London close: Earnings, insurance gloom hurt Footsie
A downbeat insurance sector and a poor reaction to a number of today's earnings reports had London's leading index giving back early gains to close lower for the second day in a row.
Nerves ahead of the US Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision, due later this evening, also damaged sentiment. Economists are debating whether rates will stay on hold at 5.25%.
Life insurer Friends Provident was the worst performer after it announced a 9% fall in first half underlying profit to £247m despite strong growth at its UK arm. Legal & General, Old Mutual and Prudential slipped on the news.
Broadcaster ITV announced that Charles Allen would be stepping down as chief executive and be replaced on a temporary basis by finance director John Cresswell. The shares fell after their recent strong run.
Kronenbourg brewer Scottish & Newcastle looked groggy despite an in-line set of first half sales, buoyed by the hot weather and the World Cup. Pre-tax profit rose 12% to £187m for the six months to June while sales were up 6% at £1.99bn.
There were also losses at Standard Chartered as the Asia focused bank lifted operating profit by 15% to $1.52bn for the first half, but warned that trading conditions may become tighter in the months ahead.
Oil titan BP was in the dumps again, shrugging off news of record oil prices overnight, as concerns over the shutdown of the Prudhoe oil field in Alaska continue to unnerve investors.
Property stocks were in demand though, with Hammerson, Liberty International, British Land and Slough Estates all riding high.
Data this morning showed house prices in England and Wales jumped 7.7% in the second quarter on the same period last year, while Nationwide revised its forecast for house price growth to 5% in 2006 from 0-3% previously.
Elsewhere, InterContinental Hotels was given a helping hand from JP Morgan as the broker kept its "buy" advice and set a price target of 1,037p per share on the hotel giant.
JP Morgan also stuck with its "overweight" advice on International Power, highlighting a recovery in the Australian market.
The £2.8bn bid for Associated British Ports by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs has received the court sanction and shares in the UK group are expected to be delisted in a week's time.
Earlier today the Financial Services Authority temporarily suspended the group's shares at the request of the company pending an announcement.
Among the second liners, telecoms firm Cable & Wireless did well after it was upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' at Citigroup with a price target of 160p from 110p albeit with the caution that the shares are not for the faint hearted.
Venture Production and Dana Petroleum enjoyed gains as the oil explorers confirmed that production has started at the Goosander oil field in the UK Central North Sea.
Carpet and floor coverings retailer Carpetright said today that while sales in May were strong. June and July saw less demand as the hot weather across Europe adversely affected the group. UK sales in the 13 weeks to April rose 4.3% and fell 0.3% on a like-for-like basis.
Mobile phone ringtone specialist Monstermob surged ahead, clawing back some of its recent losses after it received an indicative approach.
Recruitment firm Harvey Nash said buoyant trading conditions have continued across the group and it now sees full year results slightly ahead of previous expectations.
FTSE 100 - Risers
ICAP (IAP) 460.25p +2.51%
Slough Estates (SLOU) 662.50p +1.77%
Xstrata (XTA) 2,217.00p +1.23%
Liberty International (LII) 1,114.00p +1.18%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 534.00p +1.14%
Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY) 531.00p +1.14%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,271.00p +1.11%
Rexam (REX) 502.75p +1.11%
United Utilities (UU.) 660.00p +0.99%
International Power (IPR) 298.50p +0.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Friends Provident (FP.) 175.00p -3.31%
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ITV (ITV) 98.25p -3.20%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,274.00p -2.75%
Scottish and Newcastle (SCTN) 519.00p -2.54%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,254.00p -1.72%
British Energy Group (BGY) 726.00p -1.63%
Lonmin (LMI) 2,663.00p -1.41%
BP (BP.) 614.00p -1.37%
Old Mutual (OML) 155.50p -1.27%
Legal & General (LGEN) 123.25p -1.20%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,300.00p +6.56%
Spirent (SPT) 42.00p +5.00%
Rank Group (RNK) 200.50p +4.43%
Venture Production (VPC) 838.00p +3.52%
Spectris (SXS) 592.00p +3.41%
BBA Group (BBA) 256.50p +3.12%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 193.75p +3.06%
Jardine Lloyd (JLT) 388.50p +3.05%
Savills (SVS) 505.00p +2.96%
HMV Media (HMV) 155.00p +2.65%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
PZ Cussons (PZC) 1,420.00p -4.38%
Topps Tiles (TPT) 246.50p -3.52%
Benfield Group (BFD) 360.25p -2.64%
Wimpey (WMPY) 464.00p -2.57%
Northern Foods (NFDS) 80.00p -2.44%
Admiral Group (ADM) 662.00p -2.36%
Interserve (IRV) 364.00p -2.28%
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 914.50p -2.19%
Paragon Group (PAG) 594.00p -1.98%
Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNN) 174.00p -1.97%
