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London close: Footsie hangs onto gains

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Date: Thursday 06 Jan 2005

  • FTSE 100 4,824.30 +0.38%
  • FTSE 250 6,920.90 +0.08%
  • techMARK 1,144.02 +0.44%

LONDON (ShareCast) - London finished the day well into the blue but off its highs for the day even though the US rallied and British Airways gave a late lift with its December passenger traffic figures.

Brokers welcomed the British Airways statement. It showed a big jump in premium traffic compared with November, though the company added that its outlook on the market remains unchanged. Easyjet rallied in sympathy.

Royal Bank of Scotland was busy on reports it is eyeing up Dutch bank ABN Amro as a possible acquisition. Traders said the story has done the rounds before but shares in ABN still picked up on the rumour.

Standard Chartered fell as speculation grew it had won the auction for Korea First Bank having seemingly been out of the race a fortnight ago.

Life insurers had a good day on a bullish review of the sector from Williams de Broe. Legal & General, Friends Provident and Prudential all featured among the strongest risers. Royal Sun Alliance also picked up.

Away from the blue chips, fund manager Aberdeen Asset reported an annual pre-tax profit before goodwill amortisation and exceptionals of £15.1m up from £5m the year before.

The group, which said it would contribute £78m of compensation to split-capital trust investors, declared a dividend of 4p unchanged from the year before.

Housebuilding stocks were hot footing it after Redrow completed 6% more house sales in the first-half and gave an upbeat outlook about the housing market.

Retail software provider Torex Retail said annual pre-tax profit would beat analysts' expectations, after it won new contracts.

Ports operator Forth Ports weighed heavily on the mid caps despite saying its annual results would be broadly in line with its expectations. Sentiment was dashed by news that shutdowns at some oil fields meant piped cargo tonnages had been lower than expected.

In other news upmarket retailer Laura Ashley said chief executive officer Ainum Mohd-Saaid was resigning for personal reasons. Lillian Tan, currently a non-executive director and head of a Malysian retail group, will replace her.

Downbeat trading statements knocked back bookseller Ottakar's and jewellery supplier Abbeycrest.

FTSE 100 - Risers
British Airways (BAY) 242.50p +4.98%
Rolls-Royce (RR.) 251.00p +3.29%
Legal & General (LGEN) 116.25p +3.10%
BAE Systems (BA.) 230.50p +2.67%
Friends Provident (FP.) 163.00p +2.52%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 596.50p +2.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
ICI (ICI) 231.00p -1.81%
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) 867.00p -1.48%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 956.50p -1.44%
Gallaher (GLH) 785.00p -1.26%
Severn Trent (SVT) 967.50p -1.12%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 766.50p -0.97%

FTSE 250 - Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 199.00p +4.19%
Lonmin (LMI) 951.50p +3.88%
Renishaw (RSW) 640.00p +3.73%
FKI (FKI) 122.00p +3.61%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 180.25p +3.59%
Dimension Data (DDT) 38.00p +3.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Topps Tiles (TPT) 248.00p -4.43%
Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 180.00p -3.87%
Investec (INVP) 1,610.00p -3.48%
Spirent (SPT) 71.00p -3.40%
T&F Informa (TFI) 368.75p -2.70%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 573.50p -2.55%


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