FTSE loses ground

The FTSE 100 Index appeared set to disappoint hopes of another strong session on Tuesday as it surrendered early gains.

With a steady stream of corporate news for traders to digest, the benchmark index lost sight of an initial 14 point rise to drift into negative territory settling 0.7 points below its opening mark at 4203.7 after an hour of dealing.

But most of the major movement was outside the top flight with industrial pallet supplier Brambles suffering the biggest fall after it posted a 30% drop in full year profits.

The Anglo-Australian group was the FTSE 250's biggest faller in early trading, tumbling 9% or 17p at 173.5p.

Also in the second division, there were strong gains for IT firm Computacenter after it reported a 31% surge in pre-tax profits to £32m (€46m). Shares gained 8% or 32.5p at 440p.

Not far behind was insurer Britannic which trumped City forecasts to post operating profits of £44m

(€63m) for the six months to June 30.

And the group further cheered investors by saying it was confident of resuming annual bonus payments and dividends as it prepares to finalise a restructuring plan. Shares climbed 6% or 14p to 292.5p.