UK markets were registering heavy losses on Friday morning as investor scaled back risk ahead of the weekend, as concerns over monetary policy and budget talks in the US continued to dampen sentiment.
Negotiations in Washington continue to limit upside on markets with investors nervous ahead of the October 1st deadline, hope that politicians can agree on a extension to the current debt-ceiling limit of $16.7tn to avoid a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins.
According to analyst Mark Zandi from Moody's Analytics, a three-to-four-week shutdown could shave 1.4 percentage points off US economic growth in the fourth quarter. He currently estimates an expansion of 3% without a government closure.
FTSE 100: SSE, Centrica attempt to rebound
Utility peers SSE and Centrica were high risers this morning, rebounding after some sharp falls earlier in the week following Ed Miliband's proposals to freeze energy bills if Labour is voted into power in 2015. Centrica has specifically attacked the plans, saying that it would not be "economically viable" to operate if prices were controlled against a background of rising costs.
Randgold Resources was a heavy faller after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its gold-price forecast by 17% to $1,294 an ounce for 2014. Nevertheless, the bank said Randgold remains amount its preferred 'buys' in the sector due to low costs, a rising grade profile and strong balance sheet. TheStreet Ratings, however, cut its rating for the stock from 'buy' to 'hold'.
Other miners, including Antofagasta, Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Billiton, were also providing a drag on markets today as metal prices fell. Rio was shrugging off some upbeat comments from Nomura which labelled it as "one of the cheapest stocks" within its peer group.
SABMiller, Diageo and Coca-Cola HBC were trading lower this morning after Credit Suisse downgraded the European beverages sector from 'overweight' to 'benchmark', saying it is the "third-most expensive sector in Europe [...] and has the second-worst earnings revisions".
Second-tier miners were performing in line with their FTSE 100 peers today as metal prices declined. EVRAZ,
Polymetal, Hochschild, Centamin, Petra Diamonds and Kazakhmys were among the worst performers.
Source: LiveCharts
Negotiations in Washington continue to limit upside on markets with investors nervous ahead of the October 1st deadline, hope that politicians can agree on a extension to the current debt-ceiling limit of $16.7tn to avoid a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins.
According to analyst Mark Zandi from Moody's Analytics, a three-to-four-week shutdown could shave 1.4 percentage points off US economic growth in the fourth quarter. He currently estimates an expansion of 3% without a government closure.
FTSE 100: SSE, Centrica attempt to rebound
Utility peers SSE and Centrica were high risers this morning, rebounding after some sharp falls earlier in the week following Ed Miliband's proposals to freeze energy bills if Labour is voted into power in 2015. Centrica has specifically attacked the plans, saying that it would not be "economically viable" to operate if prices were controlled against a background of rising costs.
Randgold Resources was a heavy faller after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its gold-price forecast by 17% to $1,294 an ounce for 2014. Nevertheless, the bank said Randgold remains amount its preferred 'buys' in the sector due to low costs, a rising grade profile and strong balance sheet. TheStreet Ratings, however, cut its rating for the stock from 'buy' to 'hold'.
Other miners, including Antofagasta, Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Billiton, were also providing a drag on markets today as metal prices fell. Rio was shrugging off some upbeat comments from Nomura which labelled it as "one of the cheapest stocks" within its peer group.
SABMiller, Diageo and Coca-Cola HBC were trading lower this morning after Credit Suisse downgraded the European beverages sector from 'overweight' to 'benchmark', saying it is the "third-most expensive sector in Europe [...] and has the second-worst earnings revisions".
Second-tier miners were performing in line with their FTSE 100 peers today as metal prices declined. EVRAZ,
Polymetal, Hochschild, Centamin, Petra Diamonds and Kazakhmys were among the worst performers.
Source: LiveCharts
