London still going down

The London market remained in reverse gear today with ailing retailer Marks & Spencer leading the slump.

M&S shares headed the list of top flight fallers after retail tycoon Philip Green dropped his proposed £9.1bn (€13.6bn) takeover.

A fall of 5% – 19.25p (28.8c) to 344.75p (€5.20) – ended an upward run for the group’s shares, which peaked at 368p (€5.50) last week.

Negative sentiment from across the Atlantic added to the lacklustre tone in London, where the FTSE 100 Index stood 20.5 points lower at 4352.1 by mid-morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped nearly 40 points into the red last night following higher oil prices and losses from chip giant Intel after its cautious outlook statement at the end of the previous session.

In London, just a handful of stocks were in positive territory, including oil giants BP and Shell. The stocks advanced 2.25p (3.4c) and 1.25p (1.9c) to 490.25p (€7.30) and 401.25p (€6) respectively after the price of a barrel of crude in New York surged beyond the $40 (€32.40) mark.

In contrast, British Airways was among the heaviest fallers, down 4.25p (6.4c) to 243.75p (€3.60).

A clutch of retailers followed M&S into the red, with Dixons off 0.75p (1.1c) to 159.25p (€2.40), Next retreating 14p (20.9c) to 1456p (€21.80) and Argos-owner GUS falling 6p (9c) to 814.5p (€12.20).

On a quiet day for corporate news, companies outside the top flight were influencing investors.

Telecoms equipment group Marconi weakened 7% – down 34.5p (51.6c) to 443p (€6.60) – despite reporting a return to modest year-on-year sales growth. This made it the heaviest faller in the FTSE 250 Index.

Shares in pubs group Regent Inns dived nearly 10% after tough trading conditions caused it to slash its dividend and write down the value of some poorly performing venues. Regent retreated 4.25p (6.4c) to 39.25p (58.7c).

But bookshop chain Ottakar’s was in the black, advancing a penny to 393p (€5.90), after saying sales rose by almost 20% since the start of its financial year.