London’s top flight index failed to build on recent four-and-a-half year highs today as investors put on the handbrake ahead of major earnings reports.
The FTSE 100 Index closed down 1.8 points at 6,179.2 as investors waited for figures from the likes of IBM and Google, and before companies like Royal Dutch Shell and BSkyB update the City next week.
Positive broker comment helped a number of FTSE 100 stocks, with B&Q owner Kingfisher up 4.1p to 273p after Exane BNP Paribas said it was hopeful that this year would be a better one for the blue-chip company.
The same broker also upgraded fashion retailer Next after a recent Christmas trading update highlighted the resilience of the business. Shares were 61p higher at £40.31.
Royal Bank of Scotland was among the top flight fallers however, down 4p to 362.9p, while GKN fell of 3.6p to 244.5p.
Pubs chain Marston’s was 1% lower, despite reporting a 5.8% rise in like-for-like sales in the three weeks of the Christmas period. Shares slipped 1.5p to 132.7p.
The biggest FTSE 100 risers were BG Group up 25.5p to £11.45, Randgold Resources ahead 110p to £60.20, Petrofac 30p higher at £17 and Smiths Group up 21p to £12.38.
The biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Fresnillo down 50p to £17.25, Carnival off 50p to £25.63, Polymetal International 20p lower at £10.55 and Pearson down 21p to £11.81.
Steven McKay, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Cairn Energy finished 0.6% higher at 285.6p.
Among the fallers, Xcite Energy closed 2.4% weaker at 101.875p and Premier Oil slipped 0.68% to finish at 367.05p.