Tonight:
8°c
The stock market has again failed to consolidate its position above the 4500 level with investors choosing to give back some of yesterday's commodities-led charge after opting to lock in profits, rather than chase shares higher.
Prices traded above their worst levels of the day but the FTSE 100 index was still left nursing a loss of 34.4 at 4471.79. This afternoon, Wall Street clawed back opening falls to extend yesterday's gains. The Dow Jones rose 37.5 points to 8759.0.
Barclays, the main talking point among investors, was off 40½p at 275¾p after Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment sold 1.3 billion shares (11%) at 267p, netting a profit of almost £1.5 billion.
Dealers say other shareholders who backed Barclays during the dark days of the banking crisis last year may also now be tempted to take a profit.
The sale creamed off some of the recent gains enjoyed by the other lenders. News this afternoon that Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America all planned to raise extra funds also damped sentiment.
Some of Morgan Stanley's shares will be bought by China Investment Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ of Japan.
Lloyds Banking Group retreated 2.8p to 69.7p and HSBC was down 10¾p at 541¼p. HSBC has risen by 25% during the past month alone.
Mining shares gave back some of their gains with Eurasian Natural Resources falling 6½p to 680p, and Anglo American down 21p to 1889p. Lonmin posted a rise of 33p to 1556p after going ex its £285 million rights issue at 900p.
Shares in AIM-listed Central China Goldfields were suspended at 3.87p at the company's request.
The Sichuan bureau of metallurgy and geological exploration wants to buy its interest in the Nimu Project, a joint venture between the two parties and located in the county of Nimu, 115 kilometres west of Lhasa.
Finnish mining outfit Talvivaara Mining was the biggest loser among second-liners, slumping 17¼p to 360p after announcing plans to place a total of 22.28 million shares, or the equivalent of 10% of the company.
As of last night's closing price of 377¼p, that would be worth £84 million. It wants the money to boost production by between 40% and 50% to around 50,000 tonnes of nickel each year by 2012.
Kingfisher celebrated better-than-expected results with a rise of 11.2p to 195p. First-quarter profits from the B&Q DIY retailer rose 40%, which the group attributed to the warm weather.
The news also dragged other retailers higher with Home Retail adding 8½p at 250½p, Marks & Spencer 3¼p at 288½p and Next 14p at 1519p.
Vodafone firmed 0.25p to 117.95p as more than 110 million shares changed hands. The shares go ex-dividend tomorrow.
Centrica shaded 1p to 236½p after announcing plans to buy a 45% stake in a gas development from Canadian Superior Energy for £87 million cash.
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, a quarter of a cent firmer at €17.345, has rallied 60% since its low point in February.
Builders continued to attract selective support in the belief that the pace of decline in house prices has started to slow. Redrow put on 9¾p at 218¾p, Barratt Developments 10p at 183p and Bovis Homes 6¾p at 404¼p.
