London markets remained sluggish this week as news out of Korea did much to dampen investor sentiment. More clarification over the Irish bail-out failed to buoy the mood as the focus merely switched to concerns about contagion elsewhere in the eurozone.
With the American Thanksgiving holiday closing markets there later in the week, European exchanges were left without much direction.
The FTSE 100 got off to a reasonable start from the get-go on Monday but quickly lost ground and dipped to a week-low of 5,581 points at the close on Tuesday. A brief rally later in the week looked increasingly shaky before further slippage Friday to leave the market trading at 5,606 at midday. The broader FTSE 250 index and Alternative Investment Market both put in similarly uninspiriing performances.
Still, November has overall proved to be a boon for investors, with the FTSE 100, 250 and AIM indices all hitting 12-month highs. Reflecting that mood, 87 London-listed stocks did see new 12-month highs this week while just half of that figure slumped to new lows.
Mixed news for resources
African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) , the fifth largest gold producer in Africa, saw its London listed stock dip to a new low of 511p from a high of 670p in June. Questions over falling production and the longevity of African Barrick’s money spinning mine at Tulawaka seem to have investors fretting.
Roxi Petroleum Plc (LON:RXP) shares continued a slide, falling to 4.1p, on the back of news last week of disappointing well test results from its drilling operations in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, Sterling Energy (LON:SEY) also suffered the wrath of investors who look to be tiring of no end of mechanical problems at the company’s Sangaw North#1 well in Kurdistan. The shares fell to a new low of 51.5p during the week, down from 140p back in September, on news that casing problems were set to cause even more delays as the company struggles to figure out how successful the well has actually been.
Elsewhere, The Parkmead Group (LON:PMG) continued to ride the wave of what could be the hire of the year. Since recruiting Tom Cross, the ex-CEO of…
