FTSE 100 holds over 4,800
Investors see tough day of mixed results
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By Will Haine. |  |
Wednesday, 02, Sep 2009 05:36
The FTSE 100 managed to end the day just below its opening price – making up initial losses.
The index ended the day at 4,817.55 – a drop of 0.04 per cent or 2.15 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones has also held firm through early trading after yesterday's drop.
At 11:54 EDT, the Dow was at 9,317.93 – a rise of 7.33 points or 0.08 per cent. In Chicago, the S&P 500 was down 0.04 per cent.
Tim Hughes, at IG Index, explained traders had been impacted by the losses seen on the US yesterday.
"Miners, insurers and banks were among those weighing heavily on the index," he said.
"On the up today were retailers, perhaps led by consumer electrical giant DSG's better-than-expected results."
Leading the gains in London was BP. The firm was up 4.26 per cent after it announced a "giant oil discovery" in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico after making one of the deepest wells ever drilled.
However BP did warn: "Appraisal will be required to determine the size and commerciality of the discovery."
Randgold Reserves was up 3.68 per cent, Morrisons rose 3.55 per cent, Centrica gained 3.53 per cent and Thomas Cook was up 3.20 per cent.
Legal & General led the drops – down 8.66 per cent as its shares went ex-dividend.
Lloyds Banking was down 6.23 per cent as speculation grew over its participation in the government's asset protection scheme or a £10 billion rights offer from share holders to raise funds.
BT dropped 4.01 per cent and Royal Bank of Scotland was down 3.96 per cent.
Mr Hughes added investors were now looking at economic news.
"It's clear that even though the signs of recovery are consistent the process isn’t going to be as smooth, or as simple, as many had hoped," he said.
"Investors will be hoping for better-than-expected non-farm [employment] data in the US on Friday."