Footsie takes heart from bid rumours in the financial sector
market report
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Your support makes all the difference.The stock market endured just a modest hint of jitters in the final run-up to the tenth anniversary of the crash.
With the last day of quote-driven trading for blue chips causing some anxiety and the expiry of the October FTSE options it could be argued there was enough to dwell on without worrying about any superstitious possibility of history repeating itself.
At its lowest Footsie was down 39.7 points. With New York showing a degree of hesitation after its overnight fall there was, just for a moment, a danger the market would take fright and suffer a sharp decline.
In the event Footsie closed off 16.8 points at 5,271.1. The FTSE SmallCap index actually made headway.
A clutch of financial shares led Footsie. National Westminster Bank, on growing speculation of a deal over its underperforming investment arm or even a bid for the whole caboodle from the likes of Barclays, added 36p to 972.5p. Barclays rose 24p to 1,675p. Abbey National, again on talk of deals, rose to a peak of 990.5p, up 24p.
Commercial Union, currently the market's favourite target stretched 11.5p to 876p, another record, and Royal & Sun Alliance, the subject this week of profit worries, recovered 12p to 636.5p.
Royal Bank of Scotland, backing the banking aspirations of the ubiquitous Richard Branson, put on 12.5p to 699.5p. A signalled meeting with fund managers on Tuesday was probably a more important influence. Hambros, as break-up hopes again went the rounds. rose 10p to 258.5p.
TI Group, the engineer, was the major casualty, off 38p to 631.5p. Dresdner Kleinwort Benson appeared to do the damage. It was said to have cut its profit estimates from pounds 231m to pounds 226m for this year and from pounds 265m to pounds 255m for next. Dividend expectations were also reigned back and the shares downgraded to neutral from buy. GKN, off 41.5p to 1,432.5p, and LucasVerity, 7.5p to 218p, were marked down in sympathy. The failure of the widely rumoured takeover bid to materialise left BICC off 8p at 200p.
J Sainsbury, 7.5p higher at 465.5p, was one to benefit from analytical comments. Societe Generale Strauss Turnbull expects interim figures later this month to emerge 5 per cent higher at pounds 405m and is looking for pounds 725m for the year. NatWest Securities upped its year's estimate by pounds 25m to pounds 720m. Last year the superstores chain produced pounds 651m.
Chloride, the electrical group, improved 1.25p to 36.5p. The shares are seen as undervalued judged by the pounds 360m BTR is paying for the American Exide group.
Coffee Republic, the coffee bar group, had another strong session, ending 5.5p higher at 33.5p. Another newcomer Metalsrussia attracted further attention, gaining 13p to 92.5p. Xaar, a printing technology group, ended at 113.5p from a 110p placing.
Medisys, until recently known as Biocure, improved 2p to 23.5p. The medical systems designer and maker has achieved marketing approval from the American Food and Drug Administration for a needle incinerator which destroys hypodermic needles.
Siber Energy held at 22.5p, a peak. Henderson Crosthwaite describe the shares, which arrived in April at 10p, as a "speculative buy". The company has interests in two Russian quoted oil exploration operations.
Highland Distilleries, the Famous Grouse group which has been dragged down by fears it may have to help out its French associate, Remy Cointreau, flew 14p higher to 311.5p.
There are suggestions it could emerge as the buyer of Dewar's, the Scotch whisky GMG Brands (Grand Metropolitan and Guinness) have been ordered to give up in Europe and are likely to be asked to surrender in the US.
Some suggest Dewar's, the top selling Scotch in the US, could be worth more than pounds 500m, a price probably out of Highland's reach.
But if GMG break-up ownership of Dewar's Highland could, say, buy the European operations which command profits of pounds 10m a year.
Chemical Design, which slumped more than 100p in two days, rallied 40p to 130p; engineer Carbo improved 2.5p to 32.5p.
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