London close: Stocks close lower despite rally

11th Oct 2011 16:35

Stocks rallied towards the close as uncertainty over the euro situation continues to stoke volatility, but the top share index still finished in the red.A much awaited vote in Slovakia has yet to take place. Opposition parties in the small central European state could move to block Slovakian approval of the bailout fund, arguing that they shouldn't have to cough up to help Greece, which is richer.In UK economic news, house prices in Britain fell by 1.3% over the year in August, new figures from the Department for Local Communities and Government show. Month-on-month, prices climbed by 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average house price stood at £208,476 in August. Industrial production in the United Kingdom grew by 0.2% on month (-1.0% on year) in August 2011, according to the latest data out from the Office for National Statistics. In terms of quarterly variations production expanded at a 0.2% pace. Consensus estimates were for a 0.2% fall. In the afternoon, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)said that Britain's post-recession recovery could be the weakest of any since the First World War. The NIESR estimates that the economy grew by 0.5% in the three months to the end of September, only a slight improvement from the 0.4% growth seen in the three months to August. In stocks, today's star performer was Mothercare. Investors have applauded news that the baby and toddler products retailer is parting company with its chief executive Ben Gordon. He will be stepping down when the company releases its interim results on 17 November. The search for a new chief executive is underway. Centamin Egypt bucked the downward trend in the mining sector after seeing a 67% increase in production in the third quarter.Internet and catalogue shopping firm N. Brown had a solid first half to its trading year but sales have gone ex-growth in the second half, causing shares to drop 5%.Ladbrokes is lower a day after walking away from its preliminary discussions with Sportingbet, due to regulatory concerns with Sportingbet's Turkish language website.Fusion IP, which commercialises university research, saw its shares leap today after it posted its first ever pre-tax profit. The firm posted a profit of £1.0m before tax in the year to the end of July , compared to a £1.6m loss in 2010.FTSE 100 - RisersBAE Systems (BA.) 281.10p +3.96%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.30p +2.80%Barclays (BARC) 175.70p +2.09%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,786.00p +2.00%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,410.50p +1.84%Meggitt (MGGT) 356.90p +1.62%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.28p +1.62%Compass Group (CPG) 536.00p +1.42%Inmarsat (ISAT) 477.20p +1.27%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 624.50p +1.22%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 166.20p -2.75%Aggreko (AGK) 1,693.00p -2.70%Old Mutual (OML) 110.40p -2.56%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,069.00p -2.37%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 625.00p -2.27%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 320.80p -1.96%Bunzl (BNZL) 774.00p -1.65%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,077.00p -1.55%Cairn Energy (CNE) 293.70p -1.41%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,345.00p -1.41%FTSE 250 - RisersMothercare (MTC) 210.20p +9.19%SThree (STHR) 249.60p +5.32%Mitie Group (MTO) 239.80p +5.08%KCOM Group (KCOM) 69.75p +4.89%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 754.00p +4.72%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 46.43p +4.57%International Personal Finance (IPF) 242.00p +4.54%Spirent Communications (SPT) 125.50p +3.98%Home Retail Group (HOME) 131.50p +3.95%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 102.70p +3.84%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Foods (PFD) 4.73p -7.09%CSR (CSR) 183.40p -5.76%Lamprell (LAM) 264.00p -4.10%Cape (CIU) 456.00p -2.96%Afren (AFR) 84.15p -2.89%Galliford Try (GFRD) 410.00p -2.84%Supergroup (SGP) 695.00p -2.59%Perform Group (PER) 204.60p -2.57%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 234.40p -2.37%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 110.90p -2.20%