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Finance News |
FTSE ends up, nears key resistance
The benchmark FTSE 100 index (UK:1805550: news, chart, profile) finished up 16 points at 4,996, continuing its slow rise towards the key 5,000 resistance level. European markets were mixed. See Europe stocks.
U.S. stocks opened weakly Tuesday, but nudged into positive territory. Investors were cautious before networking giant Cisco Systems' (CSCO: news, chart, profile) quarterly report, due out after the closing bell. See market snapshot.
Crude oil for March delivery recovered during U.S. trading from a slump to below $45 a barrel in Europe, and was recently trading at $45.50. Futures are moving on warmer weather and a renewed belief that OPEC will wait until March to decide on potential production cuts. See crude futures report.
The dollar was lifted against the euro, sterling and the yen, still buoyed by remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan late last week. See currency story.
Market pressures "appear poised to stabilize and over the longer run, possibly to decrease the U.S. current account deficit and its attendant financing requirements," Greenspan told a finance group in London on Friday.
"Better-than-expected fourth-quarter results from BP have kept stocks firmly in favor," said Jimmy Yates a trader at CMC Group.
He also said Monday night's disappointing data from the British Retail Consortium underlined the fact that another rate hike from the Bank of England "may now be some considerable time off."
BP dips as dividend hiked
Oil major BP (BP: news, chart, profile) (UK:BP: news, chart, profile) ended up 0.6 percent after saying it would lift its fourth-quarter dividend in dollar terms by 26 percent to 8.5 cents a share after posting a 26 percent rise in pro forma net income to $3.64 billion, with $1.12 billion in charges. See full story.
BP said the increased dividend is sustainable even if oil falls to $20 a barrel, and expects to return around $23 billion to shareholders in 2005 and 2006 through buybacks and dividends.
Marconi off after update
In the smaller FTSE 250 index, U.K. telecoms equipment supplier Marconi (UK:MONI: news, chart, profile) finished down 6.6 percent after it reported a 5 percent rise in third-quarter continuing sales, on a constant currency basis, to 330 million pounds, from 314 million pounds a year ago.
The company said it expects to record mid single-digit sales growth for the full year, on a constant currency basis, while the adjusted gross margin for the full year will trend towards the lower end of a 33 to 34 percent range.
Dixons drops after BRC survey
Electrical retailer Dixons (UK:DXNS: news, chart, profile) dropped 0.6 percent after the British Retail Consortium said like-for-like sales in January rose 0.5 percent compared with falls of 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent in December and November. The increase in January was the biggest since October, when it also rose 0.5 percent.
Credit Suisse First Boston noted that the BRC figures showed significant weakening of electrical and electronic sales over the last 3 weeks of January and described them as "at best lackluster."
The bank recommended investors sell Dixons (UK:DXNS: news, chart, profile) after the BRC figures, noting that shares are trading at a price-to-earnings ratio "suggesting susceptibility to forecast revision." Other FTSE 100 retailers also fell, including Next (UK:NXT: news, chart, profile) and Kingfisher (UK:KGF: news, chart, profile) , which both ended down about 1 percent.
Meanwhile, shares in smaller U.K. clothing and furniture retailer Laura Ashley (UK:ALY: news, chart, profile) fell 7.4 percent, after the company denied it was in sale talks.
Source : MarketWatch - USA
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