Tech stocks under pressure as Footsie falls

The Footsie index of 100 leading stocks is off 20.5 points by 9am to stand at 5775.6, with technology and telecoms shares once again feeling much of the pressure.

The fall comes despite a promising session overnight in the US, where the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite rose by nearly 26 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 39.3 points.

Leading the London fallers is computer services group CMG, down 30p at 400½p.

Joining it on the fallers' board are telecoms equipment companies Spirent and Marconi, down 7½p at 260¼p and 8½p at 345p respectively.

Software group Sage is also down, sliding 8p to 277p.

Business services group Rentokil Initial is slipping slightly, down 1p at 243¼p, after yesterday's upbeat trading statement led to some impressive surges.

Those making gains include sports retailer JD Sports, up 4p at 345p after announcing a jump in year-end profits.

Pubs and beer group Fuller Smith & Turner has seen its shares leap by nearly 9% or 40p to 497½p after announcing it is considering buying back a tranche of its own shares. It also said year-end profits had increased by 41% to £19.3 million.

But home shopping firm N Brown has seen its shares fall by 5p to 287½p following speculation that it could splash out £500m buying privately-owned retailer Littlewoods.