London close: Stocks slide as global gloom deepens

4th May 2011 16:39

The top share index slumped below 6,000 points as poor economic figures from the US added to the gloom in the afternoon following a poor start to the day from the FTSE 100.Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing sector report fell to 52.8 points in April, from the previous month's 57.3. Miners were in the firing line as metals prices fell. South America-focused miner Antofagasta slumped after its quarterly production report.Group copper production for the first three months of the year came in at 129,800 tonnes, 10.3% higher than the first quarter of 2010. However, the amount missed forecasts of 158,800 tonnes, reflecting delays at the Esperanza mine and the impact of lower-than-budgeted grades its Los Pelambres.But Aquarius Platinum buckedthe trend after the company said it is to buy mineral rights in an area next to its own operations in the Eastern limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex. Aquarius has entered into a sale of rights agreement with Northam Platinum to acquire the rights. Aquarius Group companies will pay Northam R1.2bn (£109m). Kazakh copper producer Kazakhmys says it is on track to meet 2011 production targets after a strong first quarter in which commodity prices remained firm. The company produced 74,000 tonnes of copper cathode in the three months to 31 March and is set to achieve its aim of producing 300,000 tonnes over the full year.Next helped to prevent a bigger decline from the FTSE 100 after warm weather and the royal wedding holiday had shoppers flocking to its stores in the 13 weeks to 30 April, the fashion retailer said as it reported better sales than expected for the period. Total sales for the period excluding VAT were up by 5.2% from the same period the previous year, ahead of guidance given in March of between -0.5% and +2.5%. High Street rival Marks & Spencer advanced in sympathy.In other sectors, Asian markets-focused banking group Standard Chartered released an upbeat trading statement in which it said the group is seeing double digit income growth in comparison with the first quarter of last year, with Consumer Banking making a larger contribution this time round, "as it continues to make progress in its strategic repositioning." Accountancy software firm Sage released interim figures that were ahead of some brokers' forecasts as its North American business returned to growth. Underlying profit before tax in the half-year ended 31 March rose 4% to £183.5m from £176.1m a year earlier. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) also increased 4% to 9.87p, from 9.52p the year before. Broker Matrix Group had forecast EPS of 9.7p.Engineering solutions provider Weir Group fell even after it said it expects full year profit before tax and intangibles amortisation to be around £20m ahead of its previous expectations following a strong first quarter. Glasgow-based Weir Group said a record opening order book and contributions from acquisitions made last year has increased its confidence in achieving further good progress in 2011. Software group Logica was wanted after saying it expects to see sales ahead of the market in 2011 after strong growth in revenues and orders in the three months to 31 March. Orders were up by 29% from the same period a year ago at £1.399bn. Revenue grew by 5%. The growth was driven by commercial sectors, said Logica, which also has strong exposure to the public sector.FTSE 100 - RisersNext (NXT) 2,319.00p +4.37%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 398.90p +3.77%Kingfisher (KGF) 276.00p +2.03%BT Group (BT.A) 196.70p +1.24%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 300.30p +0.81%Whitbread (WTB) 1,677.00p +0.66%Tesco (TSCO) 408.60p +0.64%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,081.00p +0.62%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 352.00p +0.57%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,162.00p +0.56%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,212.00p -9.01%ARM Holdings (ARM) 558.00p -7.31%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,515.00p -5.19%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,860.00p -3.83%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,363.00p -3.74%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,604.00p -3.69%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,445.00p -3.67%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,220.00p -3.60%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 119.40p -3.55%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,152.00p -3.27%FTSE 250 - RisersAquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 360.00p +7.21%Debenhams (DEB) 70.90p +4.57%Home Retail Group (HOME) 225.60p +3.87%CPP Group (CPP) 132.00p +3.86%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 471.80p +3.81%SIG (SHI) 145.60p +3.26%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 115.00p +3.23%SDL (SDL) 675.00p +2.97%Drax Group (DRX) 457.90p +2.95%Logica (LOG) 139.60p +2.95%FTSE 250 - FallersStobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 135.00p -7.53%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 469.00p -5.84%EnQuest (ENQ) 130.70p -5.50%Laird (LRD) 136.00p -5.03%Petropavlovsk (POG) 859.50p -4.50%SThree (STHR) 427.60p -4.47%Melrose (MRO) 339.80p -4.42%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 287.00p -4.33%Renishaw (RSW) 1,685.00p -4.15%Soco International (SIA) 369.20p -4.10%