The FTSE 100 is slightly down in early trading with a fall of 5.8 points, or 0.09%, to 6,363.7, following poor earnings news and a weak mining sector.
Unilever is the biggest faller with a drop of 2.67% to £13.85, as its full year figures failed to impress investors, while HSBC is down 2.26% to 910p, after it warned its bad debt charge for 2006 would be over $10.5bn, 20% higher than expected. Imperial Tobacco Group is also down 2.51% to £21.75, closely followed by ICI which has slipped 1.54% to 464p, while miner Xstrata is down 1.04% to £23.71, although losses are being limited by Cable & Wireless which is up 1.41% to 179.5p. However Reckitt Benckiser is posting the biggest gains with a rise of 5.6% to £26.23, after it reported an inc...
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