FTSE in red for fifth day running
The FTSE 100 Index was in the red for the fifth consecutive session today after a warning from retail giant Wal-Mart that high oil prices were starting to hit consumer demand.
Comments from the world’s biggest retailer sent a chill through the London market after affecting shares in New York. Last night, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 121 points.
The Footsie slipped 30.3 points to 5292.8 by mid-morning, as mounting concerns about rising overheads began to hit sentiment.
A clutch of stocks going ex-dividend – meaning investors no longer have the right to the latest division payment – also weighed on the top flight.
Those affected included mining group Anglo American, which fell 46p to 1406p, and insurer Royal & Sun Alliance, off 2.75p at 93.75p. Prudential also dipped 9.5p to 513.75p and Scottish Power eased 8.5p to 487.5p.
Among other fallers, Cable & Wireless weakened for the second successive session – off 2.75p to 153.5p – as investors worried about the short-term impact of integrating telecoms carrier Energis.
In contrast, telecoms group O2 was one of the few stocks that managed to make it into positive territory. Shares added 3.25p to 146p as it recovered from yesterday’s news that German firm Deutsche Telekom had no current plans to bid for the business.
A strong set of half-year figures from Swiss-owned foods group Nestle helped London-listed companies operating in the same sector, including Tate & Lyle, which cheered a penny to 456.25p.
But amongst companies in the news today, Balfour Beatty weakened 3p to 337.25p after flagging up the impact of cost pressures on some projects. The firm’s announcement of higher half-year profits was initially welcomed by investors today.
In the lower tiers, budget airline easyJet was upbeat after signing a major aircraft maintenance deal, in a move expected to reduce its costs by more than £10m (€10.4m) over the next year. Shares lifted 1.5p to 296.75p.
