FTSE reeling this morning
The London market was left reeling today after heavy losses in New York and a string of broker downgrades at home hit sentiment.
The FTSE 100 Index retreated sharply from its recent four-year high – off 56.8 points at 5437.6 by mid-morning – eroding gains racked up in the last week.
British Airways, oil giant BP and online gaming group PartyGaming were among the blue-chips to suffer significant losses following negative broker notes.
Sentiment was already weak after the Dow Jones Idustrial Average slumped more than 90 points overnight amid fears over inflationary pressures in the United States.
In London, BP lost more than 2% of its value, down 15p to 641p, as Smith Barney downgraded it to a “hold” from a “buy”. The company has a major bearing on the Footsie since it is the UK’s largest stock.
PartyGaming slipped into the red after broker UBS lowered its estimates on a series of companies in the sector. The stock lost almost 4% or 3.5p to 90.25p, adding to recent woes triggered by its comments about slower growth.
British Airways was another faller, weakening 3.25p to 292.75p after ABN Amro downgraded it along with a series of other European airlines.
Pharmacy group Alliance UniChem was the hardest-hit top flight stock - retreating 37p to 812.5p – amid downbeat broker comments about its proposal to merge with Boots. Boots fell 6.5p to 624.5p.
A series of mining stocks also featured on the blue-chip fallers board, including Xstrata down 49p to 1415p, BHP Billiton off 28.5p to 864p and Rio Tinto losing 69p to 2238p.
Only a handful of companies managed to buck the gloom and move into the black today, including hotel firm InterContinental adding 31p to 1007p and leisure group Whitbread up 31p to 1007p.
With little in the way of big corporate announcements, firms in the lower tiers were in focus.
JD Sports owner John David Group was in the doldrums despite revealing an upturn in profits after weathering tough trading conditions. Shares weakened 3.5p to 224p.
