London close: Shares in late dive

7th Apr 2011 16:43

Shares were little changed for much of the day as central banks in London and Frankfurt acted as expected, but another earthquake in Japan sent jitters through markets ahead of the close.The Bank of England kept its key lending rate unchanged. The European Central Bank, however, stuck to its script and raised its key lending rate by a quarter of a point, as expected.The retail sector cameback down to earth following a brief respite yesterday when M&S unexpectedly posted quarterly sales growth.Carpetright fell sharply after another warning on profits. The flooring and carpet retailer says it now expects pre-tax profits for the year to 30 April to be in line with those achieved in 2009, when trading was hit hard by the economic crisis. It had previously said that profits for the current year would be below 2010 but ahead of 2009.Bicycle and car part retailer Halfords moved into reverse after it predicted a continuing tough trading environment as it posted a sharp fall in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 1 April. Like-for-like sales from the company's retail outlets were down by 6.8% from the same period the previous year, resulting in a 5.5% fall over the full year. Talvivaara Mining slumped after it lowered annual production guidance to take into account longer than previously anticipated maintenance breaks. The company believes it realistic to anticipate a production shortfall of 5,000-8,000 tons of nickel from the previous guidance and so has revised full year production guidance for 2011 to 22,000-28,000 tons of nickel. Online gaming colossus bwin.party, another heavy faller, could be ready to cash in its chips in Germany after it slammed new tax proposals outlined by German states yesterday.Online betting exchange Betfair is probably none too pleased about the new proposals either, as Germany intends introducing a 16.67% levy on money staked on sports wagers. In the first quarter of 2011 international recruitment firm Hays, also lower today, saw like-for-like (LFL) growth in net fees in every region except the UK & Ireland, where spending cuts in the public sector are starting to bite. For the group as a whole, fees were up 16% on a year earlier on a LFL basis. "Overall, 21 countries grew net fees by more than 20%," revealed Alistair Cox, chief executive of Hays.Electronics and maintenance products supplier Electrocomponents expects pre-tax profits for the year to 31 March to be marginally above previous expectations after strong international sales helped drive sales above £1bn for the first time in the group's history. Anglo-Swedish drugs leviathan AstraZeneca has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its thyroid cancer treatment Vandetanib.Plastics group Victrex reported record half year sales volume of around 1,434 tonnes, an increase of 22% from the same time last year. The group, which makes and sells polymers, said the record 752 tonnes sold in the second quarter of this year was 10% above the 682 tonnes sold in the first quarter, "reinforcing the positive underlying trends in the Victrex Polymer Solutions business."Financial trading systems supplier FFastFill expects to report 'in line' results for the year ended 31 March, after making further progress in the implementation of its global 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) strategy.Skin treatments supplier Sinclair Pharma and speciality drugs group IS Pharma have reached agreement on a merger that was announced in February.Oil rig services group Lamprell has confirmed rumours that it is in talks to acquire Norwegian peer Maritime Industrial Services (MIS), pressuring shares lower on Thursday afternoon.FTSE 100 - RisersAggreko (AGK) 1,696.00p +1.31%BAE Systems (BA.) 335.00p +1.03%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 667.20p +1.03%Essar Energy (ESSR) 468.00p +0.86%United Utilities Group (UU.) 591.00p +0.51%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 42.92p +0.33%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 833.50p +0.30%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,216.50p +0.29%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,684.00p +0.24%Tesco (TSCO) 394.00p +0.24%FTSE 100 - FallersGKN (GKN) 199.90p -4.45%ITV (ITV) 75.85p -3.50%3i Group (III) 275.30p -2.72%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,431.00p -2.64%British Land Co (BLND) 543.00p -2.51%Cairn Energy (CNE) 445.90p -2.30%Schroders (SDR) 1,794.00p -2.29%WPP (WPP) 769.00p -2.29%Anglo American (AAL) 3,219.00p -2.28%Man Group (EMG) 241.90p -2.26%FTSE 250 - RisersNorthgate (NTG) 325.00p +2.46%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 457.00p +1.99%RPC Group (RPC) 303.30p +1.95%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 430.80p +1.84%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 85.25p +1.49%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 365.90p +1.19%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 10.75 +0.94%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,090.00p +0.93%Fidelity European Values (FEV) 1,230.00p +0.90%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 76.65p +0.86%FTSE 250 - FallersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 142.00p -14.66%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 540.00p -6.90%Carpetright (CPR) 632.00p -5.88%Lamprell (LAM) 340.90p -5.12%Halfords Group (HFD) 350.00p -5.05%Hays (HAS) 114.10p -4.52%Rank Group (RNK) 142.00p -4.51%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 318.90p -3.77%Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 161.40p -3.64%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 87.85p -3.41%