FTSE loses ground after nervous start
The FTSE 100 Index lost ground today after a nervous start in US markets unsettled London’s blue chips.
The benchmark index had spent much of the day in positive territory after upgrades for heavyweight oil and gas stocks offset continued pressure on retailers.
But lingering concerns over Friday’s jobs data across the Atlantic and fresh tension between the US and Iran saw a nervous start on Wall Street, dragging the Footsie 12.8 points lower to 6335.7 at the close.
Investors bracing themselves for a flurry of bad trading news from retailers this week ensured another turbulent session for some of the high street’s biggest names.
Sainsbury’s fell nearly 4% – down 14.5p to 391p – after reports that the company would miss its internal sales targets for Christmas.
The weak sentiment weighed on Tesco and Morrisons leaving the rival supermarkets 10.5p lower at 445.5p and 7p off at 307.5p respectively.
Elsewhere on the high street, B&Q firm Kingfisher dipped 6.5p to 123.5p and Next slipped a further 68p to 1396p. Marks & Spencer meanwhile was 19.5p worse off at 498.5p as traders forecast the first dip in like-for-like sales growth in nine quarters.
Housebuilders also endured a poor session after Dresdner Kleinwort urged clients to bail out ahead of what it expects to be a flood of bad news from players in the sector this week.
Taylor Wimpey was the Footsie’s leading faller, down more than 7%, or 14.2p, to 179.8p, while Persimmon tumbled 40p to 685p. In the FTSE 250, Bovis Homes was 33p lower at 540p.
But a strong performance from oil and gas stocks today helped combat falls elsewhere to stem the losses in the top flight.
British Energy was the main beneficiary from a raft of upgrades for the sector in a week expected to see the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations.
Cazenove’s push lifted the company to the top of the Footsie risers’ board – up 6%, or 32.5p, to 571p.
Upgrades also provided cheer for the likes of BP and Royal Dutch Shell, up 9.5p at 637p and 35p at 2160p respectively, despite oil prices easing back from last week’s record on renewed economic fears in the US.
Broker upgrades also saw gains from gas firm BG Group, ahead 15p at 1145p, while Scottish and Southern Energy advanced 33p to 1668p after unveiling the 1.8 billion euros deal (£1.3bn) purchase of Airtricity, the Ireland-based renewable energy firm, on Friday night.
Outside the top tier, Capital Radio owner GCap Media jumped 45% after it said it had turned down a 190p a share approach from Global Radio, the owner of Heart FM.
GCap shares were 55p higher at 176p as investors relished the prospects of a possible bidding battle.
The biggest Footsie risers were British Energy up 32.5p at 571p, GlaxoSmithKline ahead 45p at 1321p, Smith & Nephew up 19.5p at 596.5p and AstraZeneca up 60p at 2170p.
The biggest Footsie fallers were Taylor Wimpey down 14.2p at 179.8p, Schroders off 76p at 1013p, InterContinental Hotels down 49p at 767.5p and Xstrata down 210p at 3312p.
