News

With Dow Jones sliding below 8,000 yesterday and the Footsie dipping below 4,000 today the mood remains one of gloom, although UK banks are providing some element of cheer ahead of RBS's shareholder meeting this afternoon.

The relentless downward trend of equity markets worldwide is raising concerns about the investment portfolios of insurers, resulting in large share price falls today for the likes of Aviva, Prudential and Legal & General.

Similarly, asset managers are out of favour, with BlueBay the worst affected while Footsie constituent Schroders is also taking a clobbering.

Rolls-Royce has added to the gloom, saying it will axe around 4% of its workforce in 2009, with 140 likely to go at the engine maker's assembly and test facility in Derby.

Oil company Cairn Energy is marked down on reports that its 65% owned subsidiary Cairn Industry has received a knock-back from the Indian cabinet in its application for a licence to drill in a deep water block in the Mumbai basin.

Miners are also weak on worries over the US economy following a cut in the output forecast from the US Federal Reserve yesterday. Concern that the US car makers may not get a bail-out from the US government is also unsettling metal markets. Vedanta, ENRC, Xstrata and car auto catalyst specialist Johnson Matthey are weak spots.

Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca has put a temporary block on sales of a rival's generic version of Astra's Pulmicort Repsules asthma treatment.

Royal Bank of Scotland is the top riser ahead of today's vote on its new fund raising. Shareholders are expected to follow in the footsteps of their Lloyds TSB counterparts and approve the refinancing plans. Meanwhile, HBOS is going well after Lloyds TSB shareholders approved the merger of the pair yesterday.

Retailers are enjoying a little bit of support, despite - or possibly because of - dramatic actions taken to get the Christmas shopping season underway. DIY retailer Kingfisher and clothing giants Marks & Spencer and Next edge higher, while department store Debenhams and Comet owner Kesa race ahead.

Car and bicycle parts retailer Halfords boosted profit by 3% during the first six months, but like for like sales fell 1.1% and have slowed further since the end of the half-year.

Babycare retailer Mothercare saw group pre-tax profit more than double at the interim stage thanks to rapid growth overseas and in the direct sales channel.

Daily Mail and General Trust saw underlying profit drop 9%, but the newspaper group plunged into the red on a statutory basis and admitted the short term outlook remains difficult.

Power provider National Grid is trading in line with expectations and is "well positioned to deliver low risk, organic growth."

Traditional bookies William Hill and Ladbrokes are sharply higher but spread better IG Group is on a loser after it said it has seen a rise in doubtful debts during October.

Military decoy producer Chemring said earnings for the year remain in line with expectations, adding that it is confident that its prospects for 2009 are 'excellent'. The group's order book now stands at £409m, up 26% since October 2007.

Temporary power solutions provider Aggreko has been wheeling and dealing, selling one company and buying another.

Supply chain solutions provider Wincanton has agreed to merge its chilled consolidation activities in the UK with Culina Logistics with effect from 28 March 2009.

Oilfield services company Petrofac has completed the refit of the Northern Producer floating production installation within its target schedule.

Electronic payment services group PayPoint has grown interim profits by 6% and traded in line with expectations since the end of September.

Pub group and real ale brewer Young and Co's Brewery said like for like sales on a same outlet basis fell over 3% during September and October and doesn't expect conditions to improve in the short term.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 47.30p +11.82%
HBOS (HBOS) 71.70p +11.51%
Lloyds TSB Group (LLOY) 127.70p +7.76%
Rexam (REX) 325.25p +7.70%
Kingfisher (KGF) 103.00p +3.41%
Next (NXT) 961.50p +3.39%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 203.50p +1.75%
Lonmin (LMI) 731.00p +0.90%
Wolseley (WOS) 264.00p +0.86%
BT Group (BT.A) 126.00p +0.64%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Aviva (AV.) 301.50p -14.29%
Prudential (PRU) 265.25p -9.78%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 655.00p -9.59%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 63.20p -9.33%
Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 311.00p -8.33%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 402.00p -8.22%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 205.50p -8.16%
Schroders (SDR) 695.00p -6.21%
Xstrata (XTA) 663.00p -6.02%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 1,347.00p -6.00%