London open: Stocks rise as euro concerns ease

10th May 2012 08:39

- Greek, Spanish worries ease- Markets await MPC decision, small chance of more QE- ENRC up after Q3 update, Legal & General wanted after CEO shake-upThe FTSE 100 rose in early trading on Thursday following a two-day steep drop as concerns over the political situation in Greece eased somewhat. Meanwhile, investors will be watching the Bank of England closely ahead of an interest rate decision later this morning. While it is generally accepted that, despite the difficulty the UK is having stuffing the inflation genie back into the bottle, the Monetary Policy Committee will not waste much time seriously considering an interest rate hike, there is a small, some would say non-negligible, chance that the committee members might vote for an increase to the quantitative easing (QE) programme. In Greece, Alexis Tsipras from the left-wing Syriza party has now been given up his attempt of crafting a coalition after failing to agree with the Pasok and New Democracy parties on the revoking of the austerity measures tied to the bailout package. This now leaves Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos with the task of forming a coalition. If unsuccessful, elections are likely to be held as soon as next month. Last night, the European Financial Stability Facility's Board of Directors released a €5.2bn payment to Greece, allowing the debt-laden country to meet its near-term obligations. €4.2bn will be paid tomorrow while €1bn will be given at a later date "depending on the financing needs of Greece".In Spain, the Ministry of Economy confirmed late on Wednesday night that it would kick-start the process by which the state will assume control of distressed lender Bankia. Meanwhile, Asian stocks fell in to the red overnight after Chinese trade data showed weaker-than-expected activity in April. Exports and imports rose 4.9% and 0.3% last month, respectively, well below forecasts of 11% and 10%. The trade surplus increased from $5.4bn in March to $18.4bn, mainly due to the weakness in imports.FTSE 100: ENRC leads miners higherMiners were performing strongly despite concerns of demand from China, as stocks claw back after a recent fall. Polymetal, Kazakhmys and ENRC were among the best performers with the latter making gains despite seeing a "significant" decline in group revenue in the first quarter, mainly as a result of a strong comparator and falling commodities prices. Risk, savings and investment management provider Legal and General rose strongly after appointing its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nigel Wilson as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Tim Breedon when he steps down from the board next month.Telecoms titan BT was lower after full-year revenue slipped 4%. Underlying revenue excluding transit revenue was down 1.9% for the year, within the group's target range, but underlying pre-tax profit rose 17% to beat expectations.South African financial conglomerate Old Mutual was higher after saying it saw positive net client cash flows throughout the group in the first quarter, while sales continued to be strong in emerging markets.Experian, the credit check and financial data company, dropped after reporting underlying earnings below expectations for the full year to the end of March, while announcing the sale of its PriceGrabber price comparison service.FTSE 250: SuperGroup, Barratt rise stronglyTrendy fashion brand SuperGroup jumped early on despite seeing flat like-for-like retail sales in the 13 week to April 29th. Nevertheless, wholesale sales rose 4.4% while the underlying wholesale growth rate was around 9%. Retail sales in the final quarter increased by 24.7%. House builder Barratt Developments was also in demand after reporting its "strongest spring selling season for five years". Average weekly net private reservations in the period between January 1st to May 6th were 25.3% higher than the previous year, as a result of higher sales rates per site and increased site numbers. FTSE 100 - RisersPolymetal International (POLY) 850.00p +10.75%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 781.50p +2.96%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.75p +2.81%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 114.10p +2.52%ARM Holdings (ARM) 498.80p +2.32%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 535.50p +2.29%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,109.00p +1.84%Old Mutual (OML) 146.20p +1.60%Sage Group (SGE) 267.00p +1.52%G4S (GFS) 266.70p +1.48%FTSE 100 - FallersReckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,424.00p -3.98%Experian (EXPN) 922.00p -3.05%BT Group (BT.A) 211.70p -2.53%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 830.00p -1.78%Diageo (DGE) 1,539.00p -1.16%Capita (CPI) 656.00p -0.83%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,201.00p -0.74%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,097.50p -0.69%Unilever (ULVR) 2,065.00p -0.63%Whitbread (WTB) 1,922.00p -0.62%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 331.00p +7.82%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 561.50p +5.55%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 45.94p +5.29%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 126.20p +5.25%FirstGroup (FGP) 205.80p +4.57%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 444.30p +4.47%Persimmon (PSN) 587.00p +4.08%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 54.20p +4.03%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,601.00p +3.96%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 133.40p +3.89%FTSE 250 - FallersBankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 402.20p -1.76%Inmarsat (ISAT) 461.00p -1.60%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.65 -1.44%PZ Cussons (PZC) 325.50p -1.18%Bumi (BUMI) 480.30p -1.17%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 235.40p -1.09%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 313.80p -1.07%Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd. (GSS) 485.80p -1.06%Invensys (ISYS) 198.00p -1.00%Northgate (NTG) 198.00p -1.00%BC