London close: Lower finish for FTSE 100

15th Oct 2010 16:38

London finished in the red heading into the weekend after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's comments saying he sees the case for 'further action' to stimulate the US economy failed to stir up much excitement.'There would appear - all else being equal - to be a case for further action,' Bernanke said, while giving few details.Insurers and miners were a drag on the market. The miners have seen a bout of profit taking while the insurers have been clobbered by a downgrade of the whole sector by Citigroup.RSA, Standard Life and Legal & General all retreat but it is insurance firm Old Mutual that is the main casualty after banking giant HSBC said is not going to go through with its proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in South African bank Nedbank from the insurer.HSBC said it is not in a position to make an offer for Nedbank as due diligence on the deal resulted in unexpected difficulties.Resolution, the insurance sector consolidator run by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, bucks the trend and moves higher after announcing it is buying Bupa Health Assurance for £102m.Telecoms giant BT was the best performing blue-chip after the company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, the man behind the so-called "bonfire of the quangos". BT has agreed on "new arrangements designed to deliver efficiencies" but all of its government contracts will remain in place, it assured the market. Reckitt Benckiser has been fined £10.2m for abuse of the dominant market position of its heartburn treatment Gaviscon in 2005.Gearbox designer Hansen Transmissions International moved up a couple fo gears on news it is to sell its loss making industrial gearbox division to concentrate on wind turbines.Information technology services firm Computacenter saw growth rates quicken in the third quarter. Like for like (LFL) growth, which excludes acquisitions and disposals, was 14%, or 17% on a constant currency basis, dragging year to date growth rates up to 8% and 11% respectively.Bus company Stagecoach is to re-enter the London market after acquiring the third largest bus operator in London. Stagecoach is paying £59.5m in cash for the bus business formerly owned by East London Bus Group, which is in administration. The acquisition is expected to modestly boost Stagecoach's earnings in the first year of ownership. Desire Petroleum's 14/15-1 well on the Rachel prospect in the North Falkland Basin, has reached a total depth of 2,877 metres, but initial wireline logging showed no oil or gas. Jatropha-based biodiesel products developer D1 Oils today confirmed that none of the parties it's been talking to are willing to launch a bid.Shareholders in Astaire Group were putting on the Ritz after the company said it has sold its broking business Astaire Securities to a Canadian broker for £2.45m.FTSE 100 - RisersBT Group (BT.A) 147.40p +2.93%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 46.40p +2.43%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,926.00p +1.80%Barclays (BARC) 285.00p +1.80%British Airways (BAY) 276.80p +1.13%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 635.00p +1.11%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,500.00p +1.08%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 570.00p +1.06%Next (NXT) 2,253.00p +0.99%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,172.00p +0.95%FTSE 100 - FallersOld Mutual (OML) 138.30p -4.75%Standard Life (SL.) 227.00p -3.24%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 131.80p -3.23%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,348.00p -2.95%Cairn Energy (CNE) 429.00p -2.59%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,384.00p -2.33%Inmarsat (ISAT) 620.00p -2.29%Xstrata (XTA) 1,311.50p -2.27%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,255.00p -2.11%Sage Group (SGE) 270.30p -1.89%FTSE 250 - RisersHansen Transmissions International NV (HSN) 49.50p +8.08%ITV (ITV) 66.70p +5.96%Fenner (FENR) 263.40p +2.85%Computacenter (CCC) 346.30p +2.58%Rank Group (RNK) 134.90p +2.35%Lamprell (LAM) 365.20p +1.90%Supergroup (SGP) 1,096.00p +1.86%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,615.00p +1.83%Bellway (BWY) 586.50p +1.65%Xchanging (XCH) 139.20p +1.61%FTSE 250 - FallersSalamander Energy (SMDR) 230.00p -14.78%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 133.70p -4.36%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 383.40p -3.86%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 71.00p -3.34%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 159.70p -3.15%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 385.00p -3.14%Devro (DVO) 228.00p -3.14%Halfords Group (HFD) 405.10p -2.95%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 53.20p -2.65%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 27.40p -2.49%