FTSE closes 45 points lower
Bumper profits from some of London’s biggest companies were not enough to inspire confidence in the FTSE 100 Index today.
Positive figures from Royal Dutch Shell and GlaxoSmithKline sent their shares soaring but failed to inject momentum into the wider market, with the Footsie closing 45 points lower at 5182.8.
A downbeat showing by shares in New York and across Europe affected the mood in London. However, one trader said a recovery bounce was a “realistic prospect” so long as the Footsie remained below the 5200 mark.
The top flight had been 60 points lower earlier in the session, but benefited from buying interest surrounding Glaxo after it impressed investors with third quarter profits of £1.78 billion, against £1.5 billion a year earlier.
Shares in Glaxo – one of the market’s biggest stocks – were up 3%, or 42p to 1437p.
Glaxo’s figures took the shine off rival AstraZeneca, which lost hold of a positive gain from its figures posted an hour earlier than Glaxo.
While Astra said sales of its top five medicines, including fat-busting drug Crestor, rose 25% on a year earlier, shares still slipped 89p to 2500p.
On a busy day for corporate news, Shell was up 14p at 1791p as it avoided being caught in the crossfire of some heavy selling in London by smashing consensus expectations for third quarter profits.
Shell made profits of around 7.37 billion US dollars (£4.13bn) in the third quarter, higher than BP earlier in the week. Along with Glaxo, Shell was among just 12 blue-chip stocks to make it into positive territory.
As a measure of Shell’s success, the rest of the oil and gas sector was in negative territory with BP down 13p at 613.5p, Cairn Energy off 35p at 1690p and BG Group losing 18.5p at 489.5p.
British American Tobacco resisted the sell-off after saying it was heading for a highly satisfactory year, with volumes of its top four brands up 9% in the first nine months of this year. Shares held firm, up 6p at 1201p – helping rival Imperial Tobacco to lift 21p to 1568p.
There was also a gain for medical devices maker Smith & Nephew, ahead 14.5p to 466p as brokers reiterated buy recommendations on the back of better-than-expected third quarter figures.
Insurance giant Aviva fell 3.5p to 650p after new business sales of life and pensions products totalled £16.26 billion in the first nine months of this year - at the bottom of the range forecast by the City.
The hardest-hit top flight stock was Reuters, down 4% or 14.5p at 351.75p, following an uninspiring update which included an 8% rise in revenues over the summer to £611 million.
The highest Footsie risers today were Smith & Nephew up 14.5p to 466p, GlaxoSmithKline rising 42p to 1437p, Imperial Tobacco up 21p to 1568p and Royal Dutch Shell rising 14p to 1791p.
The heaviest fallers were Reuters off 14.5p to 351.75p, BG Group down 18.5p to 489.5p, PartyGaming off 3.25p to 87p and AstraZeneca down 89p to 2500p.
