Not a very good day on the markets today. One of those days when it’s best to just go into the garden or do something else. Shares closed much lower today.
The FTSE100 was down 44.3 points at 6,060 with the FTSE250 72 points down at 9,925.6 and the AIM100 down 54.2 points at 6,453.2.
Volume was good with 3.003 billion shares changing hands in 368,251 deals.
Today’s look at individual Stocks:
Mining issues weighed heavily on the loser board today as news that China has raised its one-year benchmark-lending rate to 5.85%. This raised fears about the impact of slowing growth on the country's appetite for metals and minerals. The stocks to suffer were Kazakhmys losing 37.5p at 1,168p, Anglo American loosing 83p to 2,334p and Rio Tinto losing 99p at 3,030p.
Xstrata however, lost 66p to 2,015p, ignoring news of an upgrade to in-line from Goldman Sachs. BHP Billiton was also a loser dropping 33.5p to 1,138.5p with the US broker cutting its stance to in-line after yesterday's Q1 production report.
Crude oil prices impacted heavyweight oil majors again with BP down 14.5p at 683.5p, BG Group down 7p at 761p and Shell down 45p at 1,993p. The portfolio stock Burren Energy was also down 29.5p to fall bellow the 1000p mark again, closing at 970.5p.
GlaxoSmithKline shares bucked the trend climbing 46p to 1,532p, adding to earlier gains as the world's second largest drug maker reported much better than expected first quarter numbers. GlaxoSmithKline said
sales of key drugs rose 22% to £2.2bn as expected the company reiterated guidance of 10% earnings growth this year 
AstraZeneca also saw some good gains too, up 64p to 3,055p, after the drug maker's first quarter earnings beat market expectations. EPS was up 40% to 90 cents, ahead of the consensus forecast of 83 cents a share. AstraZeneca lifted its full-year EPS forecast to $3.6-$3.9 a share, from $3.4 - $3.6 previously.
Shire reversed earlier declines to gain 12.5p at 863.5p after its first quarter numbers matched expectations, with diluted earnings per ADS jumping to 35.9 cents from 9.2 cents a year earlier on revenues of $411m, up 23%. The Analysts' consensus forecast was for Shire's earnings to grow to 35 cents, on a 20% rise in sales to $400m.
The good old PartyGaming shares were higher on the gainers board, up 6.75p to 152.75p, amid reports that the American Gaming Association plans to establish a congressional study commission to look at regulating and taxing online gaming. 888.com was up 7p to close at 244p.
Aside from the pharmaceuticals, Reckitt Benckiser and Smith & Nephew released late morning results. Shares in Reckitt Benckiser slowed down after some profit taking but recovered to close up 2p at 2,051p, following strong first quarter results. Reckitt Benckiser unveiled first quarter adjusted net profit up 14% to £141m, with revenues up 18% to £1.162bn.
Shares in Smith & Nephew also suffered today on the FTSE100 casualty list, down 48p to 462p, after its first quarter earnings came in well below market expectations. First-quarter trading profit came in at $127m, up from $124m the year before, but below the consensus forecast of $132m.
Not a very positive day.
The Portfolio:
After a down day across the market the portfolio also suffered today.
CSR (CSR) was down 0.79% to 1253.00p
The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) was down 0.22% to 338.00p
Tullow Oil (TLW) was down 3.13% to close at 410.00p, if this stock falls to 400.00p or lower it will become an excellent buy as The Footsieblog price target for this stock stands at 500p
Victoria Oil and gas (VOG) continued the trend to close down 3.54% at 245.00p
