Scott Reid: Market gains watered down by SABMiller

It was a rather lacklustre session for blue-chip stocks as miners made little progress, while drinks giant and takeover target SABMiller was under pressure amid fears over a currency hit.

The Peroni and Grolsch firm – in talks with suitor Anheuser-Busch InBev over a potential blockbuster deal – toasted a strong summer for beer sales thanks to strength in Latin America and Africa, but raised concerns as it confirmed the impact of a strong dollar on revenues.

A weak showing for miners left the wider FTSE 100 Index up just 27.24 points at the close at 6,326.16. Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said: “It’s been a rather reserved session today, although given the general absence of underlying data that can be of little surprise.”

SABMiller was off 142p or 3.8 per cent at 3,622p. Glencore was up just 2.9p at 118p, after surging 21 per cent on Monday on reports that it is in talks to sell its agriculture unit, valued at around $10 billion (£6.6bn). Other mining stocks made modest gains, with Anglo American up 24.7p to 604.2p and Fresnillo 20p higher at 672.5p.

Greggs surged after an update confirmed the recent success of its new menu additions, such as its Aberdeen Angus spicy meatball melt baguette and mildly spiced chicken curry soup. Shares lifted more than 7 per cent to 1,158p.

NEW YORK: Wall Street closed narrowly mixed last night.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.76 points, or 0.08 per cent, to end on 16,790.19 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished off 7.13 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 1,979.92. The Nasdaq composite index closed down 32.90 points, or0.69 per cent, at 4,748.36.