Market report: Friday close
THE Dow Jones Average was fighting to consolidate its position above 10,000 this afternoon following a worse-than-expected drop in the important University of Michigan consumer confidence index.
That combined with the dollar's struggle against sterling to offset any benefit gleaned by investors from the November US trade deficit, which was in line with expectations, and a surprise drop of 0.3% in producer prices - the first fall in six months.
The best gains in the Square Mile were not held and the FTSE 100 index's lead was cut to 16.3 at 4347.6 after it briefly touched 4363.6.
Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca fell 45p to 2570 after a US appeal court upheld a ruling on patent infringements relating to Prilosec, used to treat stomach disorders.
Gas distributor Centrica traded 3 3/4p better at 205 1/4p after broker ABN Amro resumed coverage of the shares with a buy rating and a 262p target price.
Cable & Wireless slipped 1/4p to 135 1/2p. Broker Credit Suisse First Boston has raised its target from 135p to 147p after its withdrawal from the US this week, now expected to cost £300m against earlier estimates of £1bn.
ABN Amro has raised royal ratcatcher Rentokil Initial, down 5 1/4p at 188 3/4p, from sell to reduce. It says the shares are now looking better value.
Kingfisher, owner of DIY retailer B&Q, retreated 1 3/4p to 282p as hopes that it could soon be the target of a bid by giant US retailer Home Depot began to fade. Home Depot has authorised a share buyback programme worth $1bn (£573m). Brokers say that suggests it has no plans to make acquisitions. Kingfisher carries a price tag of £6.6bn.
Chemicals specialist Yule Catto rallied 19 3/4p to 247 3/4p. It fell sharply yesterday after house broker Merrill Lynch cut its target from 300p to 280p and slashed its earnings forecast, blaming a weak dollar and dearer raw materials.
AIM-listed Loades led the FTSE 350 shares higher with a leap of 77 1/2p to 177 1/2p on turnover of only 12,966. The spread between bid and offer was 155p to 200p.
Sony has taken a 10% stake in Yoomedia, the AIM-listed interactive TV company. Yoomedia is buying GoPlay TV, a Sony-owned game business which allows viewers to play Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Tetrus on Sky Digital Interactive. It has paid Sony with 18m new shares in Yoo and the Japanese company is taking a seat on the board. Yoo shares rose 2 1/2p to 44p having quadrupled during the past four months.
AIM-listed support services group Maclellan, 1p better at 73p, has bought Attlaw Security & Protection for £5m. Attlaw supplies security for supermarkets, leisure centres and transport depots.
Poor performance from IT group Anite's finance business and its Benelux operations accounted for about half of its £17.2m goodwill charge in the six months to 31 October. Pre-tax losses fell from £43.4m to £14.1m. Anite eased 1/4p to 52 3/4p.
Smallpox vaccine producer Acambis rallied 6p to 280p after yesterday's 11% fall on fears that Baxter International may sell its 20% stake.
Acambis said today it had filed a licence agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration for yellow fever vaccine Arilvax.
A profits warning left Sirdar nursing a fall of 20 1/2p at 50p. It continues to perform below expectations and sees no short-term trading improvement.
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