Little respite for beleaguered market

ENGLAND'S defeat in the penalty shoot out with Germany on Wednesday was only part of the bad news afflicting the London stock market yesterday.

Share prices were under pressure from the outset for a variety of reasons, stretching from the hangover induced by the football result, to the continued weakness of the FTSE 100 future relative to the cash market and a series of poorly received trading statements.

News of Boots' buyback of £300 million sterling worth of its own shares, did little to boost the share price, with some saying a buyback had been in the market for some time.

BTR moved to the top of the FTSE 100 performance table as traders decided the recent selling pressure in the shares had been overdone. Food retailers generally outperformed at the expense of Asda. The food retailer's results, although coming in at the top end of analysts' expectations, were followed by persistent switching into other stocks in the sector, such as Argyll.

On the downside, Rank Organisation's trading statement, the first since the appointment of Mr Andrew Teare, the new chief executive, was greeted with dismay and some determined selling, which left the stock as the worst performer in the leaders.