Profit-taking pulls back FTSE
The London market retreated from Friday’s 28-month high today as investors indulged in some profit-taking.
By mid-morning, the FTSE 100 Index stood 12.3 points lower at 4727.5, losing some of the positive momentum seen on both sides of the Atlantic last week.
The Footsie saw its fifth day in a row of gains on Friday, as Wall Street continued to welcome the re-election of President George Bush. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week nearly 73 points ahead – its third consecutive positive close.
In London, telecoms group BT was one of the heaviest fallers after unveiling plans for a landmark acquisition costing almost $1bn (£537.6m/€771bn).
News of its plan to buy California-based telecoms service provider Infonet Services failed to cheer investors, with concerns over the company’s expansion strategy forcing shares down more than 1%, 3p lower at 189.25p.
Shares in British Airways also took a tumble after the airline unveiled half-year profits of £335m (€480.8m. The stock was off 3.5p at 221p amid continued concern about fuel costs and pricing pressures.
Imperial Tobacco was another blue-chip stock in negative territory, despite reporting a 13% rise in group underlying profits to £1.01bn (€1.4bn), in line with analysts’ expectations. Shares dropped 5p to 1266p.
The heaviest faller was B&Q owner Kingfisher, which lost more than 2% – off 7.75p to 303p – after the stock was downgraded by broker Merrill Lynch.
And Marks & Spencer slipped more than 1%, 3.75p lower at 346p, ahead of tomorrow’s half-year results.
However, medical devices group Smith & Nephew was doing well despite going ex-dividend, moving to fourth in the Footsie risers with a 5.5p gain to 518p.
Outside the top flight, convenience foods group Uniq weakened half a penny to 200p as it blamed lost business in the UK for a 6% fall in half-year profits to £10.7m (€15.3m).
