Vodafone depresses Footsie
The Footsie 100 Index has closed up 1 point at 5179.6.
Vodafone plunged to its lowest level for three-and-a-half years today as concerns over future growth continued to plague the company.
On a day when traders paid their respects to the Queen Mother by observing a two-minute silence in the City, Vodafone tumbled by almost 5%.
A decision by ABN Amro to lower its price target added to the negative sentiment surrounding the third biggest stock on the market.
Trading was suspended during the two-minute's silence at 11.30am, with the Footsie held at 5199.0, after a morning marked by thin trading.
But the afternoon saw the blue-chip index fall back despite slight gains on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York.
Close to 640 million shares in Vodafone swapped hands as the group lost 5¾p to finish at 121p, its lowest level since October 1998.
Analysts said fears about sluggish trading, particularly in Germany, and more write downs in the business were knocking investor confidence.
A lower earnings forecast by North American telecom group Nortel Networks, although not as bad than expected, also seemed to affect sentiment.
Vodafone was joined on the way down by fellow heavyweight BP which slipped 9p to 599½p as tension in the Middle East began to ease.
