Footsie bounces back
The FTSE 100 Index survived a late scare from across the Atlantic today to register its first positive finish of the week.
Blue-chip shares bounced more than 27 points this morning but then lost momentum after US retail sales numbers pushed Wall Street into the red.
The weak US retail sales revived fears over the health of the world’s biggest economy, although weaker oil prices and fresh hopes that UK interest rates may have peaked meant the Footsie was able to close 14.6 points higher at 4960.8.
Economists said a surprise jump in UK unemployment should help persuade the Bank of England to keep rates on hold at 4.75% in the near term.
A further fall in the oil price below 52 US dollars a barrel helped fuel-dependent stocks such as British Airways to lift 2.5p to 271.5p, cruise giant Carnival to rise 31p to 2861p and chemicals firm ICI to advance by 4p to 272.5p.
But it had the opposite effect on oil giants BP and Shell, which lost 8.5p and 3.5p to 547p and 483p respectively.
Major gains were made by technology firm Sage, which saw its market value rise 4% after it said half-year profits would meet analysts’ hopes. The stock cheered 8.5p to 212.25p.
Retail giants Tesco and Marks & Spencer also advanced after updating the market yesterday. Tesco shares bounced 7p to 325.5p after becoming the first retailer to bank £2 billion profits, while M&S lifted a penny to 355.75p as brokers revisited their forecasts after it predicted 2004/5 profits at the top end of expectations.
Another stock to perform well was building materials firm Hanson, up 8p at 508p, after the United States moved closer to creating a compensation fund for victims of asbestos-related illnesses.
Analysts said the move would lift uncertainty over the group, which faced about 135,750 outstanding claimants at the end of last year.
But it was a bad day for miners as they occupied the top four spots on the fallers board, led by Chilean copper mining group Antofagasta – off more than 3% or 41p to 1225p.
Retailers were in focus outside the top flight, including JJB Sports, off 2.5p to 215.5p after unveiling a 30% slump in annual profits.
Fashion house Burberry slipped 5p to 399.75p after saying its UK business had continued to suffer even though it expected annual earnings to be ahead of hopes.
And menswear retailer Moss Bros also weakened 2.5p to 119p despite reporting a sharp rise in profits as it continued to buck the downbeat trend suffered by many of its rivals. Like-for-like sales were 6% higher in the first 10 weeks of its new financial year.
In contrast, engineering group WS Atkins cheered more than 4% or 28p to 658p after saying annual profits would hit hopes despite a slowdown in the rail market.
The highest Footsie risers today were Sage Group up 8.5p to 212.25p, Gallaher rising 23.5p to 809.5p, Barclays up 14p to 564p and Tesco up 7p to 325.5p.
The heaviest fallers were Antofagasta down 41p to 1225p, BHP Billiton off 17p to 695.5p, Xstrata down 24p to 1011p and Anglo American off 25p to 1242p.
