Markets: Olympic dream turns sour for G4S

Well-publicised problems in meeting its massive security contract for the Olympics meant G4S was one of the worst top-flight performers on a day when the wider market staged a rally.

The security contractor was down 4.3p at 278.7p amid worries about the damage to its reputation caused by its admission of staffing issues just two weeks before the London games.

It has now lost more than £150 million of its value in two days as investors worry that the crisis and the fallout from last year’s failed £5.2 billion takeover of Denmark’s ISS could cost 
chief executive Nick Buckles his job.

But in-line economic growth figures from China helped the Footsie’s heavily weighted miners make solid gains and power the index 1 per cent higher, as investors bet on the country unleashing a raft of stimulus measures.

The FTSE 100 Index rose some 57.9 points to 5,666.1, just making it back into the black for the week as a whole.

Luxury goods group Burberry, which has benefited from the explosive growth in the Chinese economy, was 6 per cent stronger after a rollercoaster week that saw shares slump 10 per cent at one point on Wednesday following quarterly figures.

The stock has since shown signs of recovery and was up 71p to 1,229p yesterday.

Temporary power provider Aggreko bounced off recent lows after broker Seymour Pierce said this week’s sell-off on the back of a sales warning by American customer Cummins was overdone.

The Glasgow-based firm was up 17p at 1,936p.

But SSE fell 12p to 1,408p after Citigroup downgraded its rating on the stock, saying the current price did not take into account the tough market conditions.

NEW YORK: Wall Street surged last night, lifted by economic figures that eased concerns about growth in China and earnings at JPMorgan that eased fears about the impact of failed trades that cost the bank billions.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 203.82 points, or 1.62 per cent, to close at 12,777.09 while the broader S&P 500 Index gained 22.01 points, or 1.65 per cent, to 1,356.77. The Nasdaq Composite added 42.28 points, or 1.48 per cent, to close at 2,908.47.