Markets: Defensive mood edges Footsie up

An APPETITE for defensive stocks such as pharmaceuticals and utilities helped energy supplier SSE on to the FTSE 100 risers’ board yesterday.

The Scots firm was up 2 per cent at 1,388p in a choppy session for the London market, with traders eager for bargains, but shy of risk ahead of this weekend’s pivotal election in Greece.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Fragmented is an apt description of European markets, as equities chopped between positive and negative territory throughout the day.”

The FTSE 100 Index closed 10.1 points higher at 5,483.8, after dipping in and out of the red throughout the session.

Industrial and resource stocks were the biggest losers on the back of sliding commodity prices, with miner Xstrata down 5 per cent to 920p. Its fall dragged merger suitor Glencore down more than 3 per cent at 355p.

Gold and silver miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were the exceptions, up 4 per cent and 2 per cent respectively at 1,487p and 5,885p on the back of firmer precious metals prices.

In corporate news, Sainsbury’s saw shares plunge after the supermarket chain reported a lower-than-expected 1.4 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to 9 June. Shares were 7.6p or 2.6 per cent lower at 283.5p as the figure was slightly below some market forecasts. Trading for the supermarket was also impacted by a downbeat note on the sector from HSBC. Smaller rival Morrisons was another casualty, off 2.4p at 277.8p.

Shares in blue chip retailer Next were higher – up 19p at 3,070p – after a positive update from its Spanish rival Inditex, the owner of fashion chain Zara.

Inditex’s 30 per cent rise in profits drove a rally on Spain’s stock exchange.

NEW YORK: Wall Street ended lower last night as fears ahead of the Greek elections over the weekend drove down a market that had been treading water through most of the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 78.63 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 12,495.17 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 9.38 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 1,314.80 by the close. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended the day down 24.46 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 2,818.61.