FTSE 100 close: Footsie feels Dow blues
Miners continued to determine the direction of the Footsie today after gains of up to 5% helped offset nervousness elsewhere in the market.
Market watcher: Hopes of a bounce.
The latest move by miners, following heavy falls for the sector yesterday, kept the FTSE 100 buoyant for most of the day. However, the blue chip index closed 7.9 points down to 4,187 after shares in Wall Street opened in the red. The Dow Jones was 93.7 points down to 8231.2 at the London close.
Investors have seen their faith in the global prospects for economic recovery waver recently and this looks set to continue ahead of this week's meeting of the G8 leaders in Italy.
Oil prices have fallen back from last week's high of $73 a barrel to less than $64 as confidence is shaken.
In London an unexpected drop in manufacturing production in May was also seen to have dented optimism on the economy.
At the top of the risers' board was Kazakhmys with a 1.78% gain - up 10.5p to 602p. This was closely followed by Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources, which grew 10.5p to 577p, 35p to 1920p and 22p at 1322p respectively.
In corporate news, housebuilders topped the FTSE 250 chart after Persimmon issued a positive trading update.
The firm rose 27p to 390.25p - or more than 7% - after it said sales rates continued to improve and declines in prices also showed signs of stabilisation.
Barratt Developments followed with a gain of 10.75p to 160p and Bovis Homes added 16.75p to 406.5p. Redrow added 9p to 213.25p and Taylor Wimpey rose 1.5p to 35p, although analysts warned the picture could change following other updates in the sector later in the week.
Meanwhile, Michael Page International rose 4% or 9.25p to 234.75p after it said it was in a position to recruit new staff in the UK amid signs the worst of the downturn was over for its key market.
The firm said there was evidence of stabilisation in its UK business after second quarter profits fell 42% to £28.1m, similar to the 40.3% decline reported in the previous quarter.
Home shopping group N Brown moved in the opposite direction, down 3.86% or 8.5p to 211.5p, after a trading update showed a slowdown in the sale growth.
It added that bad debts were rising at a slower pace, but measures from the company to achieve this meant margins and sales growth were under pressure.
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