London open: Financials lead comeback following steep losses

24th Apr 2012 08:40

- Footsie rebounds after Monday's steep losses- Shell makes 220p-a-share offer for Cove- Capita drops after proposing placingThe FTSE 100 was clawing its way back slowly on Tuesday morning, following yesterday's steep sell-off which saw London's benchmark lose nearly two per cent of its value on the back of some gloomy economic data and political uncertainty in Europe. Financials were leading the comeback early on with upcoming US consumer confidence and home sales data hoped to give an extra boost to equities later on.Global stock markets took a dive yesterday after purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) from China and the Eurozone came in below the 50-point mark (representing a contraction). Meanwhile, presidential elections in France and failed budget talks in the Netherlands were also weighing on sentiment.FTSE 100: Financials lead the riseHedge fund manager Man Group, insurance group Prudential and banking peers Barclays and Lloyds were among the best performers in the opening hour. Rumours surfaced yesterday that Prudential is eyeing the insurance business of Thailand's Thanachart Bank, valued at about £310m. Meanwhile, Barclays was being helped by positive commentary from Investec this morning which reiterated its buy recommendation on the stock ahead of its first-quarter results on Thursday. The broker said that it continues to expect a beat in the first quarter despite recent upward revisions to consensus expectations.Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell was making gains after making a 220p-a-share recommended cash offer for Cove Energy, up from the proposed offer of 195p per share back in February.Business process outsourcing and professional services group Capita was a heavy faller after proposing to place 40m new ordinary shares (equal to 6.5% of its existing issued share capital) to raise additional capital to make further bolt-on acquisitions and pay down debt.Smartphone chip designer ARM Holdings fell despite seeing profits jump again in the first quarter as digital technology continues to spread. The firm reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £61.9m in the first three months of 2012, up 22% on the year before.Interim profits from Primark owner and foods group Associated British Foods came in bang in line with market expectations, helping shares a little higher this morning. Adjusted operating profit of £412m in the 24 weeks ended March 3rd was up 6% on the corresponding period a year earlier.Mining giant Anglo American was wanted following the completion of the final stage of the $1.4bn Scaw Metals Group divestment.Sector peers British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were heavy fallers ahead of their first-quarter and first-half results due in the coming week, respectively. Jefferies maintained its hold ratings on both stocks this morning.FTSE 250: Redrow up, Carpetright downHouse builder Redrow rose after announcing a placing and open offer to raise nearly £80m. It also said sales activity this year has been encouraging with its sales per site are the top end of the range for the sector, while like-for-like (LFL) reservations are ahead of last year.Carpetright was falling after saying that group sales in the 11 weeks to April 14th were down 4.2% year-on-year and full-year underlying pre-tax profit would be well under market expectations.Support services firm Carillion was in demand after it secured a massive contract with Oxfordshire County Council, designed to save the local authority over half a million pounds a year.BBA Aviation, the aviation and support services provider, was lower after admitting that it has experienced 'muted' activity in the first quarter and expects this not to change for the next few months.FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 96.20p +3.94%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 168.40p +3.57%Prudential (PRU) 741.00p +2.14%IMI (IMI) 981.50p +2.08%Aviva (AV.) 305.20p +2.04%ICAP (IAP) 372.30p +2.00%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,453.00p +1.89%Reed Elsevier (REL) 525.00p +1.84%Barclays (BARC) 208.30p +1.83%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,236.00p +1.73%FTSE 100 - FallersCapita (CPI) 690.00p -5.35%ARM Holdings (ARM) 555.00p -2.03%Serco Group (SRP) 539.00p -1.01%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,497.00p -0.83%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,195.50p -0.56%Next (NXT) 2,990.00p -0.30%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 355.90p -0.17%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 289.70p -0.14%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,596.00p -0.14%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,051.00p -0.10%FTSE 250 - RisersRedrow (RDW) 122.10p +4.36%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 256.00p +3.39%Bodycote (BOY) 414.00p +3.32%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 128.70p +3.21%Fenner (FENR) 449.40p +2.72%Supergroup (SGP) 343.70p +2.60%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 297.70p +2.51%Afren (AFR) 143.70p +2.42%Carillion (CLLN) 271.00p +2.42%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 52.10p +2.36%FTSE 250 - FallersCarpetright (CPR) 582.50p -4.04%Ruspetro (RPO) 190.00p -1.81%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 299.40p -1.71%AG Barr (BAG) 1,165.00p -1.35%Halfords Group (HFD) 268.20p -1.29%Berendsen (BRSN) 519.00p -1.14%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 150.20p -1.12%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 267.40p -0.96%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,150.00p -0.94%Telecom Plus (TEP) 687.50p -0.87%BC