U.K. Stocks Are Little Changed; Kazakhmys Gains

U.K. Stocks Are Little Changed; Kazakhmys Gains

U.K. Stocks (UKX) were little changed, after the FTSE 100 rallied to a one-month high yesterday, as investors awaited the outcome of a two-day summit of European Union leaders.
Kazakhmys Plc (KAZ) led miners higher as China’s economy expanded in the third quarter. Man Group Plc (EMG) dropped the most in nine months after the hedge-fund manager reported a 57 percent increase in outflows. Capital Shopping (CSCG) Centres Group Plc lost 1.9 percent as Barclays Plc placed shares in the company, according to two people familiar with the deal.
The FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 5,905.4 at 12:17 p.m. in London, after earlier reaching its highest level since Sept. 14. The gauge has still advanced 1.9 percent so far this week, boosted by a pick-up in U.S. housing, retail and industrial-output data and an unexpected drop in U.K. unemployment. The FTSE All-Share Index fell 0.1 percent today. Ireland’s ISEQ Index lost 0.3 percent.
EU leaders gather in Brussels for the summit as French President Francois Hollande warned that efforts to stem the debt crisis may unravel if the policy makers fail to deliver on their promises. He called on the euro area to introduce a banking union, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Parliament today that Greek reforms were moving at a “snail’s pace.”

The FTSE 100 has climbed 12 percent from its 2012 low on June 1 after European Central Bank policy makers agreed to an unlimited bond-buying program and the Federal Reserve announced a third round of quantitative easing. The European benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index has jumped 18 percent from its low on June 4.
Mining Companies
A gauge of mining companies rose 0.7 percent for a third day of gains after Chinese gross domestic product expanded 7.4 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, matching the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. GDP rose 2.2 percent from the prior period, a four-quarter high.
“China’s economy is performing better than expected, and the bottoming will be clear in the fourth quarter,” said Zhu Haibin, Hong Kong-based chief China economist for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Industrial production and retail-sales data in September also topped economist forecasts.
Kazakhmys Plc rose 2.5 percent to 779 pence and Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. added 2 percent to 359.2 pence.
Man Group
Man Group dropped 9.1 percent to 84.1 pence, its steepest fall since January, after the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge-fund manager said clients pulled a net $2.2 billion from the firm, up from $1.4 billion in the second quarter.
Customers redeemed a gross $5.2 billion from Man Group’s investment funds, compared with $3 billion of sales, amid an environment for sales that Chief Executive Officer Peter Clarke called “subdued.”

Capital Shopping dropped 1.9 percent to 333.1 pence after Barclays placed 35.3 million shares in the U.K.’s largest specialist mall operator for 328 pence to 330 pence apiece, according to two people familiar with the transaction.
Capital & Counties Properties Plc (CAPC), part owner of London’s Covent Garden Market, slid 3.2 percent to 224.4 pence after Simon Property Group Inc. sold a stake in the company. UBS AG placed the 38.9 million shares on behalf of Simon Property at 225 pence each, according to terms obtained by Bloomberg News.