The FTSE100 was down 3.9 points at 5,671.6 with the FTSE250 also down 141.1 points at 9,134.8 and the FTSE Smallcaps down 58.8 points at 3,422.
Volume was very high with 3.54 billion shares changing hands in 537,154 deals.
The day was also very volatile on the markets.
As the markets closed in London the DJIA was up 20.40 points at 11,226 while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.92 points at 2,202.72.
Today’s look at individual Stocks:
It was not all bad news though; BT topped the winner’s board, up 17p at 226.25p, after the UK telecom operator posted solid full year results. This morning, the group said pre-tax pre-exceptional profits jumped to £2.177 billion in the 12 months to the end of March, versus £2.08 billion last year, as turnover rose 6% to £19.514 billion. Cazenove lifted its stance on the stock to outperform from in-line. Cazenove said the 'strong' results marked BT out as one of the best performing of Europe's telecom operators.
Merrill Lynch also said the figures were in line and it lifted EPS estimates by 10% in 2007 and by 9% in 2008 and 2009.
Shares in Vodafone also edged higher, adding 0.5p at 122.75p on press reports its French peer Vivendi Universal, with which it owns SFR, has rejected a break-up proposal presented by a rebel shareholder. The Daily Telegraph reported that Sebastian Holdings proposed to break up Vivendi while making a £27 billion informal offer, prompting speculation Vodafone could see this as a chance to increase its stake in SFR.
Shares in Next also climbed (was not a completely bad day) adding 18p at 1,682p, as April retail sales rose by a better-than-expected 3%, year-on-year. The stock also benefited from yesterday's positive trading update.
Amvescap dropped 20p to 511p following a downgrade to reduce from hold by DKW, saying the stock run had priced in too much too soon.
Boots dropped 11p to 711p, after the health and beauty retailer reported a 9.8% drop in full year profits ahead of its planned £7 billion merger with Alliance UniChem. In response to this, Citigroup reiterated its sell recommendation and said Boots the Chemist does not appear to have broken out of its long-term trend of delivering below-industry average.
Alliance Unichem meanwhile, fell 10.5p to 903.5p, further hit as Merrill argued the merger's exceptional risk and exceptional charges raise serious questions about the quality of earnings.
Corus was another casualty as with so many other stocks today closing down 4.5p at 373.5p on the back of concerns about global demand and competition fears after Mittal Steel today said its €9 billion offer for rival Arcelor has opened.
The Portfolio:
Vislink (VLK) - closed down 2.99% at 65.00
Wolfson (WLF) closed down 6.28% at 440.50
The Footsieblog still advises all small holders to close profitable positions now and wait until things settle down.
Tomorrow is the start of “invest my £1000”. Can The Footsieblog invest £1000 from one of our readers and double that amount by the last trading day before Christmas? of course we can. Find out what stocks we pick for this challenge and more tomorrow.
