Weak dollar dampens spirits

The London market failed to find enough momentum to end the week on a high note today as the weak US dollar dampened spirits.

A fall in the greenback to a nine-month low against the pound hit a string of blue-chip stocks which generate a large chunk of their sales in the United States.

This contributed to the FTSE 100 Index slipping back 11.9 points to 4741.5, falling further back from the two-year highs seen in recent weeks.

The market’s dour performance also reflected a lack of inspiration from markets in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved from its opening mark by the end of trading in London as it failed to pick up after yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Companies bearing the brunt of the weak dollar included drugs giants GlaxoSmithKline, off 15p at 1120p, and AstraZeneca, losing 7p to 2080p.

Other fallers included Tesco – down 3.25p to 305.5p as the supermarket group gave back some of the post-results surge that sent its shares to record highs yesterday. Rival Morrisons managed to make it into the black, however, advancing a penny to 224.75p.

Barclays was down for a second consecutive day, weakening 2p to 543p after reporting a flat performance from its UK retail banking business yesterday.

On the results front, brewer Fuller Smith and Turner struggled to make headway despite a healthy lift in profits at its London Pride operation. The stock slipped 18.5p to 717.5p after a poorer performance by its managed and tenanted pubs.

Also in the lower tiers, online auctioneer QXL Ricardo rocketed 41% after agreeing to be taken private by its management team in a deal worth £11.9 million. Shares moved towards the offer price of 700p per share, up 193.5p to 671p.

Shares in Glenmorangie were unchanged at 1685p as investors looked beyond a 19% hike in profits to the likelihood that its takeover will be completed in December.

The UK franchisee of fashion chain Kookai was in the black despite blaming disappointing clothing ranges for a fall in first-half sales. Forminster’s shares rose 7%, up a penny to 16p, after an improvement in recent sales.

But Iceland-to-Booker retail group Big Food slipped half a penny to 87.5p after a report said talks with Nordic investor Baugur were in trouble.

Troubled furniture group Courts saw its stock plummet 48%, down 13.75p to 14.75p, after delivering a major blow to investors by announcing it had been forced into talks over a life-saving financial overhaul.

And troubled tour operator MyTravel was off 5% after saying it was cutting its fleet of aircraft in the UK by more than a quarter.

MyTravel, which won a crucial court victory in its fight for survival yesterday, saw its stock fall 0.3p to 5.2p.

The biggest risers in the Footsie today were Enterprise Inns up 12.5p to 665p, Land Securities adding 20p to 1279p, Scottish & Newcastle up 6.5p to 431.25p and Xstrata lifting 14p to 938p.

The heaviest fallers were William Hill off 14.5p to 513p, GlaxoSmithKline falling 15p to 1120p, Rentokil Initial off 2p to 154.5p and Hilton Group falling 3p to 261.5p.