The markets were a gloomy place to be this week, with more bearish economic news on both the domestic and international front.
Investor confidence continued to evaporate this week, with more bearish economic news on both the domestic and international front.
The FTSE 100 ended down 1.56%, standing at 5443.40 on Friday morning.
Biggest Movers in the FTSE 350 (as at Friday 09.10)
A sense of gloom permeated further into the markets in recent days, as the domestic economic picture looked increasingly bleak.
The retail sector struggled to stay afloat, the housing market was hit by another negative report from Nationwide, and even the miners experienced a slump in fortunes.
Among the house builders, Taylor Wimpey
(LSE: TW.)
was the biggest of big losers. Stocks in the company tumbled a whopping 46%, after it failed to raise £500 million from its investors.
Others in the sector were dragged down after it, with Barratt Developments
(LSE: BDEV)
crumbling 35% and Persimmon
(LSE: PSN)
subsiding 30%.
Negative ripple effects were felt in other, related sectors too. Blue chip plumber Wolseley
(LSE: WOS)
sprang a major leak, falling 18% on the back of worsening construction sector concerns and the global credit crisis.
And Morgan Sindall
(LSE: MGNS)
, the UK's biggest supplier of office interiors, warned that its profits were likely to suffer. Shares slumped 37% as a result.
In the world of retail, Marks & Spencer
(LSE: MKS)
shares fell a whopping 33% after a dire sales warning.
This shook an already-fragile sector, dragging clothing giant Next
(LSE: NXT)
down 12% and Sports Direct International
(LSE: SPD)
down 21%.
The big banking story of the week was the increasingly bumpy ride experienced by Bradford & Bingley
(LSE: BB.)
, Britain's biggest lender to landlords.
The firm's future was in doubt after US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) walked out on a deal to pay £179m for a 23% stake in the UK lender.
At the time of writing, Bradford & Bingley now plans to sell £400m of shares in a rights issue supported by Legal & General, Standard Life, M&G and Insight Investment.
Elsewhere, even the miners couldn't buck the gloomy trend, after coal and copper prices fell sharply. Eurasian Natural Resources
(LSE: ENRS)
drilled down 20%, copper giant Antofagasta
(LSE: ANTO)
fell 8%, and Vedanta
(LSE: VED)
sank 8%.
And platinum miner Lonmin
(LSE: LMI)
also lost its sparkle, falling 15% after announcing that it has had to shut down its Number One smelter after detecting a small water leak.
Some of the biggest names in the media also experienced problems. Blue chip ITV
(LSE: ITV)
fell 13% as its video-on-demand joint venture project - Kangaroo - was referred to the Competition Commission.
A profit warning from newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror
(LSE: TNI)
hinted at further deterioration in the industry, and its shares plunged 38%. And Johnston Press
(LSE: JPR)
, one of the biggest local newspaper publishers in the UK, plummeted by 41%.
But by far the biggest faller in the FTSE 350 was Southern Cross Healthcare Group
(LSE: SCHE)
. The care, nursing and residential home provider dropped an enormous 72% after sounding a profit warning.
Major good new stories were few and far between. Telecoms giant Vodafone
(LSE: VOD)
jumped 6%, after the firm teamed up with social networking site MySpace to create an online global interactive platform called Vodafone Music Reporter.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca
(LSE: AZN)
was biggest top blue chip winner, pepping up 10% after a US court upheld a patent on its Seroquel drug, which is used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
And finally Informa
(LSE: INF)
, which publishes the Lloyd's List, rose 7% after confirming that it had received a 506p-a-share bid approach from US private equity firms Providence, Hellman & Friedman and Carlyle.
Notable announcements next week:
Monday:Michael Page International, Morgan Crucible
Tuesday:Dunelm Ltd, Jacques Vert, Persimmon,
Wednesday:Avocet Mining, Begbies Traynor, DTZ Holdings, London Stock Exchange, Tullow Oil
Thursday:Associated British Foods, Barratt Developments, Experian, FirstGroup, SIG
Friday:Air Music And Media
