London close: Weak US drags down Footsie

11th Aug 2009 16:32

Footsie finished the day firmly in the red despite a bright start as banks weighed on the leading share index and a poor start in the US compounded earlier losses.While there was little US company news, stocks were hit by analyst downgrades on companies such as Yum Brands, which owns fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, and mobile phone group Sprint Nextel.Here, banks were weak after the FT reported that Lloyds Banking's tentative plans to raise an estimated £15bn-£20bn in a rights issue to reduce its reliance on the government face a wall of scepticism in Whitehall and among investors. Royal Bank of Scotland is also lower.Power generator International Power led the gainers after it reported a rise in profit in the six month period, thanks to improved contributions from Australia and Asia. Profit from operations rose to £555m in the six months ended 30 June compared with £495m last time, up 12% or 2% at constant currency.Clive Cowdery's insurance investment vehicle Resolution will be catapulted into the FTSE 100 index after life insurer Friends Provident accepted a new £1.86bn bid on Tuesday. Friends shareholders will get 0.9 Resolution shares for every Friends share held and may elect to receive 79.4p in cash for each of the first 2,500 shares.Hotel group Intercontinental held its interim dividend despite a tough first half that saw revenues tumble and the group post a loss after one-off items. Bakery chain Greggs lifted its interim dividend to a record level as it shrugged off the impact of the recession to lift underlying half-year profits by 7.3%. Pre-tax profits came in at £16.5m for the 26 weeks to 27 June, against £23.4m last time, though stripping out one-offs the comparable figure was £15.4m.Support services group Interserve is racing ahead after profits grew by almost 19% during the first half. Melrose Resources said gas samples obtained from its Kaliakra No.2 well in Bulgaria confirmed that the reservoir has very good properties, with an average porosity in excess of 30% high gas productivity.Shares in Hyder advanced after Crossrail announced its intention to award the contracts for the Whitechapel Station and the Victoria Dock Portal to the civil engineering consultant.FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Power (IPR) 266.40p +7.25%Rexam (REX) 245.50p +6.05%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 2,785.00p +1.72%National Grid (NG.) 570.00p +1.06%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,549.00p +1.04%British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,875.00p +1.02%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,126.00p +0.99%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,677.00p +0.84%Diageo (DGE) 938.00p +0.81%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,570.50p +0.77%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 90.99p -7.05%Aviva (AV.) 358.30p -6.03%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 852.00p -6.01%Liberty International (LII) 454.40p -5.92%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 42.83p -5.47%Xstrata (XTA) 743.50p -5.41%British Land Co (BLND) 468.00p -5.36%Fresnillo (FRES) 577.50p -5.09%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 62.95p -4.98%Land Securities Group (LAND) 575.50p -4.95%FTSE 250 - RisersInterserve (IRV) 235.00p +3.62%Melrose Resources (MRS) 326.20p +3.56%ITV (ITV) 44.96p +3.36%Sports Direct International (SPD) 88.20p +3.22%Greene King (GNK) 452.40p +3.03%Genus (GNS) 546.00p +3.02%Forth Ports (FPT) 1,118.00p +2.95%St James's Place (STJ) 202.30p +2.69%Beazley Group (BEZ) 106.00p +2.51%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 377.10p +2.20%FTSE 250 - FallersBlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 260.00p -6.47%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 162.10p -6.14%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 165.60p -6.02%Charter International (CHTR) 563.00p -6.01%National Express Group (NEX) 357.00p -5.48%SEGRO (SGRO) 306.90p -4.96%DS Smith (SMDS) 79.20p -4.58%Mouchel Group (MCHL) 177.50p -4.57%Henderson Group (HGG) 115.40p -4.39%Debenhams (DEB) 86.20p -4.22%