FTSE slips into red

Directories group Yell gave the London market little to shout about today after UK regulators warned that its dominance was hurting smaller rivals.

Yell was the heaviest faller – down more than 3% or 17p to 510.5p – as traders fretted that its growth could be curbed by regulatory intervention.

Initial enthusiasm to an update from Vodafone had also worn off as the recent weakness of the mobile phone giant’s shares continued, nudging the FTSE 100 Index down by 7.9 points to 5653 by mid-morning.

Investors looked beyond the 7% increase in UK subscribers to its network in the third quarter and upbeat comments about the chances of an improvement in Japan to focus on how much each individual was spending on Vodafone services instead.

Vodafone shares moved 1.25p lower to 119.75p after revealing that average revenues per user (ARPU) were lower in Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Flying high on the risers board was British Airways – up 4p to 319.25p – after the cost of crude oil retreated from a four-month high.

Investors took news of lower oil production by BHP Billiton in their stride after hurricanes off the coast of the US disrupted the operations of the mining giant in the second quarter.

Record half-year output of certain metals was instead lifting BHP, which rose a penny to 1012p on a good day for the sector with Antofagasta trading 15p higher at 1910p.

Industrial gases firm BOC Group advanced 5% or 56p to a record high of 1207p on rumours that a number of European industrial rivals had it in their sights.

Elsewhere, retailer WH Smith fell 4.25p to 398p as investors worried about its ability to keep improving margins at the expense of sales, which were down 5% during the seven weeks to January 21.

And in the last trading day for Marconi before the bulk of its operations are acquired by Swedish rival Ericsson, the fallen industrial giant moved 4.25p higher to 394.25p.