Relief as FTSE slips slightly

The FTSE 100 Index ended virtually where it started today in a rollercoaster session that saw traders struggle to make sense of recent batterings.

Blue-chip shares strayed over a 100-point range, first sinking more than 50 points before boomeranging firmly onto positive ground in early trading.

But after hours of fluctuations, the Footsie ended the session 3.9 points below its opening mark at 5671.6.

Aggressive selling has seen the index lose more than 400 points in less than a week including a dive of 170 points yesterday, which wiped more than £40bn (€59bn) off the value of London’s blue-chip stocks.

The sell-off came amid fears of higher inflation on both sides of the Atlantic and signs from the Bank of England that interest rates could rise shortly – a move that could put pressure on economic growth and corporate profits.

At its lowest point today the Footsie was back at the same level – 5618.7 – as it was at the start of January.

On the corporate front, telecoms group BT gave the market some cheer by reporting fourth-quarter and full-year figures at the top of expectations.

With the company “firing on all cylinders” after increasing profits on the back of growth in new wave services, its shares were far in the lead on the risers board, gaining more than 8% or 17p to close at 226.25p.

It also announced a major content deal for BT Vision, the television-via-broadband service it plans to launch in the autumn.

The boost for BT came on a positive day for telecoms giant Vodafone which inched ahead a halfpenny to close at 122.75p.

The retail sector was also on form after official figures from the sector showed a better than expected trading performance in April.

Next put back losses of the previous session with a rise of 18p to close at 1682p while B&Q owner Kingfisher neared the top of the risers board, lifting 4.25p to 230.75p, a gain of 2%, and GUS gained 16p to end the session at 983p.

SABMiller lifted profits by 18% in its last financial year but shares fell 3% or 33p to close at 1061p as analysts continued to worry about raw material costs and the impact of a price war on sales of Miller in the United States.

It was another hard day at the coal face for miners, with Kazakhmys 3% or 33.5p lower at 1094.5p while Antofagasta lost 41p at 2092p. But Xstrata bucked the trend, rebounding from early losses to close up 16p at 2006p as investors digested news of the Falconbridge deal.

Elsewhere, William Hill ticked 2.5p higher to 613p as investors welcomed a return to form for the bookmaker after it revealed favourable horseracing results had offset a poor start to the year.

The biggest Footsie risers were BT Group up 17p at 226.25p, DSG International up 3.75p at 200.75p, Kingfisher up 4.25p at 230.75p and National Grid up 10p at 569p.

The biggest fallers were Persimmon down 53p at 1148p, Cairn Energy off 90p at 2069p, Amvescap 20p lower at 511p and SABMiller down 33p at 1061p.