Imperial cash call cools FTSE

The Imperial Tobacco Group is expectedly leading the losses after making a £4.9bn cash call, down 3.51% to 2526. Mining conglomerate BHP Billiton is being hit hard on a poor start for the mining sector, 3.10% lower to 2128. ICAP is lower despite reporting a 23% jump in second-half profit, down 3.06% to 649.50. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is soaring this morning, up 4.67% to 2396. British Land suffered its first loss in 20 years, but better than expected overall figures has given it a boost, up 1.78% to 802. In New York, a late slide dented what were serious gains made by the ...