UK stocks rise ahead of Yellen, but Barclays slumps

11th Feb 2014 11:37

- Barclays drops seven per cent after 2013 results disappoint- Markets expecting 'dovish' Yellen, says analyst- Miners track metal prices higher- Retailers gain after economic datatechMARK 2,825.35 +0.66%FTSE 100 6,643.63 +0.79%FTSE 250 16,012.87 +0.64%UK markets rose strongly on Tuesday as investors waited to hear from new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen who is due to give her first monetary policy report to the House Financial Services Committee later this afternoon.Decent gains from mining stocks and retailers were largely able to offset a 7% slump from banking heavyweight Barclays which revealed a steep drop in profits for last year.The FTSE 100 was trading 0.8% higher at 6,644 by midday; it has not closed above this level since January 24th when it closed at 6,663.74.David Madden, Market Analyst at IG, said that traders are pricing in a "dovish outlook" from Yellen, who is likely to "keep the stimulus package unchanged for the foreseeable future"."Ben Bernanke finished his chairmanship on a high note, managing to bring down unemployment and reduce the bond-buying scheme, but Ms Yellen is tipped to toe the line for the next few months," he said.In other news, figures showed this morning that like-for-like UK retail sales rose by 3.9% in January compared with the year before, according to the British Retail Consortium/KPMG sales monitor. This was much higher than the 0.4% growth registered in December and the 0.8% increase expected by analysts.Meanwhile, interbank lending rates in China eased overnight following the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, despite the People's Bank of China refraining from conducting reverse-repurchase operations.Barclays falls, Babcock and miners gainBanking giant Barclays fell sharply after a worse-than-expected 32% fall in 2013 adjusted pre-tax profit to £5.16bn with costs coming in higher than predicted. Adjusted income fell 4% to £28.15bn.Mining stocks were performing well as metal prices advanced with precious metal producers Fresnillo, Randgold and Centamin making decent gains.Kazakhstan-focused copper miner Kazakhmys surged after Kazakhstan's central bank devalued the local currency, the tenge, by 19%. This, analysts at Investec said, will lead to a 10% reduction in costs for Kazakhmys given that around half of its costs are tenge-denominated. The broker, however, warned that the move could lead to high inflation in the coming years.Commodities trader and mining giant Glencore Xstrata was also higher this after saying that it had increased production across most of its major commodity classes in 2013.Engineering group Babcock International rose after it said that third-quarter trading saw high activity levels in all divisions, helped by the improving economic climate. Sector peers Meggitt and Rolls-Royce were also higher.A number of retailers were performing well after the strong retail sales data, with Sports Direct, Kingfisher, M&S and Debenhams trading higher. Homewares chain Dunelm wasn't far behind after lifting its interim dividend by 11.1% as profits edged higher in its first half.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 894.00p +3.65%Sports Direct International (SPD) 709.50p +3.58%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 486.80p +3.51%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,344.00p +3.07%Kingfisher (KGF) 375.90p +2.96%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,379.00p +2.76%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,652.00p +2.69%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,265.00p +2.68%Prudential (PRU) 1,311.00p +2.58%Amec (AMEC) 1,096.00p +2.14%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 256.25p -6.82%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 98.65p -3.76%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 352.00p -1.18%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,586.00p -0.94%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 82.19p -0.82%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,380.00p -0.43%Tesco (TSCO) 322.70p -0.31%Aviva (AV.) 454.60p -0.29%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,803.00p -0.25%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 240.00p -0.12%FTSE 250 - RisersKazakhmys (KAZ) 219.90p +24.24%ICAP (IAP) 416.30p +4.34%Essar Energy (ESSR) 58.95p +4.24%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 165.20p +4.23%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 178.80p +4.01%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 309.90p +3.96%Debenhams (DEB) 76.60p +3.65%Polymetal International (POLY) 624.00p +3.31%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 46.94p +2.98%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 48.96p +2.84%FTSE 250 - FallersJD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,420.00p -4.05%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 251.90p -2.89%UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 329.00p -2.20%NMC Health (NMC) 460.50p -2.02%Halma (HLMA) 584.00p -1.60%Rank Group (RNK) 145.00p -1.43%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,358.00p -1.34%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 183.00p -1.29%National Express Group (NEX) 281.50p -1.23%Computacenter (CCC) 647.50p -1.15%FTSE TechMARK - RisersSkyepharma (SKP) 192.00p +7.26%Phoenix IT Group (PNX) 115.25p +1.54%Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 474.00p +1.50%CML Microsystems (CML) 602.50p +1.26%Microgen (MCGN) 139.50p +1.09%SDL (SDL) 369.50p +1.09%Filtronic (FTC) 56.25p +0.90%Innovation Group (TIG) 33.75p +0.75%Ricardo (RCDO) 692.50p +0.65%Anite (AIE) 88.75p +0.57%FTSE TechMARK - FallersGresham Computing (GHT) 125.25p -2.15%Dialight (DIA) 729.50p -1.35%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 131.00p -1.13%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 3.05p -0.81%NCC Group (NCC) 206.75p -0.12%