LONDON (ShareCast) - London’s main market was a sea of red as nearly all the stocks finished lower, spearheaded by the miners.

The biggest ferrochrome producer in the world ENRC slumped 12% after South Africa's Merafe Resources said ferrochrome prices rose only to $2.05 per pound from $1.92, which is well below expectations.

Miners Ferrexpo, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta and Lonmin were also in the top ten fallers.

The only stocks to post any gains were Reckitt Benckiser, Hammerson, RSA Insurance Group, International Power and BT Group.

Vodafone, the mobile phone colossus which was trading higher on the back of an upgrade to “outperform” from “underperform” by Exane BNP Paribas also slipped into the red.

Oil services groups Petrofac and John Wood Group also succumbed by the close despite having ridden high earlier in the day. John Wood was upgraded by JP Morgan to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’, with the price target to raised 510p from 390p

Struggling housebuilder Barratt Developments was also down as the Telegraph reported it is close to securing a rescue refinancing with lenders that will relax its banking covenants and help it ride out the property downturn.

Elsewhere in the building sector, contractor Morgan Sindall slumped after warning that the prolonged slow down in the commercial property and open market housing sectors will have an impact on its expectations for 2009.

Next fell back after HSBC lowered its target price on the fashion chain to 1,100p from 1,280p while pharmaceuticals company Shire slid after MF Global cut its rating on the stock to “sell” from “buy”, citing concerns about the revenues from Shire’s Vyvanse drug.

Recruitment agency Hays suffered after being downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” by UBS.

UBS has begun coverage on UK bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes with respective ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ ratings. The broker has a 300p price target on William Hill and a 310p price target on Ladbrokes.

Manitowoc, the American industrials group, last night emerged as victor in a long-running takeover tussle for Enodis, the UK food equipment maker, beating its US rival, Illinois Tool Works.

Music, films and games retailer HMV is ahead of schedule in its recovery programme after a strong set of full-year results.

Investors took the opportunity to bank profits on the shares, however, after their recent good run, with concerns also expressed over a delay in planned improvements to the distribution system at Waterstone’s.

Mail order group N Brown increased revenues by 12.3% in the 17 weeks ended 28 June 2008, a slight rise from the rate up until April. Sales were particularly strong during the sunny spell in May, which coincided with the mailing of summer catalogues.

Carpetright's profits fell from £67m to £59.5m last year. The carpet retailer said it was more challenging than anticipated with the deteriorating economic environment, a decline in consumer confidence and a reduction in housing transactions having adverse impacts on revenue.

Van hire company Northgate profits for the 12 months to next April will be flat due to weaker conditions in the used vehicle market. Profit before tax for the year to April rose 5% to £79.5m (2007 - £75.4m).

Electric power group Tanfield crashed on a warning trading is at a significantly lower level than previously forecast with a "marked slowing" in its markets throughout June. As a result it will not meet the market's expectations for the year.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 2,605.00p +2.36%
Hammerson (HMSO) 909.00p +1.85%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 127.30p +1.35%
International Power (IPR) 437.25p +1.22%
BT Group (BT.A) 202.00p +1.05%
British Energy Group (BGY) 711.50p -0.14%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,134.00p -0.37%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,106.50p -0.58%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 149.80p -0.66%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 148.15p -0.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,166.00p -12.53%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 362.00p -8.35%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,469.00p -7.73%
Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 184.60p -6.72%
Next (NXT) 910.50p -6.09%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 618.50p -6.00%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,010.00p -5.67%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 737.00p -5.51%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 203.75p -5.23%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 222.25p -5.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Melrose (MRO) 165.00p +8.55%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 421.00p +5.91%
Fenner (FENR) 252.50p +4.02%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 391.00p +3.23%
Croda International (CRDA) 659.00p +2.97%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 2,350.00p +2.89%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 285.50p +2.79%
Aricom (ORE) 83.00p +2.47%
Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 145.75p +2.46%
Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 1,331.00p +2.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Southern Cross Healthcare Group (SCHE) 90.50p -30.38%
Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 580.00p -22.46%
HMV Group (HMV) 112.00p -13.51%
Mecom Group (MEC) 18.75p -12.79%
Trinity Mirror (TNI) 97.00p -11.01%
Johnston Press (JPR) 46.75p -10.10%
Punch Taverns (PUB) 282.50p -9.74%
Yell Group (YELL) 63.75p -9.57%
International Ferro Metals (IFL) 110.50p -9.43%
Informa (INF) 379.00p -8.23%

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