Vedanta, Randgold, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Anglo American were also out of favour.Consumer products group Unilever was also lower after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to 'neutral' and cut its target price from 2,850p to 2,600p. GlaxoSmithKline meanwhile was hit by a downgrade by Citigroup to 'neutral'.Banking group HSBC was extending losses made yesterday after disappointing with its interim report. Deutsche Bank was also weighing further on the share price today after lowering its rating to 'hold'.Quality control and testing firm Intertek gained after RBC Capital Markets upgraded its recommendation to 'sector performer' and hiked its target price from 2,850p to 3,050p.Hotels group InterContinental impressed with a $350m special dividend as it reported that revenue per available room rose 3.7% in the fist half.Financial services organisation Legal & General was also higher after its first-half results saw double-digit growth in sales, cash generation and profits.FTSE 250: Greggs and esure provide a dragBakery chain Greggs sank after it reported a fall in profits sales as it pledged to reshape the business over the next two to three years.In its first results since its flotation in March, insurer esure announced a robust rise in first-half premiums was unlikely to be repeated in the second half of the year, causing the stock to sink this morning.Meanwhile, record first-half results from industrial valve manufacturer Rotork gave the stock a boost.FTSE 100 - RisersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,579.50p +3.64%Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,194.00p +3.53%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 204.30p +3.50%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,966.00p +3.04%Standard Life (SL.) 397.30p +1.87%Wolseley (WOS) 3,296.00p +1.82%Diageo (DGE) 2,141.00p +1.69%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,383.00p +1.69%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 386.00p +1.63%Schroders (SDR) 2,564.00p +1.34%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 979.00p -5.59%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 279.95p -3.33%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,539.00p -3.18%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,207.00p -2.66%Anglo American (AAL) 1,445.50p -2.03%Meggitt (MGGT) 545.00p -1.71%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,996.00p -1.63%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.47p -1.61%Kingfisher (KGF) 397.90p -1.34%BT Group (BT.A) 335.00p -1.15%FTSE 250 - RisersRotork (ROR) 2,908.00p +7.54%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 124.00p +4.91%Elementis (ELM) 265.90p +2.31%Electrocomponents (ECM) 257.00p +2.15%Fenner (FENR) 349.80p +2.07%Grainger (GRI) 183.50p +2.06%Bodycote (BOY) 653.00p +2.03%Laird (LRD) 212.30p +1.97%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 436.90p +1.96%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 244.90p +1.96%FTSE 250 - Fallersesure Group (ESUR) 281.30p -9.70%Greggs (GRG) 410.80p -6.97%Spirent Communications (SPT) 149.60p -3.30%Computacenter (CCC) 501.00p -3.09%Evraz (EVR) 94.25p -3.08%BBA Aviation (BBA) 291.60p -2.96%Polymetal International (POLY) 649.00p -2.77%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 329.70p -2.63%Vesuvius (VSVS) 462.80p -2.57%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 258.90p -2.56%BC