London close: Winning streak ends

A spirited late rally was not enough to return Footsie into positive territory. The blue-chip index recovered from its nadir of 5,206 to rise almost 50 points in the last 90 minutes of trading.

Just a third of the blue-chip index's constituents advanced on the day and chief among them was chip designer ARM, which was lifted by Intel's record results announced last night. Goldman Sachs responded to Intel's results by upping its price target for ARM to 350p from 260p. Fellow chip makers CSR and Imagination Technologies rose in sympathy.

Pay TV and internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) was also wanted after Nomura Securities whacked up its price target from 700p to 1,000p. Catering group Compass was another benefiting from broker comment; Citi has issued a buy note.

BP gave up some of its recent gains. The company has delayed a pressure test on the newly installed well cap in the Gulf of Mexico while reports today said US politicians now want to look into the company's activities in Libya.

Derivatives giant ICAP was the worst performer, however. The inter-dealer broker increased revenues by 8% in its latest quarter and profits by 5% as its trading matched the volatility of the markets. Business, though, dropped off sharply in June after a bumper April and May when the sovereign debt crisis in Europe sparked huge demand for currency and credit default derivatives.

This year continues to "shape up well" for Rio Tinto, though the mining heavyweight today warned investors to expect further volatility in commodity prices on fears of a double-dip recession and concerns about Chinese demand. In a second quarter update, chief executive Tom Albanese said operations are close to capacity and markets for most products are strong and the overall long term demand outlook is positive.

Silver miner Fresnillo made new production records in the second quarter and first half of 2010 following a "modest" increase in output during the period.

Budget pub group JD Wetherspoon reported a 1% rise in like-for-like sales in the 11 weeks to July 11 and said it was confident of a resilient future performance despite economic worries. Wetherspoon, which has recently been moving away from its traditional role as a pub to compete with the likes of Starbucks by selling takeaway teas and coffees, saw overall sales climb by 5.8%. It has opened 41 pubs so far this year and disposed of two.

London Stock Exchange's decision to cut its dealing tariffs helped it increase market share in the core cash equities business, but meant a mixed performance overall in the last three months. "Trading across the group's platforms in early July shows similarly varied trading levels," the LSE said.

Emerging markets asset manager Ashmore Group grew assets under management by $2.3bn, or 7%, to $35.3bn in the fourth quarter from the previous three months.

Barratt Developments' underlying profits this year will beat expectations after the housebuilder pushed though price rises of 18% and kept costs under control. Operating profit will now be at least £85m for the full year to June as margins for the year rose to 4% and hit 5.5% in the second half.

Topps Tiles, Britain's biggest tile and wood flooring specialist, breathed a sigh of relief as it reported an improving trend following difficult trading at the start of the third quarter. In the 13 weeks to July 3, sales were down by 2.5% compared with the same period the previous year, and by 1.2% on a like-for-like basis, Topps said in a brief update.

Online fashion store ASOS revealed a 54% surge in retail sales during the first quarter and remains confident of further progress this year.

Software company Corero slumped today on news it is raising £6.5m from a placing and subscription at 25p a share and selling its profit-making Financial Markets division.

Lord Ashcroft has taken a direct stake of 22.92% in political information publisher Dods. He appears to have bought the shareholding of Michael Danson, the former owner of Datamonitor, because he held exactly the same number of shares as has just been acquired.

FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 318.50p +3.11%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,111.00p +1.28%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,046.00p +1.06%
Serco Group (SRP) 579.00p +0.96%
Capita Group (CPI) 767.50p +0.92%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,464.00p +0.90%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,746.50p +0.87%
Bunzl (BNZL) 714.00p +0.85%
Prudential (PRU) 543.00p +0.74%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,821.50p +0.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
ICAP (IAP) 416.10p -4.61%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 453.30p -3.61%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,432.00p -3.05%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 794.00p -2.99%
BAE Systems (BA.) 318.90p -2.92%
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 87.45p -2.83%
BP (BP.) 400.20p -2.47%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 910.50p -2.36%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,271.00p -2.23%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 588.00p -2.00%