AppId is over the quota
* FTSE up 0.3 pct on Germany, France's promise of a plan
* Oils gain as UBS ups view on risk assets
* Banks fall as Fitch donwgrades Italy and Spain
By David Brett
LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Energy stocks led Britain's top share index higher early on Monday as investors reacted positively to France and Germany's promise of action to deal with the euro zone's debt crisis.
London's blue chip index was up 16.45 points, or 0.3 percent at 5,319.85 by 0752 GMT, having finished the previous week on firmer footing following better than expected jobs data from the United Statesd and positive noises from Europe that the euro zone governments are preparing to take bolder steps to deal with their debt crisis.
Integrated oils were among the top performers as investors were tempted to forage around for bargains in so-called riskier assets.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc rose 0.7 percent as industry sources said the firm is restarting the largest crude distillation unit at its Singapore refinery less than two weeks after the plant was shut because of a fire.
UBS said it is now appropriate to shift from an "underweight" to a more "neutral" stance on 'risk assets', as we have seen progress on European leaders being prepared to recapitalise banks and improving growth relative to expectations, while it expects policy easing in emerging economies later in the year to also help sentiment.
But the broker cautioned: "To get even more constructive on global equity markets we need to see implementation in Europe, including credible bank recapitalisations in a number of countries, not a select few."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after talks in Berlin on Sunday evening that their goal was to come up with a sustainable answer for Greece's woes, agree how to recapitalise European banks and present a plan for accelerating economic coordination in the euro zone by a G20 summit in Cannes on Nov. 3-4.
And Franco-Belgian bank Dexia agreed early on Monday to the nationalisation of its Belgian banking division and secured state guarantees in a rescue package.
However, downgrades to both Spain's and Italy's credit ratings by Fitch on Friday, which brought in sellers in New York, has left analysts questioning the sustainability of recent gains.
"The announcement that Merkel and Sarkozy have reached agreement on how to reinforce beleaguered eurozone banks is certainly adding some support as it does increase the chances of finding a resolution to the crisis," Chris Weston, institutional trader at IG Markets, said.
"Although with ratings agencies continuing to cast a critical eye over all involved parties, further downgrades could yet follow and again this would surely give an adequate excuse to reach for the sell button once more."
That view was reflected in the performance of the perceived defensive stocks such as drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline and British American Tobacco , up 0.9 and 0.7 percent respectively, and the banks , which was the weakest performing sector on the UK's benchmark index.
Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland , which were among 12 UK financial institutions to have their ratings cut by Moody's on Friday, shed up to 1.1 percent.
Miners retreated too, having led the index higher last week, as fears of a possible "hard landing" for the Chinese economy enticed some profit taking, with traders citing a downgrade by Morgan Stanley as impacting Antofagasta , which fell 1.2 percent.
And London-listed corporates exposed to a sluggishly performing UK economy continued to cause concern for investors following profit warnings from Premier Foods and Mothercare in the previous week.
Michael Page International (MPI) shed 4.3 percent, as the British recruiters' commented on uncertainty in its markets in a Q3 trading update prompting Altium Securities to downgrade its rating to "hold" from "buy".
There was no British economic data scheduled for release during the session on Monday.
没有评论:
发表评论