FTSE endures early slump
The London market was on the back foot again today– dashing hopes that yesterday’s strong gains signalled the end of the recent turmoil.
The FTSE 100 Index opened the session almost 70 points lower before regaining some poise to settle 38.8 points down at 5639.9 in the first hour of trading.
The losses wiped out some of yesterday’s gains which saw the Footsie rebound 146 points after aggressive selling saw £150bn (€219.85bn) slashed from the value of blue chip companies in less than two weeks.
GUS was among the stocks in positive territory today after profits came in slightly ahead of market expectations.
Shares lifted 1% or 8p to 953p as the company also outlined plans to demerge its retail arm, which includes Argos and Homebase, from credit-checking firm Experian in October.
B&Q owner Kingfisher was also on the rise – up 2% or 3.75p to 235p – despite saying that the home improvement market remained stuck in the doldrums and announcing a 70% slump in UK profits.
It did little to lift the gloom elsewhere in London as the majority of stocks fell into the red. Banks were among the fallers, with HBOS down 10p to 903.5p and Barclays off 6.5p to 603p.
