London close: US gloom floors Footsie

Footsie closed in the red going into the weekend despite a good start as early optimism in the US earnings season gave way to doubts.

Results from banks Citigroup and Bank of America and the conglomerate GE were poorly received, sending US shares plunging.

Here, BP climbed after saying that it yesterday succeeded in stopping the flow of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months. The shutdown is part of an "integrity test" to see if the leaking wellhead can finally be contained. The test started last night and will last at least 6 hours and could last up to 48 hours. It is expected that no oil will be released into the ocean during the test.

Investors applauded luxury brands group Burberry's decision to take its franchised stores in China under its own control as part of a move to unify its brand globally. Burberry will pay £70m in cash, subject to completion adjustments, for the 50 stores. The transaction is expected to add up to £20m to group operating profit in financial year 2011/12.

Accountancy software provider Sage has named Guy Berruyer, currently head of its mainland Europe & Asia operations, as the man to take over from chief executive Paul Walker. Berruyer has spent 13 years at the firm, joining to run its French operations in 1997. He made it to the board in January 2000.

In the FTSE 250, instrumentation and controls company Spectris climbed after a positive update. It expects full year results to be ahead of expectations after an 'encouraging' first half. The group said it is continuing to see an improvement in demand over the prior year, with signs of recovery throughout most regions and end markets.

Talks to sell Candover to a Canadian pension fund have collapsed, leaving the future of the struggling private equity group even more uncertain. Alberta Investment Management approached the venture capitalist over a possible takeover and cash injection in April, but after formal talks started, the discussions have unwound.

Data storage specialist Telecity is up again after yesterday's bid talk.

Asset under management fell 7.2% at fixed income fund manager BlueBay Asset Management during the fourth quarter due to foreign exchange issues, but still predicts a big increase in full-year profit. At the end of June, the company had $34.3bn of assets under management, down from $37bn on 31 March, but up 41% on the same time last year.

Clapham House, the restaurant chain behind Gourmet Burger Kitchen and The Real Greek, posted a rise in revenues and profits in the year to March 28, but warned of challenging conditions to come. Pre-tax profits climbed to £1.5m from £1m the previous year as revenues rose to £44.5m from £42.7m.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Essar Energy (ESSR) 458.20p +2.25%
Invensys (ISYS) 266.10p +1.64%
BP (BP.) 407.15p +1.34%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 799.50p +1.14%
Standard Life (SL.) 192.80p +0.89%
Compass Group (CPG) 557.50p +0.72%
BAE Systems (BA.) 318.60p +0.66%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 579.50p +0.43%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,478.00p +0.41%
Rexam (REX) 320.50p +0.41%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Barclays (BARC) 284.65p -5.23%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 59.61p -3.70%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,063.00p -3.45%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 43.71p -3.30%
3i Group (III) 272.40p -3.06%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 578.50p -3.02%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,990.00p -2.92%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,365.00p -2.78%
Man Group (EMG) 209.80p -2.65%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,024.00p -2.57%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Melrose Resources (MRS) 316.00p +10.07%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,006.00p +9.35%
Spectris (SXS) 893.00p +6.88%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,483.00p +4.73%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 803.00p +4.29%
Telecity Group (TCY) 420.00p +4.14%
SThree (STHR) 293.00p +2.95%
Eaga (EAGA) 119.30p +2.40%
Connaught (CNT) 107.50p +2.38%
TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 63.50p +2.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 263.00p -12.77%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 26.15p -4.81%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,263.00p -4.19%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 91.20p -4.10%
Computacenter (CCC) 285.20p -3.62%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,292.00p -3.58%
Redrow (RDW) 104.20p -3.52%
Logica (LOG) 108.30p -3.22%
Laird (LRD) 105.70p -3.21%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 119.10p -3.09%