News

Footsie ended the day down, but off its worst as the US rallied after a dull start and miners and oil stocks had a good day.

Anglo American, Xstrata and BHP Billiton were near the top of the blue chip leader board for most of the day on higher metal prices, while crude prices above $104 a barrel buoyed BG, Shell, Tullow and BP.

Financials were a different story, though. as investors decided that the recent recovery in the banking sector has gone far enough for now, prompted by a downbeat review of the sector by Goldman Sachs. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays were the most prominent losers in the sector though Goldman raised its rating on HBOS to "buy".

News that the latest weekly cash auction from the Bank of England had also been heavily oversubscribed again with banks asking for £27.7bn against the £13.4bn offered sparked more nervousness over liquidity. Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester fell sharply.

HBOS, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, knocked housing -related firms with the suggestion that the number of housing transactions could fall as much as 30% this year, piling further pressure on the property market. Housebuilder Persimmon, plumbers merchant Wolseley and DIY retailer Kingfisher suffer collateral damage from HBOS's gloomy report.

Two of yesterday's major movers saw reversed fortunes today. London Stock Exchange gives up some of yesterday's gains while Imperial Energy rallied after being battered yesterday when it flagged the possibility of a $600m rights issue.

Embattled life assurer Friends Provident is easier along with sector peers. The FT says it had the backing of Scottish Widows, its biggest shareholder, in rebuffing a £3.5bn takeover approach from US private equity group JC Flowers.

In results news this morning, car parts and bicycles retailer Halfords expects full year profit before tax to match market expectations. Sales for the nine weeks since February's trading statement are up 7.6% and like-for-like sales by 4.6%.

PV Crystalox Solar, which makes silicon wafers for the solar electricity industry, saw full year profits surge 44.4% thanks to sales in its core silicons business.

Irish healthcare group United Drug reckons the strength of current trading to continue into the second half of the financial year and predicts double digit profit growth over 2007 despite the weak pound.

Pub group and brewer Marston's is predicting sales for the half-year will be up 4%, adding that expectations for the whole year remain unchanged.

Delays to film production and the Writers Guild of America strike hit sales at film studio Pinewood Shepperton.

Fourth quarter figures from baby goods retailer Mothercare have benefited from the £85m acquisition of the Early Learning Centre (ELC) last year and a strong performance from the international business.

Menswear retailer and hire firm Moss Bros has slipped into the red at the full year stage, as expected, and confirmed that bid talks are continuing with investment group Baugur.

Structural steel maker Serverfield-Rowen continued its advance after yesterday's record full year results were followed by positive press comment. The Telegraph says buy as it believes in the medium-term the shares are due a revaluation.

Rank Group shares, which have halved in value over the last year, received a further blow today after the market reacted badly to news that its finance director is leaving. Reports today also suggested 11% shareholder Genting is not considering an offer.

Waste composting TEG group came up smelling of roses after saying the outlook for trading in 2008 and beyond is strong, despite last year's pre-tax losses widening.

Acquisitive voice and data providers Spiritel are at it again, having acquired mobile reseller WN1 Limited for £2m to bolster its presence in the Blackberry market.

Printing.com said trading across the UK and Ireland has remained broadly in line with its budget and that it is on track to meet full-year expectations.

Ethanol production and distribution company Renova Energy lost around a third of its value after announcing it has been unable to secure further funding to ease financial pressures. Renova is seeking to extend a Standstill Agreement with its banks after breaching its banking covenants last month, but said trading is strong with sales growth ahead of expectations.

Anti-counterfeiting technology company OpSec Security is off colour after it said results for the full year will be slightly below market expectations. The company's profits were hit by the weak dollar and the cost of aborted acquisitions.

Shares in X-ray imaging firm Image Scan flashed higher after the company announced new orders from China and the US.

Shares in Formjet shot up after the software supplier said it had identified an appropriate acquisition that would "quickly advance the group's scale and development." The company narrowed full-year losses by 77%.

FTSE 100 - Risers
International Power (IPR) 429.50p +3.49%
BG Group (BG.) 1,162.00p +3.29%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,452.00p +2.69%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,745.00p +1.99%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,076.00p +1.92%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,112.00p +1.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Wolseley (WOS) 530.00p -5.94%
Carnival (CCL) 2,041.00p -5.11%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 129.20p -5.00%
Kingfisher (KGF) 137.40p -4.98%
Lloyds TSB Group (LLOY) 460.75p -4.66%
Persimmon (PSN) 742.50p -4.56%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Randgold Resources (RRS) 2,572.00p +4.77%
Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 1,346.00p +4.42%
Game Group (GMG) 228.75p +2.81%
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 750.00p +2.25%
Venture Production (VPC) 640.00p +1.99%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,246.00p +1.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Rank Group (RNK) 88.50p -11.28%
Misys (MSY) 145.75p -7.61%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,053.00p -7.14%
PartyGaming (PRTY) 21.00p -6.67%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 149.75p -6.41%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 341.00p -6.32%