Rudderless Footsie surrenders gains

Shares in the bank were 2.5 per cent higher at 183.4p following the announcement late on Thursday that City veteran Sir David Walker will take the chair at the start of November.

The wider market had a quiet day, with the FTSE 100 index closing just 4.4 points lower at 5,847.1.

David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, said: “The combination of summer holidays, the Olympics and the lack of a traditional summer financial crisis means that markets are range-bound – and very tight ranges at that.”

Insurers were ahead after Prudential reported a 13 per cent rise in overall group operating profits to £1.2 billion and highlighted more strong growth in its powerhouse Asian division. Its shares were 6p ahead at 810p, while Aviva rose 6.9p to 323.6p in the wake of its own half-year figures on Thursday.

A sharper-than-expected slowing in China’s exports growth, to just 1 per cent in July, brought to an end the recent run of form among commodity stocks. Fallers included Evraz, down 2.7p to 270.4p, and Kazakhmys, which fell 3p to 746p.

But Glasgow’s Weir Group, which had missed out on the recent rally, made up some ground, up 20p at 1,730p.

Outside the top flight, UK Coal shares were 21 per cent lower, off 1.6p to 5.9p, after the miner outlined details of a restructuring that will help deal with mounting debts and pension liabilities, but will erode shareholders’ stakes in the company.

Cairn Energy was 1.2p lower at 303.8p as RBC trimmed its target price for the Edinburgh-based company from 420p to 385p a share. The broker said Cairn should make more acquisitions in the North Sea to aid tax efficiency and give its management more scope to make an impact.

NEW YORK: Stocks motored lower on far weaker-than-
expected growth in Chinese
exports in a sign of a slowing global economy, but the broad S&P 500 was on track for a fifth week of gains.

The Dow was down 15.89 at 13,149.30 in late session.