Jump to navigation

Free Newsletter Modern Trader Follow

Main menu

  • Futures
    • Modern Trader Magazine
    • Commodities
    • Futures Mag Archives
    • ETFs
    • Financials
    • Forex
    • Managed Funds
    • Market Analysis
    • News
    • Options
    • Regulation
    • Technology
    • Trading Strategies
    • Education
    • Futures Op-Ed
  • Favorites
    • Alpha Pages Most Popular
    • Futures Magazine
    • Modern Trader Magazine
    • Most Popular
    • Slideshows & Lists
    • Special Topics
      • Alpha Hunters
      • Bad Boys
      • FINtech
      • High-Frequency Trading
      • Trader's Life
      • Trading Strategies
      • FUTURES MAG's 500th ISSUE
      • We asked traders
  • Traders
    • Market Data
    • Hot Charts
    • Interactive Charts
    • Trading Calendar
  • FINalternatives
  • Hard Assets
    • Home
    • Base Metals
    • Precious Metals
    • Rare Earth Metals
    • Commodities
    • Mining Investments
    • Slideshows
  • Modern Trader
    • Subscribe
    • Past Issues
  • All +
    • Follow Us +
      • FuturesMag
      • Newsletters
      • Facebook
      • Google+
      • Linkedin
      • Twitter
      • RSS Feeds
    • About Us +
      • About
      • Advertise
      • Contact
      • Contribute
      • Privacy Policy
  • !
Follow Futures          
       
more >>

We Asked Traders

We asked traders for their opinion on the launch of bitcoin futures

Sponsored Content

Trading

Equities.com launches unlimited trading via Tradier Brokerage, Transforming into a news & fintech portal

Featured Topics

more Commodities>>

Commodities

Energy demand steps back in play
Advertisement
more Volatility>>

Volatility

Volatility & opportunity in the energy sector
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
more Options>>

Options

Trading Vertical Option Spreads

Advertisement

U.K. stocks climb as economy avoids third recession since 2008

Avoiding the triple dip gives stocks some energy

By Sofia Horta e Costa

April 25, 2013 • Reprints

U.K. stocks climbed, with the FTSE 100 Index extending its highest level in three weeks, as a report showed Britain avoided a triple-dip recession. 

Vodafone Group Plc climbed to a one-week high after a report that Verizon Communications Inc. may offer $100 billion for full control of Verizon Wireless. Unilever lost 2.7 percent after the world’s second-largest consumer-goods company posted the slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years. AstraZeneca Plc slid 2.5 percent as first-quarter sales missed estimates. 

The FTSE 100 gained 15.08 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,446.84 at 3:43 p.m. in London, after gaining as much as 0.6 percent and losing as much as 0.3 percent. The gauge yesterday completed its biggest two-day rally since Jan. 3 as companies reported sales that beat estimates and commodity producers rose. The broader FTSE All-Share Index advanced 0.3 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index was little changed today. 

“There’s still no end to the debate on the primary cause of the slow growth in the U.K.,” said Tom Elliott, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management in London, which oversees $1.5 trillion globally. “Is it austerity or is it weak growth in the euro zone? I saw Unilever reporting very weak growth largely because of Europe, so there’s undoubtedly an element there.”

U.K. Growth

Britain’s gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics. That beat the 0.1 percent median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The economy avoided entering its third recession since 2008 by rebounding from a contraction of 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012. Economists define a recession as two successive quarters of shrinking output. 

“I don’t think we should be ‘hurrahing’ too much,” Elliott said. “These numbers can be revised all over the place. When estimates are based on a subjective view of the effect of weather, you have to treat them with a pinch of salt.” 

In the U.S., applications for jobless benefits decreased by 16,000 to 339,000 in the week ended April 20, the lowest number in six weeks, according to a Labor Department report. Economists had predicted 350,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. 

Vodafone, the second-biggest stock on the FTSE 100, advanced 1.4 percent to 195.9 pence. New York-based Verizon has hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion cash-and-stock bid for Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, Reuters said, citing two people it didn’t identify. Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, declined to comment to Bloomberg News. 

BAT Rises 

British American Tobacco Plc gained 1.3 percent to 3,593.5 pence. The maker of Pall Mall and Dunhill cigarettes said first- quarter sales excluding currency shifts rose 5 percent, exceeding the 3.7 percent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. 

A gauge of London-listed commodity producers rose for a third day. Randgold Resources Ltd. and Lonmin Plc, which both operate mines in Africa, rallied 5.1 percent to 5,300 pence and 6.2 percent to 290.8 pence, respectively. U.K. mining stocks have still fallen 13 percent this year.

Unilever lost 2.7 percent to 2,767 pence. Sales excluding acquisitions, disposals and currency fluctuations, rose 4.9 percent from a year earlier, the maker of Dove soap said. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had called for a gain of 5.5 percent.

AstraZeneca dropped 2.5 percent to 3,306 pence, its biggest decline in two months. The U.K.’s second-largest pharmaceutical company said quarterly revenue fell 13 percent to $6.39 billion, missing the $6.55 billion average analyst prediction.

 

About the Author

Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Related Articles
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
Daily Price Action: E-mini S&P 500
Previous
Surprising strength for cocoa prices
Next
Improving job market helping sustain U.S. sentiment: economy
Related Terms
Bloomberg 5254Reuters 1669Department of Labor 1011gross domestic product 748Lonmin Plc 79Office for National Statistics 61Verizon Communications Inc. 43Randgold Resources Ltd. 39Vodafone Group Plc 34Verizon Wireless 31pharmaceutical 30Unilever 15AstraZeneca Plc 8JPMorgan Asset Management 4Pall 3British American Tobacco Plc 3Brenda Raney 2Tom Elliott 2U.K. recession 1economic pick up 1Vodafone 1

Free Newsletter Modern Trader Follow

Main menu

  • Futures
    • Modern Trader Magazine
    • Commodities
    • Futures Mag Archives
    • ETFs
    • Financials
    • Forex
    • Managed Funds
    • Market Analysis
    • News
    • Options
    • Regulation
    • Technology
    • Trading Strategies
    • Education
    • Futures Op-Ed
  • Favorites
    • Alpha Pages Most Popular
    • Futures Magazine
    • Modern Trader Magazine
    • Most Popular
    • Slideshows & Lists
    • Special Topics
      • Alpha Hunters
      • Bad Boys
      • FINtech
      • High-Frequency Trading
      • Trader's Life
      • Trading Strategies
      • FUTURES MAG's 500th ISSUE
      • We asked traders
  • Traders
    • Market Data
    • Hot Charts
    • Interactive Charts
    • Trading Calendar
  • FINalternatives
  • Hard Assets
    • Home
    • Base Metals
    • Precious Metals
    • Rare Earth Metals
    • Commodities
    • Mining Investments
    • Slideshows
  • Modern Trader
    • Subscribe
    • Past Issues
  • All +
    • Follow Us +
      • FuturesMag
      • Newsletters
      • Facebook
      • Google+
      • Linkedin
      • Twitter
      • RSS Feeds
    • About Us +
      • About
      • Advertise
      • Contact
      • Contribute
      • Privacy Policy
  • !
images