London afternoon: US slump adds to Footsie woes

8th Dec 2009 15:04

Footsie's losses have widened further after a poor start on Wall Street.The leading share index had already fallen sharply, with Royal Bank of Scotland in focus.Trading in the state-controlled bank briefly stopped trading and it went into 'auction' as the price tumbled below 30p, though it has since recovered a little. The auction process is used when a company's share price falls, or rises too quickly in a short space of time. It is used to smooth out these falls and rises and make trading more orderly.Rumours that a bank tax in some form could accompany tomorrow's pre-Budget statement have unsettled the shares all week as have reports over its exposure to Dubai, and talk that the board may resign if a bonus cap is forced on the bank. All have resurfaced today.Elsewhere, trading is much quieter. Admiral is riding high after Morgan Stanley kept its 'overweight' stance on the car insurer and raised its price target by 6% from 1,272p to 1,344p.The broker likes the group's improving underwriting margins, its growth as policyholders shop around more and improved profit commission terms from its reinsurers coming online. It views Admiral's risk-reward as highly attractive and sees 25% upside to its new price target.But investors continue to shun Tesco supermarket giant Tesco despite reporting strong third quarter sales as its Clubcard reward scheme helped draw in customers and ongoing benefits from increasing non-food sales. UK like-for-like sales excluding petrol and VAT were up by 2.8%, in line with analyst expectations. New stores in the UK contributed 2.9% to growth, bringing total sales growth excluding petrol to 5.7%.Meanwhile, video game retailer Game is the worst FTSE 250 performer after it said it approaches the key Christmas shopping season cautiously and has seen softer than expected sales of some software releases. The group also reiterated its gross margin guidance for an increase of between 170 to 220 basis points over the prior year. Also influencing the sector are the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium indicating that shoppers remained cautious last month with like-for-like sales were well down on the previous month.Mining giant Xstrata is to take charges of nearly $2.5bn this year after restructuring its copper, zinc and nickel operations in Canada and Australia. In Canada, it will take a $375m charge for the permanent closure of its copper and zinc metallurgical plants at the Kidd Metallurgical site in Timmins next May, which is part of a plan to restructure its Canadian metallurgical operations. Kosmos Energy, Tullow Oil's operating partner on the West Cape Three Points Block, offshore Ghana, has reported another encouraging test drilling.Plastics group Victrex saw profits slide in the year to 30 September as demand slumped but said it had successfully cut costs while maintaining growth prospects, leaving it well placed to benefit from the upturn. Domino Printing revealed an 11% increase in annual pre-tax profit and raised its dividend after a series of cost cutting measures. Van hire group Northgate reported a drop in half year pre-tax profits but said it looks forward with increased confidence.Intermediate Capital, an investor in and manager of buyout debt, said a £68m capital gain will be realised as a result of the sale of its equity and mezzanine investments in Marken Group. Italian restaurant chain Carluccio's posted a fall in profits in the year to September 30 as customers felt the pinch of the economic crisis, but said it had seen signs of improved consumer confidence in recent weeks.Care home operator Southern Cross expects to resume dividend payments next year, despite posting another big loss in the year to September.Wireless equipment tester Anite reported a sharp drop in half year pre-tax profit as customers continued to tighten their budgets but said it was trading in line for the full year.FTSE 100 - RisersPearson (PSON) 866.50p +1.46%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 223.40p +0.99%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,092.00p +0.74%WPP Group (WPP) 592.50p +0.68%Compass Group (CPG) 443.10p +0.39%BAE Systems (BA.) 342.40p +0.38%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,460.00p +0.27%TUI Travel (TT.) 250.90p +0.16%Cobham (COB) 243.70p +0.12%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 279.80p -0.07%FTSE 100 - FallersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 30.35p -8.03%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 707.00p -4.46%Hammerson (HMSO) 388.40p -4.33%SEGRO (SGRO) 322.00p -3.88%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,439.50p -3.55%British Land Co (BLND) 441.00p -3.50%Fresnillo (FRES) 820.00p -3.47%Barclays (BARC) 287.00p -3.38%Xstrata (XTA) 1,036.00p -3.36%Rexam (REX) 278.60p -3.33%FTSE 250 - RisersDomino Printing (DNO) 307.00p +4.32%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 287.10p +4.06%Sports Direct International (SPD) 109.00p +2.54%BSS Group (BTSM) 256.00p +2.40%Synergy Healthcare (SYR) 655.00p +2.26%Cranswick (CWK) 729.00p +1.96%Yell Group (YELL) 43.75p +1.82%Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 538.50p +1.80%PZ Cussons (PZC) 272.00p +1.76%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 419.20p +1.57%FTSE 250 - FallersGame Group (GMG) 117.50p -18.74%Melrose Resources (MRS) 290.00p -6.45%Inchcape (INCH) 28.09p -6.37%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 127.60p -5.69%Ashtead Group (AHT) 65.40p -5.56%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 112.60p -5.54%Redrow (RDW) 127.00p -5.51%Laird (LRD) 111.20p -5.36%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 337.00p -5.18%Renishaw (RSW) 534.00p -5.15%