FTSE 100 flat

Friday, 25 September 2009 05:22

The FTSE 100 ended a hair's breadth from its starting point - as US consumer goods data stalled optimism.

The index ended the day up 0.06 per cent to 5,082.20 - a rise of 2.93 points - as traders eyed blue skies over London.

Over the week as a whole, the index was down 1.75 per cent as the wind that has been pushing the index forward faded.

In New York, the Dow Jones was down 0.35 per cent to 9,673.66 at 12:01 EDT (17:01 BST).

Tim Hughes, head of sales trading at IG Index, said: "The London index has spent the day trading in a relatively narrow range of around 40 points but the big event this afternoon was arguably a surprise fall in US durable goods orders.

"Although a reduction had been expected over the previous month, the move back into negative territory initiated a sharp sell-off in equities, although again this is now looking to have been short lived."

He added traders will be watching US jobs data next week.

"It's still too early to say if the bull rally we've seen in recent weeks is coming to an end," Mr Hughes added.

Leading the gains in London was Tullow Oil up 3.34 per cent.

Compass Group climbed 2.82 per cent, British Sky Broadcasting rose 2.41 per cent and GlaxoSmithKline gained 2.28 per cent.

A similar mixed bag of falling stocks was also recorded.

TUI Travel was down 3.86 per cent, Lloyds Banking fell 3.45 per cent to 103.40p, Old Mutual slid 2.94 per cent and Vedanta Resources was down 2.89 per cent.

Next week holds plenty for traders to chew on.

Tuesday sees UK GDP figures for the second quarter and Bank of England data on mortgage lending.

A slough of purchasing managers indices, consumer confidence and Nationwide house prices also all come out.

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