FTSE slips slightly after early gains

British top-flight shares shed some of their gains today after investor interest in oil group Royal Dutch Shell subsided.

After hitting an intra-day high of 5249.5 in early trading, the FTSE 100 Index retraced its steps to stand 25.1 points ahead at 5226.6 by mid-morning.

After rising as much as 9p in early trading, “B” shares from the UK side of Royal Dutch Shell retreated to stand 21.5 points off at 1824.5 on its first day of trading since its unification.

Shell “A” shares originating from the Dutch side of the business fell nearly 3% or 52p to 1772.5p.

The fall in the shares, which now account for about 9.4% of the value of the Footsie, dragged the index down.

An upbeat performance across the Atlantic last night also boosted the Footsie, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 71.6 points up at 10646.6. The Dow was tipped to open 15 points down today.

In London, Argos-owner GUS was the highest blue-chip riser, adding 4% or 45p to 899p after saying a strong performance from its credit checking business Experian was offsetting the trading troubles of its retail division.

Telecoms group O2 also made strong gains after revealing it added more UK customers than expected in its first quarter. Shares lifted 2% or 2.75p to 139.25p.

Rival Vodafone was also doing well, lifting 1% or 1.5p to 142.5p, after buying back 15 million shares.

Elsewhere, United Business Media lifted more than 3% or 16p to 510p after agreeing to sell its share in Channel Five.

European television broadcaster RTL is set to buy the 35.4% stake in a move that will give it full control of the channel.