Footsie drops below 4000 mark
London’s leading shares lost hold of early gains today, sinking back below the 4000 mark as nervousness set in ahead of US economic figures.
Hopes had earlier been high for a second successive positive session but an initial 24 point rise gave way to leave the Footsie 11 points lower at 3995.9 by lunchtime.
Upbeat figures on the state of the UK service and retail sectors were eclipsed by concerns over the giant US economy with employment data due later today.
As traders predicted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would open lower, London prices took a turn for the worse dipping back into the red.
With trading on Wall Street closed tomorrow for the Independence Day holiday, markets will have less opportunity to recover from any slide in prices if the figures disappoint.
Oil giants BP and Shell were among heavyweight stocks putting the blue-chip index under pressure, down 7.5p and 7p at 405p and 389.75p respectively.
And continued nervousness about competition in the mobile phone sector hit shares in mm02 and Vodafone – down 2p and 0.75p at 55p and 119p respectively.
The lack of corporate news also did little for the overall mood of the Footsie, with most of the announcements coming outside the top flight.
Gloomy June traffic figures from Irish low cost airline Ryanair knocked shares in the company 6% or 42p lower to 408p.
Arch-rival easyJet also lost 4.25p to 228.5p but upmarket operator BA was up 4% or 14p to 161p continuing its recovery after a credit rating downgrade earlier in the week.
Toy group Hamleys continued to attract interest – gaining 19.5p to 252.5p - after Icelandic group Baugur upped its offer for a third time to £58.7 million.
Brewer and pubs owner Greene King was another to sparkle, lifting 3%, or 20p to 815p, after an 8% rise in annual profits.
Investors also raised a glass to comments from chief executive Tim Bridge after he said the new financial year had started positively.
Burger King restaurants operator Gowrings was another strong performer after it said it had “turned the corner” following a 2% rise in like-for-like sales from its franchised restaurants. Shares rallied almost 13% or 7p to 61.5p.
However, a merger deal struck between British Biotech and Vernalis – creating a company valued at £90 million – failed to capture the imagination of investors.
After an initially solid start, Oxford-based British Biotech was down 11% or 7p at 57p while Vernalis eased 5% or 2.5p to 47p.
