Shares gave up opening gains as the markets continue to tumble lower. Commodity prices once again dragged the mining sector down.
The FTSE100 opened down 31.8 points at 5,809.5 with the FTSE250 also down 45.8 points at 9,511.5. The FTSE Smallcaps fared a little better, 3.7 points ahead at 3,493.4.
Wall Street stocks closed mixed on Monday, after a whirlwind session that saw heavy losses on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 melt into gains in the final hour of trade amid strong demand for blue chip stocks. The Nasdaq Composite closed well off its worst levels of the day, but at its weakest level of the year, nonetheless.
Asia overnight saw the Nikkei close down 328.49 points at 16,158.42 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended its morning trade down 104.01 points at 16,390.83.
Other main news this morning Oil prices continued to decline in morning trade, following sharp overnight falls in global commodity markets sparked by a slide in the dollar, their benchmark currency. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery was at $68.75 a barrel, down 66 cents from late New York trade. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was down 82 cents at $68.85.
The FTSE100 was dragged lower by a dip in commodity prices, which saw the miners once again losing ground.
Anglo American was down 65p at 2,217p, Antofagasta was down 73p to 2,200p, Rio Tinto was down 62p to 2,966p, Kazakhmys lost 26p at 1,178p, BHP Billiton was also down 16.5p to 1,085.5p and Xstrata fell 38p to 2,170p.
Lower oil prices affected BP, which opened 6.5p lower at 639.5p; Shell fell 12p to 1,846p, while BG Group also fell 6p to 685p.
Schroders appeared to be marred by profit taking, down 31p at 1,076p after the asset manager posted a 41% increase in first quarter profit. Schroders said pre-tax profit for the three months to March 31st came in at £71.4 million, up from £50.4 million in the same period last year.
One stock that went up this morning was Alliance Unichem, this stock was the top riser, up 27.5p at 936p, as the possibility of a merger with chemist Boots. Boots was a key feature pleasing investors, having been upped to buy from hold with an increased target price of 850p from 600p by Deutsche Bank. The broker said that Boots' merger with Alliance Unichem makes both strategic and financial sense in its view. It added that in the longer term, the new group is in a strong position to take advantage of, and defend itself against, changing regulation.
Intercontinental Hotels, also saw gains, the stock is currently up 7.5p at 976p. The company impressed buyers after the group posted a 27% rise in first quarter operating profits, helped by buoyant market conditions around the world over the last few months and last year's restructuring.
Compass also pleased investors, up 8p at 242.5p as results fell in line with market expectations. The world's largest caterer, posted a decline in first half earnings, and said it remains on track to meet its expectations for the full year. Pre-tax profit from continuing operations fell by 9.4% to £184m from £203m the previous year. Underlying sales rose by 12.4% to £5.66 billion from £5.04 billion the year before.
National Grid also saw small gains, the stock is currently up by 3p at 563.5p, following a Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein upgrade to add from hold ahead of full year results later this week.
Scottish Power gained 1.5p at 554.5p and British Energy was up 1p at 661.5p.
The Portfolio:
On Friday, after all the panic selling the Footsieblog sold Vislink (VLK). This has proven to be a mistake and this morning it has been bought back again. The target for this stock is 70p for now.
The only other stock in the portfolio is:
Wolfson (WLF) – This stock is currently, yes you have guessed it down 2.22% at 484.50p. The floor might come in at 450.00p, although, I hope not. However, the target for this stock remains strong at 600.00p.
Following on from Friday’s mass selling, things have been no different today. Therefore, the Footsieblog advises all small holders to close profitable positions now and wait until things settle down.
