FTSE 100 movers: G4S leads fallers

16th Jul 2012 15:16

Security solutions firm G4S tumbled from the off today after saying that it will incur a loss on its Olympics Games contract of 35-50m pounds after failing to provide the number of staff for the event that it had committed to. Chief Executive Officer Nick Buckles said that the company is "deeply disappointed". The stock was being pressured down further by downgrades by both UBS and Jefferies this morning. Accountancy software leviathan Sage said it was still waiting for the looked-for pick-up in Europe to happen. While the group assured that it has been trading broadly in line with expectations since the end of March, that didn't stop shares falling over 3% today. Miners were also providing a drag on the Footsie as a result of comments by China's Premier Wen Jiabao who sent investor sentiment in the region plunging after saying economic recovery in China is still unstable and the country could be facing hardship for a while yet. Nomura was also providing downward pressure on the sector today after slashing its target prices for numerous miners, citing lower commodity prices. Randgold, Polymetal, Vedanta, ENRC and Kazakhmys were firmly out of favour. Meanwhile, Smiths Group, the technology company, rose on the news it is selling its share of US biometric firm Cross Match Technologies for $77m. Smiths Chief Executive, Philip Bowman, said: "As I indicated at our interim results in March, we are looking to simplify our portfolio. This disposal helps us to focus on our core businesses in driving revenue growth, operational improvements, enhanced margins and strong cash conversion." FTSE 100 - RisersResolution Ltd. (RSL) 217.90p +2.59%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 159.20p +2.18%Schroders (SDR) 1,334.00p +1.52%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,052.00p +1.45%Hammerson (HMSO) 463.60p +1.42%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 272.70p +1.26%British Land Co (BLND) 532.00p +1.24%Kingfisher (KGF) 271.80p +1.19%United Utilities Group (UU.) 692.00p +1.10%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 319.80p +1.07%FTSE 100 - FallersG4S (GFS) 252.00p -9.58%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,385.00p -3.35%Sage Group (SGE) 275.80p -3.23%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 724.50p -2.62%Barclays (BARC) 158.20p -2.44%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,201.00p -2.28%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,795.00p -2.19%Polymetal International (POLY) 860.50p -1.88%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 401.50p -1.79%Vedanta Resources (VED) 898.50p -1.75%NR