Shares moderately weaker in early trading

MORNING REPORT: Headline shares were modestly weaker in early deals today, with the market struggling to find a focus as profit-takers took the cream off yesterday’s strong gains, with miners bearing the brunt of losses.

At 8:30am, the FTSE100 was down 16.05 points at 5,350.36 with the FTSE250 off 1.3 points at 10,059.6 and the FTSE Smallcaps 2.08 points higher at 2,817.66.

LONDON MARKETS

Investors in London consolidated some of the previous session’s strong gains, shrugging off strong returns from New York and Asia, nervous ahead of tomorrow’s critical US employment numbers.

In the Midlands, Focus Solutions was an early riser, boosted by the award of a new contract and the Islamic Bank of Britain continued fro its good performance yesterday.

However, Coleshill-based Accident Exchange continued to struggle following yesterday’s announcement that talks over a restructuring of its existing £40m credit facility were progressing.