With the market waiting for a decision on interest rates from the Bank of England, shares have drifted lower, cutting the FTSE by about 7 points to 4,481.
Imperial Tobacco is down 29p to 1,201p after a report suggested sales may be slowing in Germany, one of its most important markets. Astrazenica is down 18p to 2,576 after warnings over safe dosage levels of one of its blockbuster drugs, the anti-cholesterol drug Crestor. Kingfisher, owner of B&Q, is down 0.5p to 293p after announcing it poached an Ikea executive to lead its Russian operations. Hanson, the brick maker, is up 2.25p to 427.5p on an analyst upgrade. Overseas, US markets close down yesterday as leaders of the G8 meeting in Georgia failed to agree on a debt reduction ...
To continue reading this article...
Join Professional Adviser for free
- Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
- Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
- Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
- Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
- Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
- Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes