FTSE 100: Why Rio Tinto plc is a Buy and Tesco plc shares are lucky the market is this buoyant

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Category: Financials

Published on Monday, 11 June 2012 08:47

Written by Rob Samson

"These moves higher were also supported by data released in China that showed its exports grew at a faster pace than had previously been expected" - SVS Securities.

The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) is 1.67 pct higher on Friday's closing level, at 9:21 the leading index is at 5,525.80.

Thanks to the bullish sentiment driving markets, Tesco plc (LON:TSCO) is lucky to have not declined further than the 0.25 pct drop the share price has already experienced.

Latest quarterly results from the supermarket saw like-for-like sales fall 1.5%, in-line with analysts' expectations.

Tesco said that it had recorded its best week of the year in the lead up to the Jubilee weekend with over GBP1bn recorded in sales.

The company said that weak consumer confidence had impacted trading, however, it re-affirmed that its outlook for the year remained unchanged. It also added that a substantial amount of work had begun on its previously announced GBP1bn plan to revive its domestic operations.

Turning to Rio Tinto plc (LON:RIO), the team at Investors Intelligence believe the mining giant's share price has turned a corner.

Rio Tinto, "recently experienced a high-volume up day. Prices jumped from 2900p to above 3000p on its the highest volume this year," says a note from Trading Central.

This has resulted in the call to buy dips in the stock:

"To me, this looks like short covering and some partial accumulation. For one, the stock is fairly oversold after falling by more than 30% from its 4000p peak. Second, there is sideways technical support starting from 2800p.

"Therefore, I would buy dips now rather than sell strength. Stop at 2700p; target 3200p."

Back to the FTSE 100 and general sentiment.

The morning bounce higher follows on from the news over the weekend that Spain had been given access to around EUR100bn from the European Union in order to provide support for its domestic banks.

"News of the bailout, seen as less intrusive than a full scale bailout which Spanish Prime Minister said would have surrendered the country's sovereignty to Brussels, was well received by the markets helping Asia to enjoy strong gains overnight. These moves higher were also supported by data released in China that showed its exports grew at a faster pace than had previously been expected, whilst slowing inflation figures, which came in at 3%, indicate that the economy is on course for a soft landing after years of strong growth," says a morning market note from SVS Securities.