This Week's Market Movers
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It was a rather dull week as far as stock market gyrations were concerned. Both the FTSE 350 and All-Share moved a miniscule 0.02% from their positions last week.
The FTSE 100 was up just over a quarter of a percent, standing at 6074.70 at 9.30am this morning.
However, this was only the tip of the iceberg, as a combination of rights issues and results provided some great movers and shakers this week.
Biggest Movers in the FTSE 350 (as at Friday 09.30)
Record metal prices, and yet another spike in the price of oil meant miners and oil companies were in the black this week.
Eurasian Natural Resources
(LSE: ENRC)
climbed 5% after reports of a possible merger with fellow Kazakhstani miner Kazakhmys
(LSE: KAZ)
boosted the stock. However, as the rumours came off the boil, shares slipped back later in the week.
Dana Petroleum
(LSE: DNX)
was the biggest oil riser, surging 22% after announcing an oil discovery in the North Sea.
Elsewhere, Hardy Oil and Gas
(LSE: HDY)
shot up 8.8%, Premier Oil
(LSE: PMO)
was up 6.8% and Tullow Oil
(LSE: TLW)
climbed 5.5%
However, it was gloomy skies for travel operators, as rising fuel prices weighed down the leisure sector.
Thomas Cook
(LSE: TCG)
was hardest hit, falling 11.5% on fears that a deal with Air Berlin would fail to materialise. Fellow leisure provider Carnival
(LSE: CCL)
slipped 7.2% and TUI Travel
(LSE: TT.)
lost 8.5%.
Elsewhere, as airlines also felt the squeeze of higher oil prices, EasyJet
(LSE: EZJ)
nosedived 14.3% and British Airways
(LSE: BAY)
descended 2.4%.
It wasn't a good week for the property sector either.
Persimmon
(LSE: PSN)
subsided 11% after announcing that a slump in demand meant it would stop building new homes.
Barratt Developments
(LSE: BDEV)
slid 21% amid fears it would have to launch a rights issue to refinance the £1.74 billion debt it racked up to purchase Wilson Bowden. Fellow property stock Hammerson
(LSE: HMSO)
fell 6.9%.
Speaking of rights issues, Royal Bank of Scotland
(LSE: RBS)
launched one to the tune of £12 billion this week, hoping to raise funds to stabilise its balance sheet.
Fears that other banks would follow in RBS's footsteps sent jitters through the rest of the sector. While RBS shed 10%, HBOS
(LSE: HBOS)
fell by an even steeper 10.7%.
Barclays
(LSE: BARC)
was down 6.6% and Alliance and Leicester
(LSE: AL.)
slipped 5.2%.
Newspaper groups took a trashing following a series of poor updates from US peers.
Trinity Mirror
(LSE: TNI)
was the worst hit, dropping 15%. The Daily Mail Group
(LSE: DMGT)
was also down, falling 11.7%.
Last but not least, pharmaceutical stocks were up this week. Shares in Shire
(LSE: SHP)
climbed 3.5% as a new drug gained approval from the powers that be.
Elsewhere, GlaxoSmithKline
(LSE: GSK)
was up 4.6% and shares in AstraZeneca
(LSE: AZN)
were boosted by 2.3%.
Notable announcements next week:
Tuesday: Game Group, Gresham Computing, Johnson Service Group, Royal Dutch Shell ‘A'
Wednesday: BSkyB Group, Home Retail Group, Standard Life
Thursday: Sterling Energy, Smith & Nephew
