FTSE edges lower despite surge in BT shares
LONDON stocks ticked marginally lower on another broadly calm day for market traders.
The City’s blue chip index has moved sideways for the past four days, bringing to an end the exciting rally which had helped the index to fresh record highs at the end of last week.
The FTSE 100 finished 7.15 points, or 0.08%, lower to end the day at 8,438.65.
BT had helped the index start slightly brighter, after the telecoms giant revealed plans for a further £3 billion in cost-cutting over the coming years.
It saw shares surge by 17.2% to 132.6p, their strongest level for five months, after it met previous efficiency targets ahead of schedule.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “The FTSE 100 finds itself unchanged on the day as the close looms, as gains for HSBC are countered by losses for Shell, while further down the weightings BT’S 15% gain, adding 4 points to the index is neatly countered by Sage’s sharp drop.
“Overall, the index continues to consolidate around its previous highs, and even yesterday’s US CPI (consumer price index) data had only a moderately-supportive effect.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the other main indexes were firmly down after weakness in the energy and industrials sector.
The German Dax index was down 0.69% at the close and the Cac 40 in France ended down 0.63%.
Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones surpassed 40,000 points for the first time after strong earnings updates.
Meanwhile, the pound was down 0.05% at 1.267 US dollars and was up 0.06% at 1.165 euros at market close in London.
In company news, Sage was a weak performer on the FTSE 100 after the accounting software business reduced its annual sales outlook.
It reported higher profits but trimmed its full-year revenues guidance, saying it expects growth to be “broadly” in line with that seen in the first half, against the 10% it previously forecast. Shares in the company were 9.4% lower at 1,084.5p at the close.
Easyjet dipped after boss Johan Lundgren revealed he will step down.
Investors were clearly disappointed, with shares down 6% to 497.7p as a result.
Shares in Watches of Switzerland moved 19.9% higher at 405p after the retail firm revealed a 4% rise in group revenue to £380 million over the 13 weeks to the end of April.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were BT, up 19.45p to 132.6p, Burberry, up 38p to 1140p, Prudential, up
23.6p to 827.4p, Rio Tinto, up 127p to 5649p, and Diploma, up 88p to 4210p. The biggest fallers were Sage Group, down 113p at 1,084.5p, easyjet, down 31.7p at 497.7p, Convatec Group, down 10.8p at 255.4p, IAG, down 5.1p at 176.95p, and Kingfisher, down 7.4p at 261.6p.