London close: FTSE 100 slumps after US jobs shock

1st Jun 2011 16:38

After a directionless start, the top share index fell deep into the red ahead of the close, with some unfavourable US economic data denting sentiment. Rio Tinto held out to finish with gains. The mining giant announced today that it is to establish a large-scale presence in commodity hungry China with the formation of a joint venture with state-owned aluminium producer Chinalco to explore for deposits in the country. Another Anglo-Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton, has scored a $580m victory against the tax man in the Australian High Court. The dispute concerned the claw-back of capital allowance deductions claimed by BHP Billiton for the ill-starred Port Hedland plant.The share price of Tate & Lyle was sweetened by favourable coverage from the broker Deutsche Bank, which ups its price target on the group to 785p from 725p. The rise may have more to do with takeover chatter though.Plumber's merchant Wolseley saw like for like (LFL) revenue growth of 6% in its third quarter. This represents a slow-down from the LFL growth rate of 7% in the first quarter.Drugs company AstraZeneca held onto slight gains after Health Canada approved Brilinta, its ticagrelor tablet product, for the secondary prevention of atherothrombotic events in patients with acute coronary syndromes.Cruise operator Carnival has placed an order for a massive 141,000-ton, 3,611-passenger cruise ship, set to be the largest in its P&O Cruises fleet. Insulation specialist SIG is to sell its safety and work wear business to outsourcing firm Bunzl for an undisclosed sum.An initial assessment of the recently-purchased Booysendal South property has led Aquarius Platinum to raise its production expectations at its Everest mine in South Africa.Property company St. Modwen was in demand after it said interim results should be at the top end of its expectations, "both in terms of profit and net asset value growth".Finance specialist Intermediate Capital said annual pre-tax profit rose 76% after a marked improvement in the performance of its investments. Nevertheless, shares are off the mark.Tile and flooring group Topps Tiles was slightly trampled even after it posted a slight rise in revenues in the half year to 2 April, a "robust performance" but one that reflects continuing consumer caution, according to the company. Total revenues came in at £89.2m, a 1.5% increase from the same period the previous year. On a like-for-like basis sales were up by 1.8%. Pre-tax profits climbed to £10m from £7.4m. Shares in Matra Petroleum fell back after the Russia-focused oil group reported a leak at a well in its Sokolovskoe field. The leak seems to have developed in the latter stages of an acid treatment and clean-up operation, Matra said. But elsewhere in the sector, shares in Mediterranean Oil & Gas gushed higher after it said the government of Malta is letting it explore an area near the island for 18 months longer than initially agreed.Further afield, shares in Falklands Islands-focused Rockhopper Exploration jumped higher on Wednesday after an appraisal well at its Sea Lion development shows a "significant reservoir package and hydrocarbon column. The 14/10-5 appraisal well encountered 94m net pay in high quality reservoir. FTSE 100 - RisersG4S (GFS) 291.00p +1.78%Hammerson (HMSO) 486.30p +1.42%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,478.00p +1.37%Aggreko (AGK) 1,882.00p +0.80%Land Securities Group (LAND) 837.00p +0.60%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,326.00p +0.53%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,927.00p +0.52%Unilever (ULVR) 1,980.00p +0.46%BT Group (BT.A) 201.70p +0.45%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,733.00p +0.40%FTSE 100 - FallersNational Grid (NG.) 596.00p -4.79%Vodafone Group (VOD) 161.55p -4.38%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 50.01p -3.83%Glencore International (GLEN) 513.90p -3.24%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 386.40p -3.13%BG Group (BG.) 1,363.00p -3.09%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 396.60p -2.94%Whitbread (WTB) 1,587.00p -2.70%Barclays (BARC) 269.65p -2.53%WPP (WPP) 738.00p -2.51%FTSE 250 - RisersTate & Lyle (TATE) 651.50p +5.00%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 269.70p +4.13%Renishaw (RSW) 1,761.00p +4.02%Elementis (ELM) 163.40p +3.29%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 463.70p +3.04%Computacenter (CCC) 449.00p +3.03%Lamprell (LAM) 400.90p +2.53%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,790.00p +2.35%Hunting (HTG) 766.50p +2.34%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 185.30p +2.32%FTSE 250 - FallersAZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 312.00p -7.72%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 18.45p -6.11%Redrow (RDW) 122.90p -5.68%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 137.20p -4.66%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 43.19p -4.49%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 301.10p -3.28%Ashtead Group (AHT) 177.00p -3.17%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 312.40p -2.95%Debenhams (DEB) 72.60p -2.94%De La Rue (DLAR) 798.00p -2.92%