FTSE in negative territory
A sharp fall in commodity prices brought the London market’s recent progress to a juddering halt today.
Jitters over the US housing market added to the weakness, as the FTSE 100 Index closed 1% lower, down 62.9 points at 6192.
Even the prospect of a bidding war for steel group Corus, following a late afternoon approach from Brazil’s CSN, failed to rescue the market.
The top eight fallers in the blue-chip index were all commodity based after oil traded below 56 US dollars a barrel and copper and other metals fell.
Shares in BP were down 16p to 582p, while Royal Dutch Shell dipped 32p to 1895p and Cairn Energy eased 88p to 1841p, a drop of almost 5%.
Among the miners, Xstrata topped the fallers board, easing 109p to 2154p, BHP Billiton fell 36p to 960p, Kazakhmys dipped 46p to 1136p and Vedanta Resources failed to offer any relief – sliding 52p to 1236p.
Build Center chain Wolseley was most affected by weak house building figures in the United States, falling 26p to 1190p.
British Energy shares were also under pressure before making a recovery, as the nuclear power operator warned it continued to face output difficulties as inspections were stll being carried out in the firm’s reactors.
While rising power prices helped half-year profits, the uncertainty over the performance of plants at Hunterston and Hinkley Point meant the stock fell by as much 5% before recovering to stand 8.5p higher at 477p.
Corus led the risers board with a 5% gain after CSN said it had approached the board about an offer of 475p a share, better than the 455p currently on the table from Tata. Shares lifted even further, up 22.5p to 495.5p, as investors eyed the prospect of other offers.
Cadbury Schweppes led the risers board for a time, up 9.5p to 541.5p, as vague buy-out talk circled the sweets and drinks stock.
Broadcaster ITV also made progress after a newspaper report said RTL was considering a takeover approach, alongside the interest already stated by cable operator NTL. Shares were a penny higher at 115.75p.
Elsewhere, Tesco and Sainsbury’s were the favoured supermarket stocks of the session, rising 3p and 0.5p to 400.25p and 410.5p respectively, whilst rival Morrisons dipped 4p to 258p.
In the second tier, Northern Foods continued to rise following more upbeat broker notes in the aftermath of results earlier in the week. The stock was up 3%, or 2.75p to 103.5p, building on a gain of 9% yesterday.
JJB Sports topped the second division risers board with a gain of 10p to 219p, while nightclub operator Luminar added 11.5p to 660p after strong results this week.
The biggest Footsie risers were Corus up 22.5p at 495.5p, British Energy ahead 8.5p at 477p, Cadbury Schweppes up 9.5p at 541.5p and Prudential ahead 9p at 675.5p.
The biggest fallers were Xstrata down 109p at 2154p, Cairn Energy off 88p at 1841p, Antofagasta down 21.75p at 457.75p and Rio Tinto off 115p at 2669p.
