London open: Autonomy bucks trend as Footsie tumbles

19th Aug 2011 08:27

The Footsie tumbled over 1% in the opening minutes on Friday, despite a surge by software giant Autonomy. However, Autonomy was just one of the four lone stocks making gains, as the blue chip index looks set to fall below the 5,000 mark.Shares in Autonomy rocketed by over 75% in early trading after US computing giant Hewlett-Packard made a recommended offer for the Cambridge-based software firm, valuing it at around £7.09bn.Technology and software firms ARM, Sage and Micro Focus were also in demand.Meanwhile, oil stocks were the ones providing a drag as the oil price continued to fall. Oil and gas engineers Wood Group and Weir were out of favour, joined by oil explorers BP and Tullow Oil. Shareholders at FTSE 250 bus and rail transport firm Stagecoach celebrated after the firm announced that they are to pocket £340m as part of a proposed one-off return of cash.High diamond prices have helped Gem Diamonds achieve record earnings in the first six months of 2011, which surged almost five-fold compared with the first half of 2010. Shares jumped over 3% higher.Fund manager Jupiter fell despite saying that it is to pay a maiden interim dividend of 2.5p after a strong performance in the first half of the year. Assets under management (AUM) at the end of June stood at £24.8bn, up from the year-end figure of £24.1bn.BSkyB fell lower after the Competition Commission provisionally determined that satellite broadcaster's control over the pay-TV film rights in the UK is restricting competition between pay-TV providers, leading to higher prices and reduced choice and innovation for subscribers.BCFTSE 100 - RisersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,523.00p +76.56%ARM Holdings (ARM) 489.00p +2.15%Sage Group (SGE) 235.40p +1.60%International Power (IPR) 289.10p -0.07%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 509.00p -0.12%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.90p -0.23%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 316.80p -0.25%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,835.00p -0.27%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,246.00p -0.40%National Grid (NG.) 587.50p -0.42%FTSE 100 - FallersJohn Wood Group (WG.) 496.00p -5.79%Essar Energy (ESSR) 269.40p -4.54%GKN (GKN) 181.00p -3.88%Land Securities Group (LAND) 737.50p -3.34%BP (BP.) 387.45p -3.14%Tullow Oil (TLW) 966.50p -2.77%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 174.90p -2.51%Carnival (CCL) 1,740.00p -2.47%Xstrata (XTA) 949.10p -2.36%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,216.00p -2.33%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 271.10p +6.73%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 190.00p +4.40%SDL (SDL) 635.00p +4.01%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 535.00p +3.98%Ocado Group (OCDO) 118.10p +3.78%Misys (MSY) 243.10p +3.58%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 75.75p +2.99%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 43.50p +2.79%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 237.30p +2.33%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,420.00p +2.01%FTSE 250 - FallersHunting (HTG) 624.00p -4.07%Travis Perkins (TPK) 713.50p -3.97%EnQuest (ENQ) 101.00p -3.81%Exillon Energy (EXI) 305.10p -3.75%International Personal Finance (IPF) 225.70p -3.55%Bodycote (BOY) 274.10p -3.45%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 68.45p -3.39%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 42.84p -2.99%BBA Aviation (BBA) 156.20p -2.98%Michael Page International (MPI) 351.30p -2.90%