London close: Stocks give up gains

13th May 2011 17:01

Stocks ran out of puff following the US open and closed in the red giving up the gains they had posted on the back of buoyancy on Wall Street overnight.Oil services group Petrofac said it is "increasingly confident" that it will deliver profit growth in line with previous guidance after a strong performance so far this year.In the second tier, bourses operator London Stock Exchange (LSE) hailed a 22% increase in adjusted operating profit and said a packed pipeline of new issues promises more to come. Adjusted operating profit in the year to 31 March rose to £341.1m from £280.3m the year before, on revenue that grew 2% to £615.9m from £605.6m the year before. The median consensus forecast for the LSE's revenue was £640.9m, while investment analysts had pencilled in a figure of £314m for operating profit. Full year expectations remain unchanged at Dignity, the UK's only listed funeral care provider, after the group saw underlying operating profit increase by more than 10% in the first quarter. Bermuda based insurance underwriter Catlin is up after it said rates for certain classes of business are starting to rise after a first quarter that saw an unprecedented number of significant natural disasters. Catlin reiterated its estimate of $375m of losses related to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the New Zealand earthquake and the floods in Australia. Trading at precision instruments and controls group Spectris has been strong so far this year, assisted by a healthy order book at the start of the year, the firm has said. Like-for-like sales were up by 21% in the four months to the end of April from the same period a year ago, the company said. Spectris advanced following the update and managed to hold onto most of its gains.Among today's heaviest fallers was Stobart after the distribution group hit back at an article in the Daily Telegraph saying the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is examining a deal that will see Stobart buy a property portfolio from its chief executive.FTSE 100 - RisersWhitbread (WTB) 1,668.00p +2.14%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 362.80p +2.11%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,479.00p +2.07%Aggreko (AGK) 1,811.00p +1.86%Serco Group (SRP) 566.50p +1.80%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,324.00p +1.53%Capita Group (CPI) 728.50p +1.46%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,734.00p +1.46%BAE Systems (BA.) 339.20p +1.44%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,348.50p +1.31%FTSE 100 - FallersITV (ITV) 69.40p -2.94%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,335.00p -2.41%Prudential (PRU) 735.00p -1.80%Next (NXT) 2,281.00p -1.77%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,373.00p -1.72%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 242.40p -1.70%Schroders (SDR) 1,674.00p -1.65%Essar Energy (ESSR) 415.10p -1.54%Aviva (AV.) 435.80p -1.51%National Grid (NG.) 619.50p -1.51%FTSE 250 - RisersRenishaw (RSW) 1,780.00p +6.27%Spectris (SXS) 1,551.00p +4.02%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 100.90p +3.91%Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 175.60p +3.54%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 141.00p +3.45%Misys (MSY) 368.90p +3.22%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 845.00p +2.99%Savills (SVS) 423.00p +2.82%Inchcape (INCH) 384.00p +2.81%Rotork (ROR) 1,791.00p +2.75%FTSE 250 - FallersStobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 128.00p -5.67%Supergroup (SGP) 1,160.00p -4.84%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 380.00p -3.31%Rightmove (RMV) 1,056.00p -2.76%ITE Group (ITE) 248.30p -2.59%CPP Group (CPP) 123.00p -2.38%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 140.50p -2.29%Ocado Group (OCDO) 202.60p -2.22%Exillon Energy (EXI) 444.20p -2.20%Kier Group (KIE) 1,387.00p -2.19%