Weak commodity issues drag FTSE into negative territory
END-OF-DAY REPORT: Headline shares ended the day firmly lower, with investors displaying caution ahead of Thursday’s interest rate decision, with commodity issues dragging the main index well into negative territory.
At the close of business, the FTSE100 was down 36.93 points at 5,555.97 with the FTSE250 off 28.66 points at 10,563.81 and the FTSE Smallcaps 3.4 points better at 3,007.79.
It was a cautious start to the week, with investors awaiting major policy statements from Chancellor Osborne and ahead of the last BoE pronouncements on interest rates on Thursday, and with US markets looking equally edgy.
Commodity issues were the major plague for the blue chip index in London.
Reports of competitors eyeing a break-up of its operations, gave insurance giant Aviva a temporary boost this morning, but the shares retreated 1.6p at 392.9p as the chatter subsided.
No peers made any headway on the day, with Prudential slumping 11.5p at 635.5p and Legal & General down 1.7p at 102p.
Banks put in a mixed performance, with Asia-facing Standard Chartered gaining 13p at 1,848p and Barclays edging up 0.05p at 299.8p, while HSBC fell 2p at 651.6p, Lloyds slipped 0.17p at 73.3p and Royal Bank of Scotland eased 0.11p at 47.56p.
Satellite operator Inmarsat was a major casualty, down 13.5p at 655p after New York-based Harbinger Capital Partners confirmed it is reviewing its options regarding its 28% stake in the mobile satellite operator.
Other notable casualties included distribution group Bunzl, off 7.5p at 752.5p, and precious metals processor Johnson Matthey, 26p weaker at 1,740p.
The biggest blue chip gainer of the session was National Grid, ahead 12.5p at 553.5p on announcing it has appointed ex-Cadbury FD Andrew Bonfield as finance director to replace the retiring Steve Lucas.
Heating and plumbing supplier Wolseley was another success story, ahead 19p at 1,601p, having been initiated at outperform by Credit Suisse.
Supermarket giant Tesco, which publishes interim results tomorrow, shrugged off early weakness to add 2.25p at 430.35p, while peers who update the market later this week suffered mixed fortunes, with Sainsbury edging up 0.3p at 389.3p and Marks & Spencer down 1.4p at 390.2p.
Gains were also recorded by tour operator TUI Travel, up 1.61p at 216.8p ahead of a trading update tomorrow, and temporary power supplier Aggreko was 8p higher at 1,547p.
Down the list, Hovis bread maker Premier Foods created plenty of interest, adding 1.69p (10.4%) at 17.9p, after confirming press reports that it has received approached for its Quorn meat substitute business, with the likes of Campbell’s, Nestle, Unilever and Danone in the frame, according to speculation.
