Falls for FTSE

Telecoms giant Cable & Wireless added to the London market’s recent woes today after reporting a sharp slowdown in sales at its UK retail business.

The heavyweight stock lost almost 17% of its market value as it also warned the process of gaining regulatory approval for its £700m (€1bn) deal to buy Energis looked set to take longer than expected.

C&W was the heaviest blue-chip faller, off 23.25p at 118.5p, on a day when the FTSE 100 Index stood 4.7 points lower at 5367.7 by mid-morning.

Despite clawing back some of its recent heavy losses at the start of trading, signs of a recovery proved short-lived. A slump by shares in the United States mean the Footsie has plunged more than 130 points since Monday.

Other stocks proving a drag on the market included online poker firm PartyGaming, which fell 2.5p to 83p, its lowest level since floating on the stock market this summer.

Today’s lacklustre trading came despite efforts by a series of retailers to lift the mood.

Boots was the talk of the City as revealed it had raised £1.93bn (€2.8bn) from the sale of its business making Nurofen and Strepsils.

News that Reckitt Benckiser had bought Boots Healthcare International sent the consumer products group to top of the blue-chip risers board, up 40p to 1748p, and was followed by Boots, adding 8p to 630p.

Sainsbury’s was also on the way up after posting a third consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth, lifting its stock almost 1% or 2p to 282p.

The upbeat mood in the sector rubbed off on a number of high street names, with clothing retailer Next advancing 11p to 1353p and Argos owner GUS up 5.5p at 847.5p.

However, second tier supermarket group Somerfield was out of favour after a potential bidder ended interest dating back six months. London & Regional Properties – owned by brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone – said it had decided not to proceed with an offer for Somerfield, sending shares down 9p to 181p.