FTSE regaining ground in afternoon trading

After substantial losses this morning Britain's top stocks regained some ground, trading down 0.25 per cent by 15:35 BST. Companies including Next, Home Retail Group and Kingfisher put pressure on the FTSE 100 index, driving it towards 5,320. Late afternoon trading sees the FTSE down 16 points to 5,380.

Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Wednesday, August 04, 2010

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Today numerous stocks posted their earnings results none of which impressed investors and which failed to counter concerns about the sustainability of the economic recovery.

Miners Anglo American and Antofagasta reported mediocre results today which sent these down by 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. This against a generally positive day for mining stocks as African Barrick Gold, Eurasian Natural Resources, Fresnillo and Randgold Resources all climbed between 3.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent.

Next, the retailer was punished today as it reported a cooling in retail demand, stating that like for like sales revenue already dropped in H1 2010 compared to H1 2009. Investors sold shares in Next and fellow retailers Home Retail Group and Kingfisher, with losses in the region of 8.2 per cent, 4.1 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.

Lloyds Banking Group continued its winning streak, gaining an additional 3.5 per cent through today's training but things were not so positive for Standard Chartered which moved down by 5 per cent. The bank reported a record interim profit of over $3 billion but the outlook for wholesale revenue growth was not so rosy.

News that BP is facing a $20bn fine for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico did not alter investor sentiment much. The fine was expected and shares in the oil giant traded flat today.

 

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