Market report: Thursday close

By MICKEY CLARK FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

THE PICTURE was a bit fuzzy for Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB as the price tumbled 20 1/2p to 626p after touching 603p, making it one of the biggest losers among the top 100 companies.

The fall was prompted by a line of 28.7m shares, or 1.5% of the company, going through at 625p. Traders said the 'non-market impact' trade was a stock delivery operation and linked to Vivendi Universal.

Last year the French media giant sold its 22% stake in the satellite broadcaster in two separate tranches to Deutsche Bank as part of a four-year equity swap. The sale was ordered by the European Union in return for its approval of Vivendi's acquisition of Seagram. It meant that while Vivendi remained linked to the fortunes of the BSkyB share price, it has given up all voting rights. Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Another profits warning took a heavy toll on Reuters, down 56p at 347 1/2p. The news agency and financial systems and information provider said demand for its products remained weak because of the current bear market.

Lord Hollick's United Business Media came under further pressure with the price dropping 30p to 440p ahead of Friday's trading update, which is expected to contain a profits warning. The problems are said to stem from its CMP Media division, which includes magazines such as Internet Week and Network, where advertising revenues have fallen sharply.

The rest of the market took its lead from fresh heavy losses overnight in New York. The selling continued as trade resumed. The FTSE 100 index dropped 72.1 to 4580.3, its lowest since 21 September last year.

Scottish Power, the electricity generator, set about clawing back some of Wednesday's losses that saw the shares strike a five-year low. In active trading, the price rallied 18p to 360p on turnover of more than 21.5m shares. During the last hour of trading on Wednesday, the shares slumped 8% amid claims of accounting irregularities at its US subsidiary PacifiCorp. The company was quick to issue a denial.

Broker Merrill Lynch says the shares may rally short term, but that is sticking with its sell recommendation and 300p target price. While it concludes there is no black hole, the non-operating aspects of the US energy business 'remain significant and open to interpretation'.

BT Group was knocked 8 1/4p to 250p after industry regulator Oftel unveiled its latest measures for spicing up competition in the telecoms industry. Vodafone retreated 3 1/2p to 89p, undermined by new reports that radiation generated by mobile phones could harm the brain.

Marconi came under fresh selling pressure, losing 0.65p to 5.05p after it said it was close to a debt-for-equity restructuring with the banks over £4.3bn worth of debts. The company warned this would result in a heavy dilution of existing shareholders. Last week the former telecoms equipment giant was demoted as a constituent of the FTSE 250.

The life assurers took another drubbing on worries they might have to sell more shares to retain their solvency levels. Legal & General fell 3 1/4p to 125 1/2p, Friends Provident dropped 7p to 139p and Prudential slid 4p to 558 1/2p.

Arm Holdings dropped 6 1/4p to 139p. Broker UBS Warburg has repeated its reduced target price for the microchip designer and developer of 150p.

• Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.

Geoff Foster of the Daily Mail on yesterday's trade
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