London close: Footsie closes with modest gains
Footsie ended with modest gains as banks bounced back following last week's sell-off, though gains were somewhat stifled by miners.
Former Abbey National boss Luqman Arnold has unveiled a rescue plan for Northern Rock. His vehicle, Olivant, is prepared to subscribe for a minority stake in the troubled mortgage lender, but is not intending to make an offer for the company.
Standard Life rose after deciding not to raise its bid for closed end life group, Resolution, effectively ceding victory to Hugh Osmond's Pearl.
Barclays rallied on weekend reports that it is working with its accountants to nail the rumours over its exposure to the sub-prime market once and for all. Royal Bank of Scotland attracted bargain hunters.
HSBC traversed earlier losses as Morgan Stanley started coverage with an 'underweight' rating and 800p price target. Wednesday's third quarter earnings from the US business is expected to reveal another write-down of over $1bn on its portfolio of US sub-prime mortgages.
Miners were lower though as metal prices succumbed to a hefty dose of profit taking, with Vedanta Resources, Xstrata, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Kazakhmys dominating the fallers.
BHP Billiton reversed earlier gains while Rio Tinto was just above flat on reports that the Rio board want an offer of £70 per share to get its approval, while China is also said to be keen to get involved in some way.
Oil majors are also on the back foot as crude fell back below $95 a barrel. BP, BG, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow are in the red.
Airline British Airways said today it will increase its fuel surcharge on all tickets booked from Thursday November 15 this year.
Software giant Sage turned south on talk that Citigroup is placing 46m shares at 220p each.
ITV is in the doldrums as Morgan Stanley cut the broadcaster to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight' with 92p price target. The broker notes that the company's earnings growth is the worst of the European broadcasters yet the shares are by far the most highly rated.
Interdealer broker ICAP turned lower after Credit Suisse cut the shares to 'neutral' from 'outperform' following the recent rally.
Premier Foods expects to meet market expectations for 2007 despite ongoing problems in its bread division.
Security group G4S reported a 1% increase in overall organic growth to 7.9% in the nine months to September, reflecting 6.3% growth in developed markets and 15.8% in developing markets.
Wine retailer Majestic Wine increased profit before tax by 16.7% to £7.5m (in the half-year to end September. Total sales were £91.0m, up from £88.3m, with like for like UK sales up 2.4%.
Computer aided design specialist Aveva posted a 32% hike in first half profits and lifted its dividend by 33% adding it remains confident in future prospects.
Fashion retailer French Connection's sales in both August and October were lower than expected, leaving the group more cautious for the last quarter and into next year.
Software company Anite fell back as it warned its wireless division is under pressure and indicated a £3m write-off this year following a tie-up with US firm Agilent.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 439.75p +9.19%
Barclays (BARC) 513.00p +8.11%
Northern Rock (NRK) 154.40p +6.48%
Standard Life (SL.) 259.50p +6.46%
HBOS (HBOS) 796.50p +5.85%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 694.00p +5.31%
Friends Provident (FP.) 155.60p +4.64%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 127.20p +4.01%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 209.00p +3.72%
DSG International (DSGI) 114.90p +3.51%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 700.00p -6.04%
(Article continues below)Advertisement
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,316.00p -5.39%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,936.00p -5.28%
Xstrata (XTA) 3,316.00p -4.74%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,329.00p -4.50%
Sage Group (SGE) 216.50p -3.78%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,155.00p -3.37%
ITV (ITV) 86.20p -3.25%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 627.00p -3.02%
BG Group (BG.) 977.50p -2.74%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wincanton (WIN) 419.00p +8.27%
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 282.25p +7.32%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,166.00p +7.07%
Helphire Group (HHR) 404.00p +6.25%
Britvic (BVIC) 322.00p +5.92%
Bodycote International (BOY) 268.50p +5.40%
St James's Place (STJ) 305.25p +5.26%
G4S (GFS) 208.25p +4.78%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 181.75p +4.01%
New Star Asset Management Group (NSAM) 287.25p +3.89%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 193.75p -6.40%
Invensys (ISYS) 267.75p -4.72%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,099.00p -4.27%
Axon Group (AXO) 787.50p -4.26%
Halma (HLMA) 209.75p -4.22%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,270.00p -4.10%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 260.00p -3.88%
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 1,628.00p -3.73%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 326.00p -3.69%
Venture Production (VPC) 716.00p -3.31%
