London close: Volatile Footsie closes lower

20th Nov 2009 16:34

Footsie ended slightly in the red after a topsy-turvy day which saw UK shares at the mercy of the US dollar.Shares in miner Antofagasta resumed their position near the top of the leaderboard after a brief dip into negative territory that came as commodity prices slipped in line with strength in the US dollar.Elsewhere in mining, Rio Tinto fell after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the mining giant from 'neutral' to 'underperform'.Around two thirds of the Footsie's constituents are in the red today as the blue-chip index looks set to finish the week lower than it started it.US bank Morgan Stanley has rained on the parade of package tour operators Thomas Cook and TUI Travel. The bank has cut its rating on both stocks, prompting sharp mark downs of both stocks.Thomas Cook has been downgraded from 'equal weight' to 'underweight' and TUI cut to 'equal weight' from 'overweight'. The price target of the former has been chopped to 230p from 270p, while Morgan Stanley cut its price target for TUI to 290p from 320p.Morgan Stanley thinks both companies will suffer from higher fuel prices next year. It is also worried about cash generation levels and growing debts.Broker comment has, however, given a boost to Cable & Wireless (C&W). JPMorgan believes the already lavishly remunerated C&W management will be kept motivated by the company's demerger plans.Property groups are out of favour, with Hammerson, SEGRO, Land Securities and British Land the worst affected in the sector.Product quality and safety tester Intertek is lower on talks to buy the business assurance division of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) with a large chunk of its own shares, despite both Seymour Pierce and Altium Securities applauding the strategic sense of the acquisition.National Express raced to the top of the FTSE 100. Internecine struggles at the bus and train group look set to continue, as the company's biggest stakeholder, the Cosmen family, increased its shareholding to 18.97% with the purchase of half a million shares at 341p. The family has been vociferous in its opposition to the company's recently announced rights issue and also criticised the National Express board for not pursuing more vigorously merger talks with rival bus and train outfit, Stagecoach.Valve actuator and gearbox maker Rotork expects this year's profits will be at the upper end of market forecasts. Although order intake in the third quarter was down 3.4% on the levels seen a year ago, some of the markets in which the company operates are showing signs of a rise in activity.Fund manager Gartmore has confirmed its intention to float in London with an offer expected to be completed by mid-December. The fund manager reported that business had been good in the third quarter with £924m of net inflows, which helped push funds under management up to £21.8bn as at 30 September, up 17% since year-end 2008 and 34% since February 2009.London-based pub group Fuller's lifted underlying first half profits by 18% as it shrugged off the recession, though it is more cautious going forward.Weapons group Chemring has raised $280m through the issue of loan notes placed with a number of institutional investors. The blended interest rate on the issue is in the region of 5.5%, which, the group noted, is a rate more favourable than its current lending facilities.Trading remains subdued at wireless specialist Anite with first half underlying operating profits expected to slide to £3.5m from £12.4m this time last year.Online search marketing group Infoserve has said it will no longer be an Authorised Google AdWords Reseller from 7 January next year. In an attempt at damage limitation, the firm said it will still offer its small and medium enterprise customers a full range of online services, including organising Google AdWords campaigns as part of its overall portfolio.FTSE 100 - RisersCable & Wireless (CW.) 138.10p +1.84%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,576.00p +1.74%Old Mutual (OML) 118.00p +1.46%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,135.00p +1.43%Randgold Resources (RRS) 4,950.00p +1.25%Cadbury (CBRY) 800.50p +1.20%Antofagasta (ANTO) 901.00p +1.18%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,253.50p +1.05%SABMiller (SAB) 1,730.00p +0.93%Prudential (PRU) 614.00p +0.82%FTSE 100 - FallersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 209.20p -4.26%TUI Travel (TT.) 245.00p -4.00%SEGRO (SGRO) 352.70p -3.71%3i Group (III) 275.60p -3.16%Hammerson (HMSO) 426.10p -3.14%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,223.00p -2.94%Home Retail Group (HOME) 303.70p -2.78%British Land Co (BLND) 473.40p -2.73%Land Securities Group (LAND) 684.00p -2.43%Man Group (EMG) 343.10p -2.33%FTSE 250 - RisersNational Express Group (NEX) 366.90p +7.60%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 346.00p +5.75%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 507.50p +5.07%Telecity Group (TCY) 344.70p +3.67%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 147.10p +3.59%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 190.40p +2.70%Gem Diamonds (GEMD) 237.60p +2.63%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 371.90p +2.59%Renishaw (RSW) 496.40p +2.35%Beazley Group (BEZ) 102.80p +2.19%FTSE 250 - FallersComputacenter (CCC) 250.50p -5.72%Ashtead Group (AHT) 74.45p -5.52%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 125.70p -5.20%Trinity Mirror (TNI) 158.80p -4.80%Kier Group (KIE) 970.00p -4.24%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,132.00p -4.23%Robert Wiseman (RWD) 471.30p -4.17%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 113.00p -4.16%Domino Printing (DNO) 279.00p -4.02%Interserve (IRV) 221.80p -3.77%