Market report: Thursday close

By SARAH MARKS FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

THE profits warning from Marconi unleashed widespread blood-letting among stocks in London. Rarely can one company achieve so much with just one announcement - one trader claimed the group had 'absolutely destroyed sentiment', while others talked of 'carnage' in the Square Mile.

Down went Spirent, its closest British competitor, off 17 1/2p to 183p, closely followed by CMG, 26 1/2p at 261p, Energis, 13 1/2p lower at 170p and Sage, down 12 1/2p at 216 3/4p.

Down went the major telecoms stocks as Marconi's grim words reverberated around the City. Colt Telecom was 41p lower at 416 1/2p, Cable & Wireless fell 7p to 382p and Telewest was 6 1/4p lighter at 82 3/4p. Industry giant Vodafone did not escape either, down 3 1/2p at 155 1/4p, nor did Marconi's overseas rivals. In France, Alcatel was 8% down, while Marconi was blamed for the lower opening of the German markets.

While no one suffered as much as the once-great company itself, whose 132 3/4p plunge to 112 1/4p wiped almost £3.7bn off its value, the bad news seemed to taint everyone and everything connected with the new economy.

Computer services group Logica was 77p lower at 702p. ARM Holdings was the second-heaviest casualty, down 25 1/2p and hitting a two-year low of 217 1/2p, while Invensys was 6p off at 120 3/4p.

Only a handful of the leading stocks made headway. Oils, retail and hospitality attracted whatever buyers were out there with Morrisons up 5p at 208p, Sainsbury's 2 1/2p fatter at 439p and Tesco 3 1/2p stronger at 254p. BP was 3 1/2p stronger at 587 1/2p and Shell 10p better at 585p.

None of this could prevent the blue-chip FTSE 100 from falling. It tumbled 50.9 points to 5549.6, showing little reaction to the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The lower regions of the stock market also slipped although a handful of announcements provided some relief. JJB Sports rose 37 1/2p to 905p after the group unveiled like-for-like sales up 7% for the 22 weeks ended 1 July. Old English Inns was 10p ahead at 117 1/2p, its year-to-date high, on bid hopes. It has been a horrible year for Old English with wet weather keeping some drinkers away, floods forcing others out and foot-and-mouth choking tourist revenue.

Parkman got off to a cracking start on its first day of trading after listing at 125p. The outsourcing and engineering services group was trading at 148 1/2p, a premium of 18%. Reed Health Group also made an impressive debut, up at 117 1/2p after opening at 96 1/2p. RHG, which was spun out of Reed Executive, supplies NHS Trusts and hospitals with temporary nurses and other health workers.

But the balance was tipped by yet more fallout from Marconi and specific problems for some others. Baltimore Technologies announced a major restructuring of its global business, sending it 8p lower to 17p while Bookham Technology slid 27 1/2p to 155p.

• 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.

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