London close: Central bank plan aids recovery
News of plans by major central banks to tackle the liquidity crisis in global money markets saved London from a disappointing session that saw the leading index trade a 180-point range.
The Bank of England, US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Canada and Swiss National Bank hope the cash injection of around $100bn will help sooth credit crunch woes.
Northern Rock, facing certain relegation from the FTSE 100 index this evening, was dog of the day on reports that US private equity firm Cerberus is no longer interested in acquiring the crippled bank. That would leave Virgin and Olivant as the only serious bidders.
Other stocks in the relegation zone including DSG International, Mitchells & Butlers, Punch Taverns, Tate & Lyle and Daily Mail & General Trust all had investors on the run.
But Barratt Developments made a late bid for survival, joined in the top four risers by sector peer Taylor Wimpey.
Plumbing supplies merchant Wolseley recovered from disappointment that Tuesday's US rate cut was only a quarter of a point. Oil major BG Group also improved on talk of stakebuilding by a Chinese buyer.
Weaker copper prices dragged Kazakhmys and Antofagasta lower, while Xstrata also slipped despite confirmation that it is involved in a "dialogue with a number of parties covering a range of topics of mutual interest such as industry consolidation."
Properties remain out of favour against a background of depressed commercial property prices, with British Land and Hammerson the worst affected.
Morrison has outperformed its peers and is now the only stock in the sector worth buying, JP Morgan said today, sending the supermarket north. The broker cited data showing Morrison achieved 11% sales growth last month, almost twice that of the overall sector.
Among the mid-caps, Sports Direct limped lower after Merrill Lynch changed its recommendation on the stock to 'sell'.
Gaming group Rank will axe its final dividend because of the company's current trading, the level of uncertainty facing the gaming industry and the more general market concerns of a consumer spending slowdown. Revenue rose by 1% like-for-like and while there was a 2% decline in total revenue for the 49 weeks to 9 December.
Local newspaper group Johnston Press report underlying market continues to improve, with overall advertising revenues up 0.2% in the five months to November. UK like-for-like print advertising revenues declined by 0.8%, versus a 2.9% drop over the first half, though Ireland has turned down sharply as the property market has cooled.
Music retailer HMV posted an underlying interim loss of £28.7m, down slightly on last year's £29.2m, but worse than most forecasts. Sales rose to £729m from £665.5m. "At this stage, the most important days and weeks of our financial calendar are still ahead of us, and our stores and websites are very well prepared for Christmas," chief executive Simon Fox said.
Natural healthcare products supplier William Ransom shot up after it said the voluntary recall of all products containing purified water is no longer required. News of a voluntary product recall on Friday sent shares plunging around 50% but the group said today that its brands Radian, Valderma and Pavacol are not subject to a recall anymore.
Digital media production technology group Zoo Digital has lost more than half its value over the last year but rose strongly today on news of doubled revenues and sharply reduced operating losses at the interim stage.
Plant Health Care (PHC) bloomed after Monsanto entered into an agreement to evaluate, develop and commercialise applications of the PHC's Harpin-based technology.
Netherlands based engineer Bateman Litwin plunged to its lowest in 11 months Wednesday after Agra Industries Inc cancelled a $37m contract because of financing difficulties.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 508.50p +4.68%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 728.00p +4.00%
ICAP (IAP) 694.00p +3.66%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 229.00p +2.69%
Kingfisher (KGF) 163.40p +2.51%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 194.20p +2.32%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 186.80p +2.02%
HBOS (HBOS) 833.00p +2.02%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,898.00p +1.88%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 320.75p +1.83%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Northern Rock (NRK) 99.20p -4.98%
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,043.00p -2.89%
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DSG International (DSGI) 110.60p -2.81%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 462.25p -2.32%
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 513.00p -2.19%
Shire (SHP) 1,146.00p -2.13%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 496.25p -2.12%
Prudential (PRU) 712.00p -1.86%
Punch Taverns (PUB) 822.50p -1.85%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 428.00p -1.72%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 268.50p +8.59%
Victrex (VCT) 659.50p +8.11%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 197.25p +6.48%
Debenhams (DEB) 85.75p +6.19%
Marshalls (MSLH) 273.50p +4.49%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,370.00p +4.26%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 978.50p +3.82%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 211.75p +3.80%
Severfield-Rowen (SFR) 475.50p +3.71%
Helphire Group (HHR) 398.00p +3.71%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 191.75p -6.46%
Game Group (GMG) 220.00p -5.98%
WH Smith (SMWH) 324.75p -5.73%
Rank Group (RNK) 101.50p -5.58%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 96.75p -4.91%
Tomkins (TOMK) 190.75p -4.74%
Invensys (ISYS) 234.50p -4.58%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 206.25p -4.51%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 117.25p -4.29%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,421.00p -4.12%
