More turbulence on FTSE
The London market was rocked by further uncertainty today as a turbulent morning saw the London market plunge deep into the red.
In another gloomy session, the FTSE 100 Index picked up where it left off last week and lost nearly 120 points in early trading as confidence drained away.
But with Alliance & Leicester in bullish mood amid renewed takeover talk, investors regained some composure to leave the Footsie 33.2 points down by mid-morning at 5624.2.
The Footsie has lost more than 500 points since its five-year high of 6132 last month.
The downward trend started on May 12 and has seen the top flight index lose all of 2006’s gains – a sell-off blamed on the prospect of higher inflation and interest rates in the United States.
Mining stocks led the blue-chip sell off as further falls in commodity prices caused the market to overlook a positive finish for trading in New York on Friday.
The worst hit were Antofagasta and Xstrata which both fell 4% – down 80p to 1852p and 82p to 1957p respectively.
But Alliance & Leicester bucked the negative mood as shares surged on the back of a statement of interest from French bank Credit Agricole.
Shares rose 6% or 66p to 1181p and helped lift rival HBOS, which gained 9.5p to 907p, although elsewhere in the sector HSBC was down 19p to 924p and Barclays lost 11.5p to 601p.
In the FTSE 250 Index – which sank more than 150 points back towards the 9000 mark today – Homeserve was up 5% or 70p to 1430p as investors welcomed its full-year results which saw pre-tax profits lift 29% to £50m (€73m).
Punch Taverns was also reporting results, but its shares fell 4% or 39.5p to 849.5p after its figures failed to excite the market.
