London open: Wall Street tailwinds lift London

21st Dec 2011 08:34

Following last night's strong showing on Wall Street, UK shares are heading higher this morning, although in more leisurely fashion than their US counterparts did yesterday.Investors do not seem to be too fazed by credit ratings agency Moody's saying Britain's cherished triple-AAA credit rating could be under threat if the Eurozone crisis worsens.Moody's Investors Service said last night: "Any additional weakening in the macro-economic outlook or a need to support the banking system could temporarily set back the government's fiscal consolidation efforts. As a result, the outlook on the rating is likely to be sensitive to future developments in the euro area's debt crisis, even though the UK is not a member of the monetary union."The ratings agency did not really say anything the market had not worked out for itself, however, and the mood at the opening is set to be mildly optimistic, with City sources predicting the FTSE 100 will open 36 points up from yesterday's close of 5,420.Disappointing UK consumer confidence data also fails to dishearten investors. The GfK NOP UK consumer confidence index for the month of December has fallen to -33 points from -31 the month before, hitting its lowest level since February 2009. The market consensus had been expecting a small up-tick to -31. On the corporate front, activity is focused around the financial sector.Closed life assurance fund consolidator Phoenix Group is set to generate around £800m of cash at the operating company level in 2011, slap bang in the middle of its stated target range, and up from last year's £734m. Group Finance Director, Jonathan Yates, will be leaving the group at the end of February of next year to take up the position of Chief Executive at Guardian Financial Services. Paul Miles, currently Deputy Group Finance Director, will become Acting Group Finance Director with immediate effect.A merger of Lloyd's of London underwriters could be on the cards after Beazley said it is interested in acquiring rival Hardy Underwriting. Hardy recently said it is to undertake a strategic review of its business.Global banking giant HSBC is to offload its private banking business in Japan to Credit Suisse for an undisclosed sum, while Old Mutual, the South African savings and investment group, said it had agreed terms to sell the Finnish branch of Skandia Life Assurance Company to insurer OP-Pohjola osk.FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals firm AstraZeneca and Hutchison MediPharma (HMP), a research and development company majority-owned by Chi-Med, have entered into a global licensing, co-development, and commercialisation agreement for a cancer treatment drug. Volitinib (also known as HMPL-504), which was discovered and developed in China, will imminently enter Phase I testing.Balfour Beatty, the global infrastructure group, said its joint venture (JV) with Thiess and Sinclair Knight Merz has been awarded a £535m contract for works on the Footscray to Deer Park section of the Regional Rail Link project in Melbourne, Australia. Balfour Beatty has a 35% share in the JV. A decidedly unseasonal trading update from Thorntons sees the chocolatier's share price melt further. The company, no stranger to profit warnings, has warned its full year profits will miss expectations as consumers continue to cut back. The company said it is battling high levels of promotional activity on the high street - code for "competitors are cutting prices more than we would like".Another stock taking a coshing is Travelzest, as the upmarket travel operator said it has pulled out of bid discussions with Red Label Vacations, as the Canadian company's valuation of Travelzest did not meet the UK company's expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 25.20p +6.71%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 20.51p +4.27%Barclays (BARC) 178.50p +4.14%Man Group (EMG) 132.00p +2.96%Evraz (EVR) 374.50p +2.60%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,044.00p +2.45%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,577.00p +2.40%Carnival (CCL) 2,180.00p +2.35%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,094.00p +2.24%Schroders (SDR) 1,302.00p +2.20%FTSE 100 - FallersPolymetal International (POLY) 1,050.00p -0.57%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,172.00p -0.13%ARM Holdings (ARM) 576.00p 0.00%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,445.50p +0.03%Capita Group (CPI) 628.50p +0.08%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,102.00p +0.09%Tesco (TSCO) 388.40p +0.12%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,909.00p +0.14%Vodafone Group (VOD) 174.70p +0.23%United Utilities Group (UU.) 592.50p +0.25%FTSE 250 - RisersGem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 193.20p +5.92%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 628.50p +3.71%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 40.45p +3.66%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 259.10p +3.64%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 274.60p +3.16%FTSE 250 - FallersDixons Retail (DXNS) 9.40p -3.54%Halfords Group (HFD) 292.20p -2.92%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 424.90p -2.88%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,301.00p -2.18%Supergroup (SGP) 486.00p -2.13%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 99.75p -2.01%--jh