Tuesday lunchtime market update
Jun 2 2009 By nebusiness
BARCLAYS was the leading top-flight faller today after one of its biggest investors sold a major stake in the banking giant.
The bank fell more than 13% after Abu Dhabi royal family-backed International Petroleum Investment Corp (IPIC) announced the sale of the equivalent of 1.3 billion shares.
The news knocked other bank shares and combined with profit-taking after yesterday’s 2% climb to leave the FTSE 100 Index 35.4 points down at 4470.8 by the mid-session.
After a strong recent run, Barclays shares fell 42.5p to 274p as shareholders took their cue to sell up from the Middle East investor.
Lloyds Banking Group followed it with a 3.2p decline to 69.3p. The part-nationalised lender however said its board had support from the Government - which owns a 43% stake - at Friday’s annual meeting. RBS meanwhile was 1p lighter at 39.2p.
While financial shares dominated the fallers board, media and marketing giant WPP also fell 13.5p to 465.75p after it said revenues were below budget for the first four months of 2009. The firm cut 4,300 jobs over the period.
But retailers were in the black after a better-than-expected result from B&Q owner Kingfisher.
The DIY group leapt to the top of the risers board with an almost 6% rise after it said retail profits for the UK arm of the chain rose to £58 million in the 13 weeks to May 2, up from £29 million in the same period last year.
Shares rose 9.7p to 193.5p despite the firm’s warnings that it was more cautious for the remainder of the year.
Argos and Homebase parent Home Retail Group was boosted 8.25p to 250.25p by Kingfisher’s encouraging news from the battered DIY sector. Supermarket Sainsbury’s also saw gains - up 4p at 313p, while Marks & Spencer cheered 4.5p to 289.75p.
Miners added modest gains to their strong advances of recent days but investors mostly paused for breath in the sector as the dollar made a slight rally. Xstrata and Kazakhmys edged 16p higher to 772p and 10.5p up to 741.5p respectively.
Elsewhere, Dublin-based airline Ryanair dropped 1%, or 5 cents to 3.60 euros after it posted a net loss of 169.2 million euros (£145.9 million) in the year to the end of March.
The airline was hit by a 59% rise in fuel costs and a hefty writedown on its Aer Lingus stake after a botched attempt to takeover the rival Irish carrier.
