Markets: Aggreko powers ahead on grim day

By DOMINIC JEFF
Published on 28/06/2012 22:10

TEMPORARY power provider Aggreko was one of the largest risers on the FTSE 100 yesterday as a broker upgrade and a taste for defensive stocks gave its shares a boost.

Alphavalue changed its recommendation for Glasgow-based Aggreko from “reduce” to “add” with an increased target price, helping it gain 2 per cent to 2,000p on a day in which the Footsie was on the back foot.

Britain’s top share index closed 30.9 points lower at 5,493.1 after being down as much as 80 points during the session. Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital, said: “A series of weak economic releases, coupled with diminishing hopes that EU leaders can agree on measures to rescue the eurozone from disaster has sapped appetite for risk.”

Such was the demand for perceived defensive companies that United Utilities rose 15.5p to 674.5p despite turning ex-dividend.

Water utility stocks were also boosted by news of a £1.2 billion sale of three UK-based businesses owned by France’s Veolia. Severn Trent lifted 22p to 1,645p.

The latest banking scandal saw a rout of financial stocks, with Barclays losing 30.5p to 165.6p. Royal Bank of Scotland was down 26.7p to 206.4p and Lloyds was off 1.2p at 29.9p.

In the FTSE 250, department store Debenhams was 2 per cent or 1.7p lower at 85p in spite of reporting a sharp improvement in like-for-like sales for the last quarter. The gain was driven by promotional activity around key events such as Easter and the Diamond Jubilee.

Ladbrokes was the second tier’s biggest faller, down 12 per cent or 21.1p to 152.7p, after it warned digital profits for the first half of 2012 would be 50 per cent lower after punters failed to back England during Euro 2012 and its new website was delayed.

NEW YORK: Wall Street fell last night but ended above session lows on talk of progress among European leaders, while the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a landmark healthcare law hit big health insurers.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 24.90 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 12,602.11 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended down 2.84 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 1,329.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 25.83 points, or 0.90 per cent, to close at 2,849.49.