A day thick with results announcements kept the City fiercely busy this morning but a late slide on Wall Street overnight held back leading shares.
In the opening minutes, the FTSE-100 Index of leading shares was 31.3 points down at 6077.3 – following a late New York tumble which eroded earlier gains among US stocks.
Drugs-to-crops group Zeneca fell 54p to £25.65 after reporting a slide in annual profits and disappointing sales on several of its newer drugs. This marginally held back SmithKline Beecham – 4p off at 865p and Glaxo Wellcome, down 10p at £20.15.
Advertising group WPP fell to profit taking after recent gains despite reporting an impressive set of annual figures which showed some resilience to Asia’s woes.
Jitters about results from oil group BP Amoco, due to report later in the morning, saw its shares slide 11p to 845p amid concerns about the extent of damage caused by the low crude price.
Woolwich reported an impressive set of annual results and announced a £236m on special dividend payment for shareholders, taking its shares up 14p to 380p.
This bolstered other former building societies, with Alliance & Leicester up 38p to 882p, Halifax up 30p to 800p and Abbey National 33p ahead at £13.36.
EGi News 17/02/99
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