London open: Stocks flat as traders await details from EU summit

15th Mar 2013 08:29

UK stocks opened more or less flat on Friday morning as markets paused for breath after a strong rise the day before, with traders awaiting any developments at the European Union (EU) summit in Brussels.The S&P 500 finished just a couple of point shy of its all-time high on Thursday night as data on US jobs continues to improve. Jobless claims came in below forecasts again yesterday which, after last month's stellar employment report, brightens the outlook for the recovery in the American labour market."The only problem is we now have an improved outlook for the economy on top of large [Federal Reserve] stimulus, which is going to be a huge test to just how much more we can inflate this equity bubble before it inevitably blows," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.As the Eurozone continues to undergo its economic downturn, with unemployment on the rise, its leaders yesterday indicated at the EU summit that they will relax the conditions relating to deficit targets. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso expressed the idea that countries completing the requirements should be given a helping-hand. Today, EU leaders are expected to discuss a possible exit of Ireland from the bailout programme after a successful 10-year debt auction earlier this week. The Eurogroup, made of Eurozone finance ministers, is scheduled to meet later today to discuss the aid package for Cyprus."As always with these meetings, we can expected heightened volatility throughout the day, as details surrounding both the Irish and Cypriot bailouts are leaked out," Erlam said.As well as the talks in Europe today, markets will be looking out for a number of other key economic announcements, including consumer price indices from the Eurozone and US, as well as industrial production and consumer confidence figures Stateside. IAG and Aggreko flying high after upgradeAirline group IAG was performing well early on after Morgan Stanley upgraded its recommendation on the stock to 'overweight', while Aggreko received a boost by Deutsche Bank, which upped to shares to 'buy'.In contrast, Royal Dutch Shell was being weighed down by a ratings cut by JPMorgan Cazenove to 'underweight'.FTSE 250 online gaming firm bwin.party slumped after reporting a 17% fall in clean EBITDA in 2012 owing to an increase in gaming taxes and lower sales. The firm also said that the revenues are expected to decline further in 2013. Pubs group Wetherspoons rose after unveiling a 6.9% rise in like-for-like revenue in the first half. The company called the performance "reasonable" given the pressures on the UK consumer.Halma, the safety, health and environmental technology group, edged higher after acquiring ASL Holdings, a Northampton-based business which designs and manufactures machine-to-machine communication products, for £6.5m.Also on the rise was chemicals firm Synthomer after raising its dividend by 57% as it was able to register another year of record profits.FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 268.80p +2.32%Evraz (EVR) 251.90p +2.27%ARM Holdings (ARM) 939.00p +1.79%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 544.50p +1.78%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,367.00p +1.69%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,479.00p +1.56%Croda International (CRDA) 2,731.00p +1.52%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,585.00p +1.27%Anglo American (AAL) 1,887.00p +1.26%Aggreko (AGK) 1,989.00p +1.22%FTSE 100 - FallersG4S (GFS) 298.50p -1.39%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,239.00p -1.28%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,191.50p -1.19%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 273.60p -0.94%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 832.00p -0.83%Unilever (ULVR) 2,726.00p -0.80%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 746.00p -0.73%SSE (SSE) 1,460.00p -0.68%Centrica (CNA) 353.20p -0.67%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 735.30p -0.64%FTSE 250 - RisersRentokil Initial (RTO) 99.70p +10.17%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 57.95p +8.32%Ocado Group (OCDO) 180.60p +6.24%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 205.50p +3.32%Redrow (RDW) 182.10p +2.30%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,522.00p +2.06%Victrex (VCT) 1,750.00p +2.04%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 735.00p +2.01%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 520.00p +1.96%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 309.20p +1.95%FTSE 250 - FallersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 140.60p -7.19%COLT Group SA (COLT) 129.90p -2.70%Inchcape (INCH) 505.00p -2.42%Perform Group (PER) 457.40p -2.27%Investec (INVP) 495.20p -1.75%Booker Group (BOK) 123.10p -1.52%Man Group (EMG) 102.50p -1.25%Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd. (GSS) 579.50p -1.11%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 802.50p -1.05%Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 659.00p -0.98%BC