FTSE flat

Britain's top share index was flat around midday after key blue chip results.

|||

Britain's top share index was flat around midday on Thursday after key blue chip results, with gains by oil majors after Royal Dutch Shell beat expectations balanced by falls in drug stocks as AstraZeneca's results disappointed.

AstraZeneca was the top blue chip faller, down 5.8 percent after the drugmaker accompanied below-forecast first quarter results with news its chief executive David Brennan is to step down on June 1 in an abrupt exit after six years in the top job.

Britain's second-biggest drugmaker cut its full-year profit forecast as sales fell 11 percent in Q1, badly missing expectations.

Peer GlaxoSmithKline was also lower, down 0.7 percent after weaker Q1 results on Wednesday.

At 13:23 SA time, the FTSE 100 index was up just 0.98 points, or 0.02 percent, at 5,719.87, having closed 0.2 percent higher on Wednesday.

“The take-away today is that there are so many big results for investors to digest it's no surprise the market is failing to do very much,” said Darren Sinden, senior trader at Silverwide Securities.

A reversal in banking stocks was also a drag on the FTSE 100. The sector fell back on quarterly reports from some of Europe's top banks that showed scars from the euro zone crisis, notably Spanish bank Santander, which has a big presence in the UK.

Britain's Barclays beat forecasts with a 22 percent rise in underlying first-quarter profit to 2.45 billion pounds, as revenues at its investment banking arm Barclays Capital rose to 3.5 billion pounds, up 91 percent on a weak fourth quarter and up 3 percent from a year ago.

But Barclays shares lost early gains to shed 0.7 percent, reflecting overall caution in the sector.

“Outlook statement talks about encouraging performance since the start of the year, but challenging market conditions mean it is not possible to say that this is an established trend for the year as a whole,” Seymour Pierce's Bruce Packard said in a note.

Expectations for a weaker start on Wall Street also weighed in London, with investors awaiting more key US earnings reports, as well as the latest weekly jobless claims.

But underlying support remained after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured markets on Wednesday that the US central bank “would not hesitate” to launch another round of bond purchases to drive down borrowing costs if needed.

ENERGY BOOST

Integrated oil stocks were by far the best blue chip performers, adding almost 25 points to the index, after Royal Dutch Shell unveiled an 11 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, as higher oil prices outweighed the impact of lower US gas prices.

Shell shares gained 3.4 percent, while BP added 1.8 percent, and BG Group firmed 0.6 percent.

Well-received earnings also supported hotel operator Whitbread, up 4.1 percent after posting a rise in full-year profit, and consumer goods giant Unilever, ahead 3.1 percent after its first-quarter sales beat forecasts.

With 24 percent of the Stoxx 600 now having reported, Barclays Capital said the first quarter of 2012 appears to be off to a “significantly better start” than the fourth quarter of 2011.

Thomson Reuters Starmine data shows that half the Stoxx 600 companies that have reported so far have beaten or met expectations. - Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/ftse-flat-1.1284933

Mafia La Liga Norway Peter Crouch The X Factor Economic policy