SSE shares power ahead on price hike

By DOMINIC JEFF
Published on 22/08/2012 23:54

Energy firm SSE topped a shortened risers’ board yesterday as plans to hike prices this autumn helped it avoid a wider sell-off.

The surprise announcement that the Perth-based group will raise its electricity and gas charges by 9 per cent from 15 October – to recoup higher wholesale energy prices and regulatory costs – angered consumer groups but was cheered by investors, sending SSE shares up 16p to 1,354p.

The mining and oil sectors helped drag European indices lower as old fears over the global economy and the future of the euro resurfaced after a summer break.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Market, said: “The fickle nature of markets has been perfectly illustrated as they opened sharply lower, helped on their way by disappointing Japanese trade data.”

The FTSE 100 index slumped 1.4 per cent, or 83.3 points, to 5,774.2, while the Cac-40 in France was down 1.5 per cent and Germany’s Dax by 1 per cent.

Miners were at the forefront of the sell-off in London, with BHP Billiton adding to the pressure after reporting a 35 per cent decline in full-year profits due to the slowdown in global economic growth. It also announced it was delaying a plan for the expansion of a uranium and copper mine in southern Australia.

BHP Billiton shares were 33p lower at 1,947p, while Kazakhmys led the top flight declines with a 30.5p drop to 704.5p. Anglo American and Vedanta were each down 3.6 per cent at 1,910p and 931.5p respectively.

Shares in components maker TT Electronics plunged 16.4 per cent or 27.5p to close at 140.25p after it blamed tough market conditions for a drop in interim turnover and profits.

NEW YORK: Wall Street slipped last night as weak export data from Japan and Greece’s meetings this week with European Union officials gave traders a reason to cash in some of their recent gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 59.43 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 13,144.15 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 3.70 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,409.47. The Nasdaq Composite lost 3.44 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 3,063.82.