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Epic & Msn data

Epic	ASX
Time:	16:35:30
Mid Price:	2609.36
Change Today:
Change % Today:
Fifty Two Week High:
Fifty Two Week Low:
Market Capital:

Period & price data

Period	Price
Now:	2609.36
3 Months ago:
6 Months ago:
1 Year ago:

Additional information

Additional	Information
Market:	All Share Index
Sector:	General Mining
Epic:	ASX
News:	Latest news
Web Site:	UK Market Wrap
Other Articles:	08-02-201008-02-201008-02-2010

BP and Shell fall as oil slides to weaken FTSE 100

Overview: the FTSE 100 was in decline for the second day in a row, though it managed to keep its losses to a minimum today after shedding more than 3% on Thursday on concerns over Dubai’s ability to pay off its debt.

Tour operator Thomas Cook (LSE: TCG) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 3.8% gain. London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSE) and commercial property company Segro (LSE: SGRO) followed, advancing 3%. Engineering firm Amec (LSE: AMEC) and energy company Centrica (LSE: CNE) also were in demand, adding more than 2.5%.

Banks were still in decline with Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) emerging among the market’s biggest fallers. However, Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) did well, posting a 1.5% gain after signing up for the government’s asset protection scheme.

Mining stocks also weakened, reacting to further declines in metal prices. Anglo American (LSE: AAL), Fresnilo (LSE: FRES) and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) all lost more than 1.5%.

Yesterday’s negative news from Dubai is expected to push the US stock market lower with stock index futures pointing to a sharp fall on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is projected to shed more than 200 points, which the S&P 500 index seen opening 30 points lower and the Nasdaq composite is set to slide 50 points.

Commodities

Oil prices declined in the morning. January Brent Crude slide to US$75.39/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for January delivery dropped to US$74.24/barrel.

With the exception of supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB), which posted small losses, oil and gas stocks were on the rise today.

Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) were in the lead with gains of 1.5% and 1% respectively, while other FTSE 100 constituents BG Group (LSE: BG) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) rose marginally.

Midcaps did better with Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL), Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) tacking on 2%, 1.5% and 1% respectively.

Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP), Eastern Europe focused junior Aurelian Oil & Gas (AIM: AUL) and Kazakhstan operating Max Petroleum (LSE: MXP) were the top performers among the small caps, advancing 9%, 6.7% and 4.5% respectively.

Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST), which announced a placing to raise £5 million today, was the leading faller in the sector with a 12.5% slide. Energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) and South American Focused explorer Pan Andean Resources (AIM: PRE) followed, shedding 5% and 4% respectively.

Atlantic Canada operating oil and gas group Enegi Oil (AIM: ENEG), Western Europe operating oil and gas company Northern Petroleum (AIM: NOP) and North American based explorer Nighthawk Energy (AIM: HAWK) all lost more than 3%.

Miners stay weak as gold and silver slide

Precious metals declined with gold sliding back to US$1,160/oz, while silver and platinum retreated to US$17.98/oz and US$1,431/oz respectively.

Most major miners fell today. Platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was an exception, posting a marginal gain.

Silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2% decline, while gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1.6%.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) declined marginally.

Yamana Gold (LSE: YAU) tumbled 3.7%.

Midcaps fell into the same pattern as while gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) tacked on 1.2%, fellow FTSE 250 constituents Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) and silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) lost 2.5% and 1% respectively.

Kyrgyzstan focused gold explorer and developer Chaarat Gold Holdings (AIM: CGH) and Africa operating gold miner GMA Resources (AIM: GMA) rose 5% and 3% respectively, while most other juniors declined.

Copper and gold miner EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) and Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) were among the biggest fallers with losses of 6%. Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) and Australian gold and copper prospector Solomon Gold (AIM: SOLG) were down 5.5%, while Tajikistan operating gold miner Kryso Resources (AIM: KYS), Philippines focused gold producer Medusa Mining (AIM&ASX: MML) and Canada based junior gold developer Rambler Metals and Mining Plc (AIM: RMM) all lost 4.5%.

Fiji focused gold miner Vatukoula Gold Mines (AIM: VGM), Lesotho operating diamond miner Kopane Diamond Developments (AIM: KDD), Stratex International (AIM: STI) and South American based explorer Mariana Resources (AIM: MARL) moved with the sector, shedding more than 3%.

Copper, nickel and zinc decline

Base metals also fell. Copper and nickel slid to US$3.03/lb and US$7.25/lb respectively, while zinc declined to US$0.98/lb.

