London close: Footsie ends with modest gains
London's top stocks ended the day with steady gains as mortgage banks and pub groups kept Footsie in the blue despite a weak start on Wall Street.
Northern Rock was the best performer on reports that veteran deal maker Chris Flowers is moving closer to a takeover after securing £15bn of funding commitments. His bankers, who include JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Wachovia, are understood to have committed the finance to cover Northern Rock's funding obligations, according to one paper.
Rival lender HBOS perked up on news it is changing its lending tack and has scrapped its annual targets for mortgage lending. Andy Hornby, HBOS's chief executive, said it was not sensible to chase market share in current conditions. Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley were also going well.
High street banks joined in the advance, with Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland in the blue.
On the downside, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG hit reverse as oil prices remained at around $80 a barrel. Home Retail and Kingfisher were down as recent gains were given back.
Elsewhere, car dealer Lookers acquired Dutton Forshaw Group for up to £60m cash. The purchase of the motor retail unit of Lloyds TSB Asset Finance Division is expected to complete on 26 October, it said in a statement.
Pub owner and brewer Marston's was up ahead of a statement tomorrow. Other pub groups were also rallying, including Punch and JD Wetherspoon.
Engineer Redhall said it expects full-year results to end September to come in slightly ahead of market expectations. All three of its operating divisions had seen material improvement in trading year on year, it said.
Restaurateur Carluccio's said its outlets continued to perform well during the year. Turnover for the year grew by 18% over the prior year. Profit before taxation for the same period is expected to be slightly ahead of the board's expectations.
Newspaper and magazine distributor Dawson Holdings said trading in each of the divisions has been in line with management expectations. "We have made good progress this year in what remain tough trading conditions. The acquisitions of T Cox (Tonbridge) and MMC, together with our exit from the loss making territories are in line with our strategic goals and the board looks towards the coming financial year with increasing confidence," said chief executive Peter Harris.
Mobile content billing specialist Redknee Solutions slumped as it warned it will miss market forecasts this year. Delays in closing two customer contracts and a renegotiation of one other, coupled with the negative impact of the strong Canadian dollar against the US dollar, means results will be below market expectations, it said.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Northern Rock (NRK) 151.80p +11.95%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 880.00p +7.06%
Old Mutual (OML) 168.00p +4.74%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 300.75p +4.16%
Punch Taverns (PUB) 1,046.00p +3.87%
British Airways (BAY) 424.75p +3.85%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,622.00p +3.52%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 807.00p +3.33%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 451.25p +3.26%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,085.00p +3.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 171.10p -2.51%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 398.25p -2.27%
Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group (RSA) 153.10p -1.73%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 185.20p -1.65%
Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 340.75p -1.52%
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International Power (IPR) 435.00p -1.47%
British Energy Group (BGY) 535.00p -1.29%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,955.00p -1.26%
Kingfisher (KGF) 194.00p -1.07%
Rexam (REX) 549.00p -0.99%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PartyGaming (PRTY) 31.00p +7.83%
St James's Place (STJ) 401.00p +7.80%
Marston's (MARS) 364.75p +7.68%
Bodycote International (BOY) 272.00p +6.67%
Workspace Group (WKP) 345.00p +6.32%
Shanks Group (SKS) 230.50p +5.01%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 726.50p +4.91%
DS Smith (SMDS) 209.00p +4.63%
JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 569.00p +4.50%
Cookson Group (CKSN) 830.00p +4.47%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 794.00p -3.47%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 133.75p -3.43%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,137.00p -2.99%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 505.00p -2.70%
Findel (FDL) 673.00p -2.46%
Helphire Group (HHR) 354.00p -2.41%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,700.00p -2.37%
CSR (CSR) 662.00p -2.36%
Meggitt (MGGT) 317.50p -2.16%
William Hill (WMH) 658.50p -2.01%
