শুক্রবার, ২১ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

UK stocks rebound as futures, options expiries loom

* FTSE 100 index rallies 0.5 percent

* Miners bounce back after falls in previous session

* Pearson boosted by Exane BNP Paribas upgrade

LONDON Sept 21 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose in

early deals on Friday, tracking modest gains on Wall Street and

in Asia, though trading could turn volatile ahead of

'quadruple-witching' stock futures and options expiries due

around 0915 GMT.

At 0751 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 27.77 points,

or 0.5 percent, at 5,882.41, having shed 0.6 percent on

Thursday, with early volume at 7.4 percent of the 90-day daily

average.

"Volume and volatility is likely to pick up with the

'quadruple witching' today, when positions are adjusted and

settlements established," Andrew Crook, a trader at Sucden

Financial Private Clients said.

Expiries are due on monthly and quarterly stock and index

futures and options.

"Once that is out of the way, investors are likely to pause

for breath ahead of the weekend with the (central bank) stimulus

bounce probably worked through and fresh direction sought."

Miners, up 0.9 percent, led the bounce back as

copper rallied from a drop in the previous session,

spurred by hopes for major economies to continue stimulus moves

that could boost global demand for metals.

The sector was the worst performer on Thursday after weak

manufacturing data from top consumer China dented demand hopes.

PEARSON BOOSTED

Pearson was a big individual blue chip gainer, up

1.7 percent as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded its rating for the

British publishing group to "outperform" from "neutral", with an

21 percent hike in its target price to 210 pence.

"We turn more bullish on growth opportunities at Pearson

International Education and see the group as a key beneficiary

from the move to digital learning. In addition, we expect a

likely rebound in U.S. School in 2013," Exane said in a note.

Broker comment also accounted for the biggest FTSE 100

faller, with National Grid shedding 1.0 percent as

JPMorgan Cazenove cut its stance on the power group to

"underperform" from "neutral".

Regulatory decisions were due for its UK regulated

businesses in December, its Rhode Island businesses in January

and its upstate New York businesses in March.

"Early indications have not been positive with challenging

preliminary announcements in all three jurisdictions," JPMorgan

said in a note, recommending investors switch to water firm

Pennon in the UK.

Pennon shares gained 0.2 percent.

Some commentators remained cautious and expected fresh falls

on the FTSE 100 index, which was down 0.6 percent on the week

after hitting a six-month peak last Friday after the U.S.

Federal Reserve announced new stimulus measures.

"I'm still of the view that we're in the midst of a

correction after the 5 percent rise from 5 September," Mike van

Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets, said.

Short-term graphs suggested "potential for the continued

fallback to 5,760. Not nice for those who are long, but nothing

out of the ordinary in the longer-term uptrend."

(Reporting by Jon Hopkins; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-stocks-rebound-futures-options-expiries-loom-081419929--business.html

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