Footsie posts small losses
Retail stocks were once again to the fore today as continued fears over Iraq and the economy kept the bulk of investors on the sidelines.
Supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Safeway dominated the leaderboard while electrical retailer Dixons also regained some ground.
But in a largely lacklustre day in the City, the FTSE 100 Index limped to a close of 3881.8 – down a meagre 6.0 points.
A quiet start to trading on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones up just 30 points by the end of play in London, added to the subdued mood.
Peter Cogliatti, trader at Williams de Broe, said fund managers were wary of putting money into equities in the current climate.
He added: “It’s been a pretty lousy day, and we have only just scraped over the one billion shares mark in the FTSE 100.
“This is less volume than normal and given that it’s January it’s even more disappointing. We are going nowhere fast.”
Sainsbury’s topped the risers, up 10.75p at 239.5p, as speculation about the likely outcome of the battle for Safeway raged on.
Safeway surged almost 5%, or 13.25p to 307p – its highest price since the end of May last year – while Morrisons slipped 1p to 178p.
Elsewhere, Dixons was up 2.25p at 113p and Marks & Spencer recovered from yesterday’s near 6% fall to climb 10.5p at 314.5p.
Christmas updates today were limited to smaller stocks with music giant HMV up 3p at 118p after a sales rise over the festive season.
Health and beauty chain Body Shop got a 17% lift, up 11p at 75p as the City expressed relief a 2% drop in like-for-like sales was not worse.
And fashion group Ted Baker rose 6p to 216p after it showed the late cold snap had encouraged shoppers to buy up winter clothing.
Back in the FTSE 100, other risers included the oil giants BP and Shell with BP up 3p at 408.75p and Shell ahead 2.5p at 402.75p.
Telecoms were also edging higher with mobile phone giant Vodafone up 0.75p at 123.5p and mmO2 up 0.5p at 50.5p.
But it was not such a good day for ITV broadcaster Granada, off 3p at 69.5p amid continued fears about the advertising market.
The fall was matched by its potential merger partner, the FTSE 250 stock Carlton, which eased 3p at 120p, or over 2%.
Blue-chip banks were also weaker with Barclays off 9.25p at 368.25p, HSBC down 3p at 700p and Royal Bank of Scotland down 13p at 1442p.
And insurers were on the slide with Prudential down 6.5p at 410.5p and Aviva, which cut its annual bonuses this week, off 8p at 433p.
The highest Footsie risers were Sainsbury’s up 10.75p at 239.5p, Safeway ahead 13.25p at 307p, Marks & Spencer up 10.5p at 314.5p and Wolseley, up 15p at 499.5p.
The heaviest fallers were Xstrata, down 36p at 585p, Granada, down 3p at 69.5p, Smith & Nephew, down 10.25p at 367p and Hays, down 2.25p at 88.25p.
