The FTSE 100 ended trading today on a decline with a drop of 30.4 points, or 0.56%, to 5,439.6, thanks to a poor performance from Vodafone, although a rise in the US markets pulled back some of the losses.
Vodafone dropped 15.75p, or 10.86%, to 129.25, despite increasing its share purchase target by £2bn to £6.5bn for the year to March 2006, after pre-tax profits fell from £4.54bn to £4.11bn in the half-year to September. BT also slipped 1.69% to 203.5p in sympathy with Vodafone, along with Cable & Wireless which declined 3.04% to 119.5p. Diageo fell 26.5p, or 3.07%, to 836p, despite reiterating its expectations for its full-year are unchanged. Previous statements have indicated it expects underlying sales to rise 4% and operating profits to increase 7% in its year to June 2006. Mea...
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