Markets hit by US jobs data
London markets started the day cautiously as they awaited the all-important US payrolls data.
The mining sector could not sustain its buoyant rally of yesterday, which had been built on the prospect of increased economic recovery. Rio Tinto sank in spite of a 97% take-up rate for its rights issue. Chinalco decided to maintain its holding, which would otherwise have weighed heavily on Rio’s share price. As it was, the shares dipped 5.7% to 2,035p.
Elsewhere in the commodities sector, Tullow Oil fell 2.89% to 923.5p after rumours of bid interest from China faded.
Greene King announced a 15% drop in full-year earnings, but this was better than the market had expected and shares jumped 2.99% to 422.25p. It also said current trading at its pubs was ‘encouraging’, as strong summer weather and rising levels of disposable income had boosted revenues. Pre-tax profits dropped to £118.5m from £139.4m the previous year. This was ahead of market expectations of £117m. It had a knock-on effect on the rest of the pub sector, which had already started to edge up over the past month on better economic data. Enterprise Inns rose 2.89% to 133.5p, while Marston’s rose 1.96% to 129.75p.
Vodafone struggled as the prospect of a bidding war for Deutsche Telekom-owned T -Mobile emerged. Spain’s Telefonica was reported as being on the verge of throwing its hat into the ring. France Telecom is also likely to be a contender. The shares dipped 3.35% to 115.5p
Advertising group WPP also had a rough day as Citigroup downgraded it to sell from hold. The shares dipped 7% to 384.5p.
Elsewhere, as expected the ECB left interest rates at 1%, saying it was waiting for sustained signs of recovery. There had been no pick-up in inflation, which is being kept low by rising unemployment.