FTSE dips below 6000

Uncertainty over the prospects for the FTSE 100 Index continued today as the London market gave back recent gains to dip back below the 6000 barrier.

A volatile week looked set to end on a negative note as the London market surrendered some of the 56-point rise seen in the previous session.

By mid-morning the Footsie stood 27.2 points lower at 5987, as it became clear that investors were reluctant to push the index to a new five-year high.

Miners failed to build on gains yesterday as Rio Tinto dipped 48p to 2933p and Antofagasta fell 18p to 2142p.

ITV was almost 2% lower after it revealed it had rejected a second proposal from a consortium seeking to take control of the broadcaster.

Shares lost some of their bid premium to stand 2p lower at 123p.

Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer jockeyed for position at the top of the FTSE 100 Index as investors welcomed the news that it would no longer have a presence in the United States.

Shares in M&S hovered near recent highs – up 7p to 560p – after the retailer sold US supermarkets business Kings for £35.4m (€51m) in a move that wraps up its restructuring.

But M&S was beaten to the top of the risers board by financial services firm Man Group, up 3% or 71p to 2475p after forecasting profits ahead of analysts’ expectations of $1.2bn (€991m) on the back of strong performance fees.

But there were few friends of Tate & Lyle as the market continued to react negatively to a trading statement this week, which warned of a substantial writedown of assets due to changes in the EU sugar regime. Tate shares topped the fallers’ board – off 10p at 569p.

Elsewhere, telecoms firm Kingston Communications slumped 10% or 6.75p to 60.25p after revealing that months of takeover talks would not result in a formal offer because of a disagreement over price.