Markets hit by US jobs data
London markets started the day cautiously as they awaited the all-important US payrolls data.
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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.