Footsie posts early losses

Insurers remained under pressure today as the London market continued to fret over the implications of Britannic’s profits warning a day earlier.

The weakness in the sector contributed to an indifferent start for the FTSE 100 Index, easing 28.5 points to 3972.9 in the first hour of trading.

Initially, the Footsie showed an appetite for progressing from the 4000 barrier, following a strong finish to trading on Wall Street last night, but the current market uncertainty showed through again.

For the second session in a row insurance stocks dominated the fallers’ board with Prudential down 14.5p at 434p, Aviva off 15.75p at 448.25p and Royal & Sun Alliance 4p lower at 122.5p.

FTSE 250 stock Britannic, which slumped 50% yesterday after warning that fragile stock market conditions could force it to defer annual bonus payments on savings plans, fell another 4%, or 6.5p to 157.5p, today.

Helping to prop up the market were telecoms stocks with BT Group among the Footsie’s strongest risers with a gain of 4.25p to 209.25p. Vodafone also rose a penny to 123p.

In the retail sector, Dolcis-to-Bay Trading retailer Alexon achieved a 4% rise - up 7.5p to 202.5p – after it said it was likely to beat profits targets despite the impact of slower Christmas sales growth.