London close: Late rally slightly eases pain
Footsie bounced in the last hour as the Dow went on a roller coaster ride following the collapse of two hedge funds run by Bear Sterns, but it still finished well into the red.
Oil groups were the main gainers today as the crude price touched $70 per barrel again. Shell and BG all showed healthy gains, though BP eased back.
Worries about contagion from the Bear Sterns funds knocked Northern Rock and other mortgage lenders. Bradford & Bingley also fell even though it said it expects full year results to be towards the upper end of the range of analysts' forecasts following an "excellent" start to the year.
Property groups were weak. Land Securities, British Land and Segro all finished in the red, though DSG was the worst performer as sellers took up where they left off yesterday following its full year figures.
Electrical retailer DSG was down again following yesterday's "disappointing" full year results. Home Retail also came under pressure as investors fret about the direction of consumer spending in the UK.
Shire Pharmaceuticals sagged after broker Bridgewell cut its rating to 'neutral' from 'overweight'. The pharmaceutical firm also said today that it had received approval from the US FDA for its attention deficit drug Intuniv.
Bid target ICI dropped after it was downgraded by JP Morgan to 'underweight', while GlaxoSmithKline lost ground after ING lowered its price target to 1,550p from 1,650p.
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Meanwhile, Tesco slipped as Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter raised his stake in Dobbies Garden Centres to 25%. It has sparked rumours of a counter-bid following Tesco's agreed 1,500p per share offer.
Down a rung, ground preparation specialist Keller said strong trading in the first few months of the year will result in interim figures coming ahead of the same period last year.
Shares in the London Stock Exchange fell as it entered discussions with Borsa Italia, the Italian Stock Exchange over a possible $2bn bid.
Weir has agreed to buy US group SPM Flow Control, which makes high-pressure well service pumps and related flow control equipment, for £328m in cash, the engineer said in a statement Thursday.
Troubled photographic retailer Jessops reported a big interim loss Thursday and said trading in the 12 weeks to 17 June has remained difficult, with like for like sales down 12.9%. It also announced details of its strategic review that will see the closure of 81 stores and a reduction in central overheads of 20%, with total overheads reduced by over £15m.
Professional tutoring specialist BPP Holdings said trading performance for the first half of the year and the year-end will be in line with expectations.
