By Clare Hutchison, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) ? Britain?s benchmark stock index traded moderately lower on Monday, with losses for drug and financial companies leading on the downside.
The FTSE 100 /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX -0.31% ?fell 0.1% to 5,644.9.
London?s equities exchange finished higher for a third consecutive week on Friday, advancing 0.5%, after better-than-expected U.S. payroll data lifted investor sentiment.
U.S. consumers having false hope?
U.S. households have seen income grow over the past 3 months, but that growth trend may not continue throughout 2012.
All eyes will be on a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday. The leaders are expected to discuss plans to dig Europe out of the sovereign debt crisis.
Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline PLC /quotes/zigman/263563 UK:GSK -2.94% ?dropped 3%. The company on Monday issued an update on Relovair, which is used to treat pulmonary disease and asthma, saying it will submit regulatory applications for the drug in mid-2012.
Financial services firms struggled for a second consecutive session, led down by Schroders PLC /quotes/zigman/257601 UK:SDR -1.78% , which fell 1.7%. Ashmore Group PLC /quotes/zigman/433475 UK:ASHM -0.37% ?dipped 0.7% and Man Group PLC? /quotes/zigman/487128 UK:EMG -1.33% ?dropped 1.2%.
Some miners were down early on Monday. Antofagasta PLC /quotes/zigman/139152 UK:ANTO -1.89% ?fell 1.9% after Deutsche Bank analysts cut it to hold from buy.
Randgold Resources Ltd. /quotes/zigman/349729 UK:RRS -0.86% ?declined 0.9% and Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC /quotes/zigman/492222 UK:ENRC -1.14% ?dipped 0.7%.
In contrast, Fresnillo PLC /quotes/zigman/510593 UK:FRES +1.02% ?rose 1.4%. Deutsche Bank lifted Fresnillo?s rating to buy from hold on Monday.
Technology and software company ARM Holdings PLC /quotes/zigman/254777 UK:ARM +1.72% ?topped the FTSE 100 in morning trade, climbing 2.4%. Citigroup lifted its target price on the stock to ?7.00 ($10.81) from ?6.60 and said it expects the company to report strong results driven by solid revenues when it delivers its fourth quarter results at the end of January.
Utilities opened strongly, with National Grid PLC /quotes/zigman/381306 UK:NG +1.07% ?adding 1.1% and United Utilities Group PLC /quotes/zigman/514680 UK:UU +0.16% ?up 0.3%. International Power PLC /quotes/zigman/153400 UK:IPR +1.27% ?advanced 0.8%.
Some oil stocks rose on Monday. Tullow Oil PLC /quotes/zigman/271296 UK:TLW +0.43% was up 0.6% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC /quotes/zigman/359915 UK:RDSA +0.15% added 0.4%.
However, oil giant BP PLC /quotes/zigman/210014 UK:BP -0.19% ? /quotes/zigman/247026/quotes/nls/bp BP -0.38% ?pulled back, shedding 0.7% in early trade.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC /quotes/zigman/155978 UK:RBS +0.31% ? /quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs RBS -1.26% ?gained 0.7%. Analysts at J.P. Morgan Cazenove on Monday upgraded shares to neutral from underweight. Any imminent announcements of restructure at the RBS global banking and markets unit ?are likely to be the start of a significant multi-year period of restructuring of [investment-banking] operations for the U.K. banking industry,? analysts wrote in a note.
J.P. Morgan also said RBS and Barclays PLC /quotes/zigman/301787 UK:BARC -0.91% ? /quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs BCS -0.86% ?are valued significantly below their peers. Shares of Barclays increased by 0.2% on Monday.
Among other U.K. banks, HSBC Holdings PLC /quotes/zigman/13843 UK:HSBA -0.84% ?added 0.5%. However, Standard Chartered PLC /quotes/zigman/22532 UK:STAN -1.20% ?and Lloyds Banking Group PLC /quotes/zigman/126322 UK:LLOY -1.10% ? /quotes/zigman/255656/quotes/nls/lyg LYG 0.00% ?both traded lower, dropping 0.4% and 0.6% respectively.
Outside the benchmark, pest control firm Rentokil Initial PLC /quotes/zigman/376558 UK:RTO +3.21% ?rose 3% after Credit Suisse raised its rating on the stock to outperform from neutral, citing the group?s cost-reduction efforts.
/quotes/zigman/3173262
Volume: 0.00
Jan. 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/263563 Volume: 4.22M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/257601 Volume: 95,932
Jan. 9, 2012 12:14p
/quotes/zigman/433475 Volume: 168,269
Jan. 9, 2012 12:14p
/quotes/zigman/487128 Volume: 4.17M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/139152 Volume: 839,828
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/349729 Volume: 63,750
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/492222 Volume: 507,836
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/510593 Volume: 447,454
Jan. 9, 2012 12:14p
/quotes/zigman/254777 Volume: 1.80M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/381306 Volume: 2.14M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/514680 Volume: 333,945
Jan. 9, 2012 12:14p
/quotes/zigman/153400 Volume: 1.16M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/271296 Volume: 367,290
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/359915 Volume: 647,930
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/210014 Volume: 9.96M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/247026/quotes/nls/bp Volume: 5.98M
Jan. 6, 2012 4:01p
/quotes/zigman/155978 Volume: 34.81M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs Volume: 326,968
Jan. 6, 2012 4:01p
/quotes/zigman/301787 Volume: 11.22M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs Volume: 2.07M
Jan. 6, 2012 4:01p
/quotes/zigman/13843 Volume: 5.35M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/22532 Volume: 770,148
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
/quotes/zigman/126322 Volume: 47.23M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/255656/quotes/nls/lyg Volume: 1.04M
Jan. 6, 2012 4:02p
/quotes/zigman/376558 Volume: 1.97M
Jan. 9, 2012 12:15p
Clare Hutchison is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B65D21BE8-3AA1-11E1-A661-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss
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