FTSE Yells for help

Yell has lost 2.4% to 517p on news the company plans to sell new shares to raise about £350m to help fund the purchase of Spain's TPI. Smith & Nephew has slipped 1.2% to 456.5p, extending yesterday's 9.4% plunge. Morgan Stanley has downgraded the stock to "equal-weight" from "overweight" after the company yesterday cut its earnings forecast. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 208.31 points, or 1.2%, at 16,906.23 points with investor sentiment dampened by the strength of the yen against the US dollar. Sony forecast that its operating profit will be nearly halved i...