The London stock market opened lower today, with traders again looking across the Atlantic for a lead. The closing session on Wall Street on Friday saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average end the week in the red still finding it hard to maintain a level above 10,000.
But the London market was also nervous ahead of final fourth quarter GDP and balance of payments figures due out this morning. Payments are expected to show exports still suffering.
The uneasy mood saw the FTSE-100 Index open down 12.7 points at 6150.5.
A £44m return to shareholders by building materials group Anglian helped build the company share price, with the company gaining 27.5p to 282p.
Engineering group Morgan Crucible reported plunging profits in 1998, but an optimistic outlook for 1999 and plans to buy back up to 15% of its shares helped the stock retain its value and rise 4.5p to 254.5p.
On-line directories company Scoot.com jumped 3p to 28p after it announced a deal with telecom group Energis to provide its subscribers with free installation to the Energis network.
Energis itself, which today marked it first day in the FTSE-100 was unmoved at £16.45.
The news that the US Food and Drug Administration had granted Scotia Holdings Foscan cancer treatment fast track status – speeding up the drug’s likely approval for use – sent shares in the pharmaceutical company ahead almost 17%, up 16p to 111.5p.
PA News 22/03/99