Base metals focused miners were mixed. Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) took the lead, advancing 2.2%. Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) gains 1%.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) was at the bottom of the pile with a 1.5% slide, while Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) declined marginally.

London's only listed pure iron ore producer and FTSE 250 constituent, Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) did well with a 1.3% gain.

Most juniors were in decline. Specialty minerals exploration and development company Thor Mining (AIM: THR) slipped 11%. Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) and iron ore focused investor Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR) followed with losses of 5.5% and 3.5% respectively.

Banks, insurance, private equity

The banking sector was mixed this morning. Barclays (LSE: BARC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) were the top performers, rising 3% and 1.3% respectively. Sector peers Lloyds (LSE: LLOY), Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) headed in the opposite direction, sliding 4%, 2.3% and 1% respectively.

Insurance stocks also were mixed. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) declined, moving down 1.5% and 1% respectively.

Sector peers did better with Prudential (LSE: PRU) and Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) gained more than 2%, while Aviva (LSE: AV) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) advanced 1.7% and 1.4% respectively. RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) rose marginally.

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) declined marginally.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included environmental science and technology company Accsys Technologies (AIM: AXS) and IP commercialisation company Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP), which declined 4.5% and 9% respectively. Direct marketing software developer smartFOCUS (AIM: STF) also was in selling mode, shedding more than 4%.

Large and Mid Cap News

Troubled UK banking giant Royal Bank Of Scotland (LSE: RBS) announced the signing of an accession agreement with the Treasury, which essentially sees RBS taking further capital from the government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) and suspend certain dividends for two years.

The Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) has beaten market expectations for its interim figures and raised full year guidance due its strong performance in the first half, with headline earnings per share (EPS) almost doubling to 6 pence per share (2008: 3.2p). The group’s primary businesses both delivered significant growth and cash flow improvements and the company’s demerger plans are on track for March.

Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (LSE: DOM)(“Domino’s”) announced this morning that it had decided to abandon a previously announced tender offer to buy-back shares at a price of  317 pence per share. The withdrawal of the tender offer was due to recent share price movements, which has caused the tender price to exceed the maximum price under the company’s current buy-back authority.

Small Cap News

Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) has placed 120 million shares to raise £5 million to accelerate the development of projects that can produce near-term cash flow.

Shares in Hartest Holdings (AIM: HTH)(“Hartest”) were on the move this morning after Delta Controls Limited announced that it had upped its offer for the company to 61 pence per share in cash.  On October 8, Delta Controls made an indicative offer of 50 pence per share.

Philippines-focused gold producer Medusa Mining (AIM, ASX: MML) has commenced trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading code of MLL.

Few investors like the work dilution, but if money must be raised, it is always a fillip if the company manages to do it at a premium to their share price. That was the thoughts of investors this morning, when oil and gas exploration and production company Forum Energy (AIM: FEP) (“Forum”) announced that it had placed £1.5 million at 50 pence per share – a 25% premium to yesterday’s closing price of 40 pence.

Venture management company ANGLE PLC (AIM: AGL) said its Management Services business has won a £2.3 million three year contract to deliver a product from the UK government’s Solutions for Business portfolio, called ‘Innovation Advice and Guidance in Lincolnshire’, on behalf of  Lincolnshire County Council.

Legion Group (AIM: LGNG)(“Legion”) announced a placing of approximately 53.1 million new shares at 1.88p per share to raise £1 million. The AIM listed security service group also released its Interim Results for the six months ended 30th September, in which Legion doubled turnover to £31.2 million and increased gross profit by 88% to £5.1 million.

Gulfsands Petroleum PLC (AIM: GPX) said it was notified by founder and former chief executive John Dorrier that, following the sale of shares on November 25, Dorrier is now interested in 4,245,288 shares representing 3.53 percent of the company's issued share capital.

ECO Animal Health Group (AIM: EAH) reported higher half yearly revenues and profits as sales improved despite challenging market conditions, envisioning further progress with new launches in the Ecometrin group of products and further marketing authorisations for Aivlosin expected in the near future.

Allocate Software PLC (AIM: ALL) said it has agreed terms for acquiring Time Care AB, a Swedish provider of workforce management software with a strong focus on the healthcare market, and it announced a placing to raise approximately £8 million after expenses.

Nature Group (AIM: NGR) said its subsidiary Nature Environmental Solutions Ltd could make US$4.2 million in revenues after receiving a letter of intent from the Unique Maritime Group and Tile Marine Emirates Environmental JV (joint venture) to award a deal to provide plant and technical services to the tanker facilities and dry dock soon to be built in Duqm, Oman.

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