Thursday April 24, 12:33 PM
London midday: Footsie falls below 6,000
LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie (news) has sunk below the 6,000 mark as housebuilders and mining stocks continue to weigh. Persimmon (LSE: PSN.L
- news) 's sales have tumbled by 24% since the start of 2008, while sales reservation volumes remained flat last month. Barratt, Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) and Redrow (LSE: RDW.L - news) all slumped in sympathy with estate agency Rightmove (LSE: GB00B0MFTM73.L - news) also under the cosh. Miners are led lower by Eurasian Natural Resources, which is hurt by a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" by ABN AMRO (Amsterdam: ABAGB.AS - news) . Rio Tinto (Frankfurt: 855018 - news) is also stuck in reverse gear, despite an upbeat statement from its chairman. Continued demand from China and other Asian economies should keep metal prices high even in the event of a downturn in the US economy Rio Tinto's chairman Tom Skinner said this morning. Neither could record quarterly net profit of $90.8m, reflecting higher PGM metal prices on a lowered production base, push shares in South African miner Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP.L - news) higher. Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) is the biggest faller in the oils sector after the price of crude oil fell for a second day in New York. Schroders (LSE: SDR.L - news) is also down after the fund manager said pre-tax profit for the first quarter was down on the same period last year due to lower private equity realisations and write-downs on investments. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) said first quarter group profit was lower than at the same time a year earlier as profits at Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors were well below those seen in 2007. Shire (LSE: SHP.L - news) has turned down after a bright start after the drug firm said late yesterday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its hyperactivity drug Vyvanse for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults. Information access technology firm Autonomy reported a 47% jump in first-quarter pre-tax profit, but left its 'conservative' full-year outlook unchanged. Lloyds insurer Amlin (LSE: AML.L - news) expects 2008 to be a more challenging year, but said it is confident it will continue to deliver acceptable returns for its shareholders. Pubs group Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB.L - news) saw half-year pre-tax profits slide and warned trading conditions in the second half will be challenging initially. Numis Securities lifted its recommendation on Punch Taverns to 'add' from 'hold', after the pub group's half year results today. Trading has been in line with expectations at bookmaker William Hill (LSE: WMH.L - news) over the past 16 weeks, with no evidence so far that any slow down in consumer spending has affected its business. Sportswear retailer Sports Direct said trading has remained challenging but reiterated that it is still confident of achieving EBITDA of around £148m. Aerospace and defence firm Meggitt (LSE: MGGT.L - news) continues to trade in line with forecasts and has seen its order book grow 7% since the beginning of 2008. Senior is up after the engineer said adjusted profit before tax, for the first three months of 2008, was comfortably ahead of expectations. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) has cut its price targets across the UK newspaper sector, saying it sees evidence of advertising budgets being cut. Goldman keeps its 'sell' rating on Mirror newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI.L - news) and reduces its price target to 273p from 334p. Filtrona (LSE: FLTR.L - news) kept its full-year expectations unchanged, despite lower sales at the plastics and fibres group's cigarette filters division. Car dealer Inchcape (LSE: INCH.L - news) has acquired Musa Motors, one of Russia's largest car retailing groups, for an initial cost of $200m. Magazine and newspaper distributor Smiths News (LSE: NWS.L - news) has grown half year profits by almost 6%, slightly better than forecast, and said trading remains in line with expectations.
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