News

Most leading stocks are suffering from a bad case of subsidence in the wake of overnight falls in Asia, with housebuilders, mortgage lenders and DIY retailers particularly hard hit after a grim Halifax house price index for March.

According to the mortgage lender, prices for the month fell by 2.5% the worst reading for 6 years. Halifax's owner HBOS slumped on the news along with all of the other mortgage banks.

Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments, Bellway and Taylor Wimpey plus DIY retailer Home Retail are also well down on worries about the impact on discretionary spending. Storage group Big Yellow Storage and plumbers merchant Wolseley also tumble on the prospect of reduced business as the housing market ossifies.

Water utility Severn Trent is having a day of shame and pain. It has pleaded guilty to two fraud offences relating to leakage data supplied to Ofwat in 2001 and 2002. It has been also been fined £35.8m by regulator Ofwat for deliberately providing false information to the regulator and providing a poor service to customers.

Meanwhile, energy regulator Ofgem has launched an investigation into Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power following a complaint alleging abuse of dominant market positions. "This decision was based on a formal complaint alleging abuse of a dominant position in the electricity generation sector arising from constrained capacity on the transmission network, as well as informal enquiries," Ofgem said in a statement.

Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread announced six new Premer Inn hotels in London, to be opened over the next three years, with an investment equivalent to £100m.

BT is one of the few risers on the appointment of Ian Livingston, who is currently chief executive of BT Retail, to succeed Ben Verwaayen as chief executive of the telecoms giant on 1 June.

Unilever is another blue-chip on the up after it agreed to sell its financial shared services centres in Brazil and Chile to Cap Gemini.

Broker comment hits AstraZeneca and Tate & Lyle. The former has been downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" by Goldman Sachs while sweetener firm Tate & Lyle has been downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" by Credit Suisse.

Michael Page International is further punished today after suffering losses yesterday that were prompted by the recruitment firm's cautious outlook for current trading. UBS has responded to the results by downgrading the stock to "sell" from "neutral".

Brewer SABMiller draws some support, however, from an update from JP Morgan. Although the US broker has cut its price target to 1525p from 1580p, it still sees share price upside for the stock and advises long term investors to "buy into any dips" following the company's results on 16 April.

Online gaming firm 888 hit forecasts for 2007 with ongoing profits of $46m ( up from $22m). The group added 2008 had started well and it was confident about its prospects. Revenue last year rose to $$217m from $157m with net gaming revenue from casino up 33% to $118 million and poker up 18% to $81m. The final dividend is higher than forecast at 5c.

Wellstream dropped back on a placing of Candover's entire 13.83% stake; Candover is firmer after the announcement, however.

Soap maker PZ Cussons said the outlook for the full year remains positive and in line with expectations despite continued increases in commodity costs.

London-based residential property developer Telford Homes edges higher despite cautioning that a lack of available mortgage finance is hitting sales.

Interior fitter Havelock Europa saw profits for the year jump 24% and said order intake for the new year is higher than last time.

Magazine and newspaper distributor Dawson Holdings said it has continued to perform well and sees results for the six month to 29 March at the top end of management expectations.