Shares closed lower today, falling back in the afternoon as Wall Street opened.
This Tuesday the FTSE100 was down 12.1 points at 6,086.6 with the FTSE250 up 17.7 points at 9,966.9 and the AIM100 5.8 points higher at 6,463.7.
Volume was ok with 2.9 billion shares changing hands in 313,813 deals.
Gold futures lost almost $12 an ounce yesterday as traders locked in recent gains that brought prices to quarter-century highs, although the metal still closed off the session lows.
U.S. crude futures fell more than $1 after President Bush ordered that deliveries to the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve be suspended. Crude for June delivery fell $1.43 to $71.90 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Today’s look at individual Stocks:
Corus went up 1p to close at 88.25p after Citigroup raised its price target on the steel group to 100p from 90p and reiterated its buy recommendation. The Footsieblog believes Corus is due for a ‘break out’ any day now, sending the stock up to the 100p level and then beyond. This follows the rating by Citigroup and the current high commodity prices.
Further Mining stocks stayed weak as a volatile start to the week by metal prices encouraged further profit taking. Xstrata shares went down 36p at 2,092p and Anglo American dropped 37p to 2,424p.
Capita Group saw excellent gains this afternoon, gaining 12.5p at 475.75p, following an upbeat AGM statement. The outsourcing firm announced that it has won two new contracts worth up to £117m and delivered an upbeat outlook on its growth prospects. Capita's chairman Rod Aldridge said
current trading is strong and the prospects for future growth remain excellent 
Amvescap featured on the FTSE100 leaders board today, up 15.5p to 574p, ahead of first-quarter results from the fund management firm, which are due tomorrow.
Banking group HBOS, was up 14.5p at 966.5p, after it said it is on course for a good full-year performance after experiencing 'robust' trading in the first quarter. HBOS said it expects to hit its cost targets, and predicted that a combination of 'broadly stable' margins and good non-interest income would deliver 'continuing earnings growth'.
Shares in Lloyds TSB climbed 2p at 524p after being upgraded to reduce from sell by Dresdner Kleinwort today on valuation grounds.
Broadcaster ITV was once again on the up 1.5p at 116p, as more old lady rumours of a bid from US break-up firm KKR once again did the rounds, here we go again!
On the downside, shares in oil giant BP lost 10p at 701.5p as a mixed bag of first-quarter numbers gave investors an excuse to take profits after yesterday's record highs. BP said underlying profits were up 7% in the first quarter, although headline replacement cost net profit fell to $5.265 billion from $5.491 billion a year earlier, pulled down by fair value losses of $395m on embedded derivatives.
CEO, Lord Browne, said:
BP's first quarter result reflected good overall operating performance and a strong recovery in Refining and Marketing from the fourth quarter. The Texas City refinery is now running at 200 mb/d and further units will be brought on-stream through the rest of this year. Cost control measures are on track, but that the results have been hit by higher tax charges, with the effective tax rate rising to 35% from 31.5%. Strong cash generation continues to support shareholder distributions through dividends and buybacks
After yesterday's crude oil price retreat, Cairn Energy shares dropped 33p at 2,386 and BG Group lost 7p at 775. The portfolio stock Tullow Oil also closed down 4p at 412.00.
Shares in Tesco were also lower today after a mixed bag of results. The shares lost 3.5p at 323.25p, despite posting a bumper record pre-tax profit of a whopping £2.21 billion and confirming weekend press reports it is to release up to £5 billion from its property portfolio. Merrill Lynch said current UK trading at the supermarket giant was disappointing with margins down. I would not call a pre-tax profit of £2.21 billion disappointing.
Whitbread sunk down 2p at 1,155p, after a pleasing set of full-year numbers showed pre-tax profits rising to £181.1m, up from £160.1m in the previous year and ahead of predictions. Merrill Lynch retained its buy recommendation, saying it believes there remains substantial value trapped within Whitbread's conglomerate structure.
The Portfolio:
After yesterdays excellent results from Wolfson (WLF) the shares fell 1.25% to close at 473.00p. The Footsieblog still recommends this stock a buy with a price target of 600p.
The rest of the portfolio suffered like the rest of the market today closing mostly down. CSR (CSR) was down 0.62% - 8p at 1275.00p
The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) was down 1.38% - 4.50p at 322.50p
Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) was down 3.66% - 9.25p at 243.50p
