FTSE finishes on last-minute flourish

London’s FTSE 100 Index finished a lacklustre trading session with an unusual flourish today – unchanged at the same point it started the day.

Top flight shares spent most of the day close to their opening mark as investors followed a rush of domestic corporate announcements and a positive return to trading on Wall Street.

After a 14-point rise early on following a clutch of positive trading updates, the FTSE 100 index slipped to finish the day flat at 4204.4 points.

With investors mulling over a steady stream of corporate news, much of the major movement was outside the top flight, where industrial pallet supplier Brambles suffered the biggest fall after posting a 30% drop in full year profits.

The London-listed Australian group was the FTSE 250’s biggest faller, tumbling nearly 11%, or 20.5p, at 170p.

Also in the second division, IT firm Computacenter made strong gains after reporting a 31% surge in pre-tax profits to £32 million. Shares gained 32.5p, or nearly 8%, to 440p.

Joining them was insurer Britannic, which trumped City forecasts to post operating profits of £44m (€63.8m) for the six months to June 30.

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 topped the list of FTSE 250 risers, moving ahead 24p, or 8%, to 302.5p.

Back in the blue chip Footsie, other insurers were also doing well, with Royal & Sun Alliance topping the FTSE 100 risers list.

R&SA rose almost 4%, or 5.5p to 149.5p, which helped it recover ground lost last week amidst speculation that it will launch a cash call with its results later this week.

Meanwhile, rival Legal & General gained 1.25p at 104.5p, Norwich Union owner Aviva climbed 0.5p to 515p and Prudential, which went ex-dividend, jumped 2% or 9p to 467p.

Aerospace groups were flying higher too, with BAE Systems up 5.5p at 181p and GKN lifting 4.75p to 274.5p. Both were boosted as BAE announced it had completed the purchase of GKN’s 29% stake in armoured vehicle maker Alvis.

And there were also gains for Rolls-Royce which today announced an order from Greece for engines for 20 NH90 military helicopters. Shares advanced 2.75p to 179.75p.

But banks fared less well, with high street heavyweight Barclays down 3.75p at 460p, Royal Bank of Scotland slipping a penny to 1567p and Lloyds TSB off 3.5p at 415.5p.

Meanwhile, a positive update from leisure group Whitbread failed to impress the market, with shares off 0.5p at 758p.

Leading the top flight risers board were Royal & Sun Alliance up 5.5p at 149.5p, Daily Mail & General Trust ahead 19.75p at 569.25p, Exel up 23p at 710p and BAE Systems ahead 5.5p at 181p.

Heading the fallers were United Utilities NP down 3.25p at 104p, Northern Rock off 16.5p at 682p, Mitchells & Butlers down 5p at 239p and Compass Group off 4.75p at 349.75p.