Markets: Tate & Lyle sweetens blow to market

Tate & Lyle was one of the few risers among yesterday’s market rout as a note previewing interim results next week caught the eye of traders with talk of mergers and acquisitions.

The sugar giant was one of a clutch of defensive stocks to stay in the black, up 14p at 871p despite Investec’s “hold” recommendation and observation that its shares were “stuck in the doldrums” unless it could conjure up a deal.

“Tate’s fluttering eyelids on M&A are in danger of contracting cramp,” observed analyst Martin Deboo.

BSkyB and United Utilities were among the other risers, the latter adding 6p to 787.5p after delivering a increase in full-year profit. Sky was up 12.5p at 791.5p as it pushed ahead with its share buyback programme.

The wider market suffered as an apparent U-turn from the US Federal Reserve suggested it may start shutting down the money taps this summer after all. The FTSE 100 Index was down 2.1 per cent or 143.48 points to 6696.79, as poor economic figures from China drove down commodity prices and sank the heavily weighted mining sector.

Anglo American slumped 5 per cent at 1,570p, but Glasgow-based temporary power supplier Aggreko was the biggest casualty of the worsening global outlook, with a 5.6 per cent drop to 1,758p.

Banks were also in the firing line, with Asia-focused Standard Chartered losing 4,8 per cent at 1,539p. Lloyds Banking Group ended its recent strong run with a fall of 2.3p to 60.6p, Barclays dropped 12.4p to 321.4p and Royal Bank of Scotland eased 12.4p to 337.2p.

Chip designer Arm Holdings, whose technology is used in Apple products, was another big faller with a decline of 5 per cent or 55p to 995p.

NEW YORK: US stocks slipped last night but finished sharply off their session lows as a rally in Hewlett-Packard’s shares offset worries about Chinese data and prospects of the Federal Reserve reducing its monetary stimulus.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 12.44 points, or 0.08 per cent, to end at 15,294.73 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 4.81 points, or 0.29 per cent, closing at 1,650.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 3.88 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 3,459.42.