London close: Analysts see further downside risks for copper

LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - UK stocks finished the session with slight gains, tracking the ebb and flow of trading Stateside as analysts continued to weigh in with their opinions on the US Federal Reserve's decision on 17 September to stay put. Investors were also digesting remarks from various Fed officials over the weekend.

The Footsie finished 4.60 points up on the day at 6,108.71.

In a very critical vein, on Saturday the President of the St.Louis Fed, James Bullard, said in a speech: "Why do the committee's policy settings remain so far from the normal when the objectives have essentially been met? The committee has not, in my view, provided a satisfactory answer to this question." Bullard was not a voting member of the FOMC in 2015.

"[The St.Louis Fed president's] record on voting for rate rises isn't exactly a compelling one given he was pushing for a rise in rates in 2013, before changing his mind," Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK pointed out.

Closer to home, in remarks to the Journal, BoE Deputy Governor Sir John Cunliffe said the economic picture points to the next move on monetary policy being up, although it also looks like it will be a limited and gradual rise when it happens.

However, Cunliffe also commented on recent events in China, adding that: "If you put those things together, in net terms, the external environment is a bit weaker than it was." Greek 10-year bond yields were six basis points higher to 8.26% at the end of the day following the victory by Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party in Greece's elections, on Sunday.

The outcome was greeted by financial market analysts, who said it showed the reformist camp in Athens had obtained a clear mandate from the electorate.

A splinter group of hard-left Syriza members who had triggered the vote failed to win sufficient votes for them to be represented in parliament.

Nomura sees further downside risks to copper Analysts at Nomura on Thursday attributed the circa 22% fall in PetraDiamonds's share price since its end-July trading update to "weakness in the diamond market and higher capex spend at Cullinan." That delays the inflection point in the company's free cash flow by one year to 2017, they explained to clients. Nonetheless, it kept its target on the shares at 190p.

In other research, the broker lowered its targets on a swathe of miners, including for Glencore and Kaz Minerals . Its target on the former was cut 120p from 230p and that for the latter to 100p from 200p. Nomura made the above changes on the back of the further downside risks it had identified for the price of copper.

Shire was one of the best performers on the FTSE 100 throughout much of the session after the pharmaceuticals company said its Intuniv drug has been awarded European approval for use as a non-stimulant drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents for whom stimulants are not suitable.

RSA Insurance announced that Zurich Insurance had terminated discussions with the London-listed insurer regarding a possible offer. Zurich, which issued third-quarter results on Monday said in a statement that it has terminated talks with RSA due to the recent deterioration in the trading performance of its general insurance business. "The group's focus instead will be on taking the necessary actions to deliver on the required performance of the General Insurance business," it said.

Analysts at Credit Suisse believe the outperformance by shares of Wolseley versus the sector and the index in the last three years - thanks to its margin and market share expansion in the US - can be maintained. They see a multi-year growth opportunity in the US and up their target price to 490p from 440p. The stock has also been added to the Swiss broker's European and Global Focus lists.

Standard Chartered came under pressure following a press report suggesting the bank has been involved in transactions that could put it at risk of further sanctions penalties. The Financial Times said findings of its investigation into the bank suggest it continued to seek new business from Iranian and Iran-connected companies after committing in 2007 to stop working with such clients.

Shares in industrial components manufacturer Rotork were under the cosh again as JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and slashed its price target to 180p from 245p following the company's profit warning last week. JPM said it's clear that end-market challenges are having a greater impact on the group than it expected and it has cut its 2015/2016/2017 earnings before interest, tax and amortisation forecasts by 16%/27%/25% as a result.

Market Movers techMARK 3,059.54 -0.01% FTSE 100 6,108.71 +0.08% FTSE 250 16,893.31 -0.34% FTSE 100 - Risers London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,444.00p +2.17% Wolseley (WOS) 4,223.00p +2.10% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.23p +2.09% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,490.00p +1.84% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,165.00p +1.84% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,223.00p +1.83% Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 159.30p +1.72% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 231.60p +1.45% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 201.70p +1.41% Carnival (CCL) 3,506.00p +1.33% FTSE 100 - Fallers RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 403.30p -20.84% Glencore (GLEN) 119.00p -5.56% Standard Chartered (STAN) 692.10p -4.23% Anglo American (AAL) 694.90p -3.49% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 323.00p -2.48% Antofagasta (ANTO) 565.50p -2.42% Fresnillo (FRES) 597.00p -2.13% BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,076.00p -2.00% Ashtead Group (AHT) 964.50p -1.68% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,361.00p -1.23% FTSE 250 - Risers NMC Health (NMC) 808.00p +5.41% Kier Group (KIE) 1,435.00p +3.99% Synergy Health (SYR) 1,550.00p +2.65% Genus (GNS) 1,490.00p +2.55% Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,100.00p +2.09% Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 107.70p +1.99% Cranswick (CWK) 1,643.00p +1.92% OneSavings Bank (OSB) 400.40p +1.88% National Express Group (NEX) 290.50p +1.79% Croda International (CRDA) 2,742.00p +1.74% FTSE 250 - Fallers Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 101.10p -8.92% Premier Oil (PMO) 71.60p -8.32% Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 139.70p -7.30% Rotork (ROR) 175.10p -6.16% Ophir Energy (OPHR) 85.45p -5.58% Evraz (EVR) 65.25p -5.09% Tullow Oil (TLW) 190.70p -4.55% AO World (AO.) 162.90p -4.12% Vesuvius (VSVS) 364.00p -4.11% PayPoint (PAY) 1,047.00p -4.03%