London Shares Weaken in Lacklustre Session

The UK benchmark slipped into the red again Thursday as investor trades lacked any clear direction

Holly Cook | 16-09-10 | E-mail Article

Share prices remained under the cosh on Thursday as investors appeared happy to stay put in the absence of any decisive economic data and with currencies continuing to dominate the headlines.

The FTSE 100 index slipped 15 points to close down 0.3% at 5,540, while the FTSE 250 index shed 52 points or 0.5% to 10,442.

The surprise news late Tuesday that the Bank of Japan was buying dollars in an attempt to curb the yen’s surge—reports have estimated the central bank’s intervention to be in the region of JPY 2 trillion—sent the Japanese currency tumbling against the greenback on Wednesday but it consolidated some of this loss on Thursday.

“We do not think this intervention will necessarily work in changing exchange rates in the long term, but it does mark an important change in attitude,” Schroders Head of Japanese Equities Shogo Maeda and Fund Manager Nathan Gibbs commented in a note earlier today.

In other currency movements, the Chinese yuan climbed to a fresh high against the dollar ahead of a key testimony by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before Congress on China’s currency policy. Geithner is expected to call upon China to allow its currency to rise further--China’s yuan is artificially controlled by the government in a bid to help its exporters, a move that has led to widespread criticism from global leaders.

In Europe, the Spanish government’s successful bond auction helped the euro continue its march higher, testing highs near 1.3110, while disappointing UK retail sales temporarily weighed on sterling, noted FOREX.com Currency Strategist Eric Viloria.

UK retail sales excluding fuel fell 0.4% in August from the previous month’s revised growth of 0.7% and against forecasts for a tentative 0.2% increase. “The latest retail figures continue to highlight the frailties of the UK consumer,” commented Shehan Mohamed, Economist with the Centre for Economics & Business Research. “The news will raise further questions over the strength of domestic demand in the UK over the medium term, as export performance has remained below expectations and budget cuts are to be phased over the next five years from next April 2011.”

The data seemed to be in contrast to upbeat comments from Next yesterday, which buoyed the retail sector for much of the session and helped the FTSE 100 to close near breakeven. On Thursday, however, retailers Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Home Retail Group slipped 0.5%-0.9% each.

Counterbalancing these losses, the energy sector managed to minimise overall index losses, with heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell and BP climbing 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.

Holly Cook is Site Editor of Morningstar.co.uk and Hemscott.com. She would like to hear from you but cannot give financial advice. You can contact the author via this feedback form.
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