Africa-focused stocks were to be found at opposite ends of the greasy pole
Aim stocks were upholding the honour of UK shares at the open, offsetting losses on mid-caps and blue-chips.
The FTSE 100 index was down 13 points at 6,143 3after half an hour or so, while the Aim counterpart – the FTSE Aim 100 – was up five points at 3,396. The broader-based FTSE Aim All-Share was up 1.3 at 725.3.
Financial stocks are largely responsible for weighing down the Footsie, with lenders Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) and Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (LON:RBS) off more than one per cent, while property plays Land Securities Group PLC (LON:LAND), British LandCompany (LON:BLND) and Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) suffer similar losses to StanChart and RBS.
Small cap African Potash Ltd (LON:AFPO) was the best performer in London early on, rising by more than a fifth. The shares have lost two thirds of their value over the last three weeks and bargain hunters have evidently decided enough is enough.
Another stock on the comeback trail is investment vehicle Opera Investments Plc (LON:OPRA).
It returned from suspension sharply lower on Monday after the proposed acquisition of SoloPower fell through, but the shares were up 20% today after natural resources investment company Metal TigerPLC (LON:MTR) was revealed as a stakeholder, with a 3.48% holding.
A contract win for PipeHawk plc (LON:PIP) worth £400,000 saw the engineering solutions provider’s shares advance a halfpenny to 3.5p.
Xtract Resources PLC (LON:XTR) was wanted after it trumpeted a 36% increase in estimated resources at its Manila gold project.
While African Potash was the best performer in early trading, coincidentally Atlas African Industries Limited (LON:AAI) was the worst performer after the Ethiopian tax-man removed US$2.4mln from the bank account of Atlas’s subsidiary, TEAP Glass.
The company’s learn’d friends believe the removal was unlawful and Atlas said it would take all available steps to ensure that the company’s funds are returned.
The shares shed just over 30% of their value on the news.
Another stock falling 30% was MX Oil PLC (LON:MXO) as it dropped recently acquired Mexican assets and revealed its Nigerian oilfield sale had stalled.
The buyer of its stake in the Aje field, offshore Nigeria, had yet to make the first payment under the staged US$18mln transaction announced in February.
Elsewhere in the oil sector, Hague and London Oil Plc (LON:HNL) also copped it, falling 30% to 5.87p after it unveiled a proposed portfolio restructuring and a strategic repositioning towards lower risk opportunities while retaining exposure to higher risk exploration.
The Duyung farm-in agreement, offshore Indonesia, has been terminated by Hague and London Oil as a result of delayed approvals and approaching or missed deadlines for operations.
Early snapshot
The FTSE 100 dipped 0.18% on open this morning, to 6145.59p.
The top winner is Randgold Resources, up more than 2% or 125p to 6015p.
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ was the biggest faller at the open today, down just under 1% or 16p to 1703.50p.
Japan’s Toyota reported record profits this morning but profits are forecast to fall sharply by 35% next year, it warned.
A strong UK performance helped travel group Tui shed winter losses, delivering a ‘broadly flat’ performance over the season, it reported this morning.
Preview at 6.55am
London’s FTSE 100 is seen pretty much flat ahead of Wednesday’s open even though Wall Street managed a strong close on Tuesday and crude oil prices headed higher.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 marked its strongest session for around two months, rising 1.25% on Tuesday to end the day at 2,084.
The Dow Jones added 222 points, 1.26%, to finish the day at 7,928, while the Nasdaq gained 1.26% to 4,809.
Meanwhile, in Asia this morning, major indices were mixed.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.47% to 16,642, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.25% to 2,839. But, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped back 0.84% to 20,073.
Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.53% to 5,371.
In commodity markets oil prices continued to see strength, due to supply disruption in Canada where in the aftermath of wildfires some 1.6mln barrels per day of crude is said to be offline. At the same time there are also reports that separate cases of civil unrest in Nigeria and Libya are also impacting crude exports.
Priced at US$35.32 in London, Brent crude was up 3.7% while West Texas Intermediary futures were up 2.25% at US$44.44 per barrel.
Gold, meanwhile, was up 0.6% priced at US$1,272 per ounce.
Turning attention back to equities – CFD and spread betting firm IG Markets sees London’s FTSE 100 just a point higher around an hour ahead of Wednesday’s open, calling the blue chip benchmark at 6,147 to 6,149.
SOURCE: John Harrington – proactiveinvestors.co.uk
