FTSE close: Miners, banks down; Pubcos up

 

There was barely a Footsie stock in the black today as London shares were weighed down by some disappointing figures on Wall St last night.

The sign and logo of the London Stock Exchange

The FTSE 100 index fell on opening and was still down 50.5 points to 5,207.4 on the close despite an upbeat opening on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones was last 0.46% up at 9995.4.

A wider-than-expected loss from Boeing had disappointed US investors yesterday, leaving the Dow Jones 1% down at the close, and then online auctioneer eBay forecasted fourth-quarter results at the low end of expectations.

A stronger dollar depressed most commodity stocks in London today. Miners were among the top fallers, with Fresnillo 15p or 1.8% off at 803p, and Antofagasta 19.5p down at 845p. Lonmin was off 9p at 1682p after news of a 20% decline in fourth-quarter production.

Anglo American fared slightly better – 0.4% down at 2,285p - after it announced a restructuring that will shed a quarter of overhead staff and save $120m.

Other leading fallers included oil services and production firm Petrofac, which shed 33p to 1030p after it said output would be at the lower end of expectations this year.

British Airways meanwhile was another prominent casualty, down 4% or 9p to 209.5p after disappointing results from US airline Continental in the previous session.

Of the handful of Footsie stocks in positive territory most were in defensive sectors. Telecoms giant Vodafone was the top riser, up 4.6p to 139.5p, while BT added 2p to 139.7p. Drugs firm AstraZeneca was 9p up at 2759p while British American Tobacco fell 17.5p to 1969.5p.

Department store group Debenhams indicated an improving outlook on the high street, announcing full-year profits towards the top end of expectations. Shares were 0.5p down at 82.6p.

Experian managed an early gain to 568.5p after Goldman Sachs upgraded the credit checking firm to 'buy' from 'neutral' and lifted its target. The firm later closed 1p down at 563p.

Among the mid-caps, pub groups were the runaway gainers after the Office of Fair Trading gave the go-ahead for the industry to continue operating its 'beer tie' arrangement.

The watchdog said it found no evidence that 'tied' prices - where pub companies compel tenants to buy drinks from them - were harming competition for consumers.

Enterprise shares jumped 23.4% or 27.9p to 147p, while Punch rose 12.5p to 97.25p and Marston's added 2.75p to 93.75p.

National Express shares were back under pressure after the company said full-year results were likely to be weaker than it previously expected. Shares in the takeover target fell by 18.5p to 397p.

There was also a drop of 4% for nightclubs operator Luminar after pre-tax profits in the six months to August 27 plunged to £4.9m from £8.4m a year earlier as rising unemployment caused like-for-like sales to dive 4.5%.

Shares were 7.5p lower at 76.5p.

CITY DIARY FOR TOMORROW

• BskyB reports on first-quarter trading, with leading brokerage firm Numis predicting earnings growth to come in as 'robust'.

• England cricket sponsor Brit Insurance reported a 37% rise in net written premiums in the first half to £792.1m. Investors will be hoping for more good news from its interim trading update.

• Wall St will be waiting for Microsoft's first-quarter earnings. Shareholders will be keen to see forecasts after the launch of the new Windows 7 operating system today.