FTSE 100 close: Footsie hits 4,500 barrier

 

The Footsie's seven-day winning streak brought it right up against the 4,500 barrier today.

Traders at their desks

Heading higher?: Traders will hope the gains continue.

The best run in four years for London blue-chips lost some momentum today, but still the FTSE 100 managed a 12.6-point gain to 4,493.7.

'It has been US earnings that have been the focus yet again today with numbers from Morgan Stanley and Boeing some of the headliners,' said Jimmy Yates of CMC Markets.

'The FTSE 100 has yet again failed to break through the key 4,500 level that it struggled so much with at the peak of the last rally back in April and with commodity prices also starting to slip we may be set for a degree of downside as traders look to unwind positions after the run of gains.'

A retreat by miners was driven by BHP Billiton after it reported improved production in the April to June quarter but said the underlying trend for metals demand remained mixed. BHP Billiton shares were down 27.5p to 1,502.5p, while Lonmin showed a 37p loss at 1,136p and Kazakhmys a 19.5p drop to 737p.

Insurers, which tend to be sensitive to retreating risk appetite, were among the biggest fallers. Standard Life was 1.9p lower at 193.5p, Legal & General was 0.2p lower at 63.8p.

But Friends Provident was one of the biggest risers as speculation over a possible takeover deal involving investment firm Resolution refused to die down. Shares were up 1.2p to 72.6p.

In the main corporate news of the day, Government contracts to produce 195m doses of the flu treatment Relenza could not help GlaxoSmithKline avoid a second-quarter dip in profits. Pre-tax profits at the pharma giant in the three months to 30 June fell 6% to £2.1bn.

Shares closed 6.5p down at 1,153.5p.

Shares in the London Stock Exchange fell 10.34p to 672p as the stock traded ex-dividend.

FTSE 250 firm Galiform surged 19%, or 7.3p, to 44.78p after it said it could resume the expansion of the business this year following a 'resilient' first-half performance.

The owner of Howden Joinery, which supplies kitchen units to small builders, put new openings on hold in March but said it would 'consider opening a small number of depots' if trading improved in October. Numis Securities analyst Howard Seymour upgraded his 2009 pretax profit forecast for the group by £13m to £39.8m.

Pubs group Marston's and engineering firm GKN experienced contrasting fortunes after both revealed they had won strong support from investors for fundraisings worth £600m in total. More than 95% of the new shares issued by GKN under its £423m cash call to ease its debt mountain were snapped up by existing shareholders.

Shares were 4.75p higher at 93.25p, but Marston's fell 2.75p to 88.75p after revealing it received 91% support for its own rights issue. The decline reflected a poor session for the pubs sector after recent gains.

JD Wetherspoon fell 1.25p to 466p and Greene King dropped 1.25p to 428.75p.

Shares in Sinclair Pharma fall 10% to 23.5p per share as revenue forecasts missed analyst expectations. The skincare specialist said it saw full-year revenues at about £29.7m pounds, which is 17% below estimates from broker Piper Jaffray.

'This miss in revenues is disappointing, but not unsurprising, as Sinclair has shown disappointing organic revenue growth in both recent years, and the first half 2009 has relied on acquired product and licence fees to drive its sales line,' said Piper Jaffray analysts, who have an 'underweight' stance on the stock.