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FTSE finishes below the 4,000 points mark after another grim session

18th Feb 2009, 4:37 pm FTSE finishes below the 4,000 points mark after another grim session

Another pretty grim session for traders in London, where the FTSE 100 languished around the 4,000 points mark for most of the session and spent a few hours way below the psychologically important barrier. A modest rally before the US market opened was brutally cut short by the Dow Jones heading south shortly after trading began across the pond, smashing through the 7,500 points level.

By the close in London, the FTSE stood at 3,998 points, down 0.88 percent, having trailed the Dow for most of the afternoon.

Commodities put in a mixed performance, with copper clawing back yesterday’s losses, trading up 1.79 percent at US$1.4557 a pound and nickel down again, 1.51 percent lower at 4.4248. Oil was flat, up 0.14 percent at US$34.98.

Gold was in demand as a safe haven investment, up around 1 percent near US$968 per ounce and silver was slightly up at US$14.160.

The Life Insurance and the Automotive sectors were among the hardest hit on the LSE, due to ongoing worries of cash calls by financials and General Motors seeking more cash to stay afloat.

Construction and Materials and Chemicals stocks were among the best performers.

Of the large caps, Millennium & Copthorne (LSE:MLC)  was punished for its announcement it is halving the dividend for the full year, losing more than 22 percent on the day, and property group Brixton (LSE: BXTN) lost 16 percent. RBS (LSE: RBS) was by far the biggest faller, trading 13 percent  lower.
Notable gainers included Liberty International (LSE: LII), up 4.84 percent, and TUI Travel (LSE: TT) which was 5.27 percent higher on the day.

In small cap news, Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) did not fare too bad considering the fairly junior group announced a restructuring and some job cuts in the current climate. It lost 10 percent on the day, propped up by the group expecting to still make a profit in the first half.

Biocompatibles (techMark: BII) rose 3.90 percent today after it announced it is pushing back the date of its full-year results announcement by two days to March 5 2009 to combine the presentation by medical experts with the analysts meeting.

European Nickel (AIM: ENK) was near the top of its index, having soared after its morning  announcement it has secured the approval of the forestry permit for its Caldag nickel laterite project in Turkey. It extended gains towards the end of the session, trading up 75 percent at the London close.

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