Britain's FTSE 100 continues drift to record highs
10/01/2017 08:00
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 continued its
climb to record highs on Tuesday while Europe's top benchmark
.STOXX failed to hold early gains with financials the biggest
drag
The pan-European STOXX 600 index down 0.3 percent, while the
FTSE 100 .FTSE hit a new all-time high of 7,261.16 points
before paring back slightly, up 0.2 percent.
France's CAC 40 was up 0.3 percent and Germany's DAX also
gained 0.3 percent in early deals.
British retailer WM Morrison MRW.L was a top gainer in the
STOXX after Christmas trading results exceeded expectations. Its
shares were up 4.5 percent and the stock had already traded a
full days' volume within the first 15 minutes of trading.
Fast food delivery company Just Eat JE.L was the top
faller, down 6.3 percent after its results, which indicated full
year order growth of 42 percent, but analysts at Jefferies said
the company was 'likely to disappoint'.
Insurance .SXIP and banking .SX7P sectors were the top
fallers, with Italian banks back in focus after Poplare di
Vicenza and Veneto Banca proposed a settlement deal with
shareholders that could cost more than 600 million euros.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1EZ53R
Industrials extended their recent gains, buoyed by Germany's
Siemens SIEGn.DE and France's Airbus AIR.PA , which was set
to outperform plane deliveries for 2016. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1EZ54Z
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)
((Helen.Reid@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7748;))
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/
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* Retail in focus, British supermarkets lead
* Basic resources extend gains
* Financials suffer as Italian banks weigh
By Helen Reid
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 share index
climbed to fresh record highs on Tuesday with UK retailers
gaining, while European blue chips failed to hold early gains,
with financials the biggest drag.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> was down 0.3
percent, while the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> hit a new all-time high of
7,261.16 points before paring back slightly to stand 0.2 percent
higher.
France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> and Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> were both
down 0.1 percent.
Retail was heavily in focus. Morrisons was a top
gainer in London after Christmas trading results exceeded
expectations. Its shares were up 4.5 percent and had already
traded a full day's average volume within the first 15 minutes.
Britain's largest retailer, Tesco , joined Morrisons
at the top of the table, up 3.5 percent after market research
showed it had the fastest sales growth of the country's four
major players. [nL5N1F01JK]
Meanwhile German discount retailer Metro lost 2
percent after reporting sluggish festive sales.
Basic resources stocks <.SXPP> were the top performers,
extending their recent gains. The top risers were Anglo American
, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton , which
tracked the price of copper higher. [MET/L]
NOT FAST ENOUGH
The fast food delivery company Just Eat was the top
faller on the FTSE, down 6.3 percent, after reporting full-year
order growth of 42 percent but failing to beat its estimates.
"With a stock trading on such a lofty valuation, the market
has grown to expect the company to exceed its estimates, so
there's a little bit of disappointment," said Michael Stewart,
analyst at Panmure Gordon Equities.
"It highlights the expectation that these companies can go
on upgrading forever. We believe the investment case is intact,
especially if the acquisition of Hungry House goes ahead."
Insurance <.SXIP> and banking <.SX7P> were the worst
performing sectors across indexes, with Commerzbank
the biggest DAX faller, down 2.5 percent on a UBS downgrade to
"sell", and Deutsche Bank tracking it lower, down 2.3
percent.
Spain's Banco Popular led the Madrid IBEX <.IBEX>
lower, falling 3.1 percent.
Italian banks were back in focus for non-performing loans
after Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca proposed a settlement
with shareholders that could cost more than 600 million euros.
[nL5N1EZ53R]
Banco BPM , which had a winning streak in its first
trading week, was down 2.2 percent at the bottom of Italy's FTSE
MIB index <.FTMIB>, with Unicredit , Ubi Banca
and Intesa Sanpaolo not far behind.
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
((Helen.Reid@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7748;))
(( For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in
brackets:
European Equities speed guide...................
FTSEurofirst 300 index..............................<.FTEU3>
STOXX Europe index..................................<.STOXX>
Top 10 STOXX sectors...........................<.PGL.STOXXS>
Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors......................<.PGL.STOXXES>
Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors...................<.PGL.FTEU3S>
Top 25 European pct gainers.......................<.PG.PEUR>
Top 25 European pct losers........................<.PL.PEUR>
Main stock markets:
Dow Jones...............<.DJI> Wall Street report .....[.N]
Nikkei 225.............<.N225> Tokyo report............[.T]
FTSE 100...............<.FTSE> London report...........[.L]
Xetra DAX.............<.GDAXI> CAC-40...............<.FCHI>
World Indices.....................................<0#.INDEX>
Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........
Western European IPO diary.........................[WEU/IPO]
European Asset Allocation........................[EUR/ASSET]
Reuters News at a Glance: Equities.................[TOP/EQE]
Main currency report:.................................[FRX/]))
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/