Britain's top shares eked out a slim rise on Friday as bright updates from several firms helped limit lingering worries about high oil prices to leave shares barely changed after a choppy week.
Miners provided a strong backbone to the market, led by a 2.8 percent rise by Rio Tinto after Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral" after its shares have underperformed peers this year.
Merrill said the fundamental demand outlook remained strong, which soothed fears of a slowdown in China's demand and helped lift Xstrata and BHP Billiton over two percent.
The FTSE 100 benchmark index closed up 2.7 points at 4,431.4, to leave the index down just 10 points on the week after tumbling to 4,363 on Monday before bouncing back to 4,471.
"The market is grappling for something to latch onto," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at private client stockbroker Brewin Dolphin. "I sense it doesn't want to come back too far, but it just isn't ready yet to move ahead."
A strong start on Wall Street had a muted impact, as dealers said the threat that high oil prices will choke economic growth continued to unnerve investors - especially if producers show a reluctance to relax supplies during talks over the weekend.
"The market is still concerned about the things it's been worried about for a while - higher interest rates and oil prices," Lenhoff said. "But earnings estimates continue to be revised up, so people don't lack confidence in the prospects for company earnings."
Engineering firm Tomkins, sweets and soft drinks maker Cadbury Schweppes and hotel and gaming company Hilton Group all rose about one percent after well-received updates, although all failed to significantly build on early gains.
But pubs group Enterprise Inns shed 2.3 percent after a UK court ruled a beer-supply contract imposed on a publican by his landlord fell foul of competition laws.
The decision worried investors as Enterprise is involved in a parliamentary committee inquiry into the relationship between pubs and their tenants.
There was a two-way pull on services conglomerate Rentokil Initial after this week's profit warning dragged its shares to a four-year low.
Dealers said talk it could now be a takeover target swirled, with Danish rival ISS cited as a possible predator, but concerns about margin pressure, strategy and long-term growth prospects held sway, and the shares fell 1.3 percent.
Midcap recruitment company Michael Page added 4.2 percent as data on its Web site showed it had over 18,600 jobs on offer, up from 15,400 at the start of the year, to continue steady improvement in the jobs market. The company also continues to buy back shares.
The 1.7-billion-pound takeover battle for Canary Wharf was sealed just after the market's close, when a Morgan Stanley-led group announced that 60.9 percent of Canary Wharf's shareholders had voted for its offer. Canary Wharf nudged 1.3 percent higher to 293 pence ahead of the result.
Comments
Comments are closed.