FTSE 100 down 0.72% despite Sainsbury gains

The FTSE 100 was down today – but holding on to much of the gains from Monday.

At close of play, the index was down 0.72 per cent – or 38.14 points – to 5,243.40.

Leading the gains was Sainsbury – up 5.36 per cent – as takeover speculation was reignited as major shareholder Qatari Holding sold off 379 million Barclays shares, making £750 million on the deal. Barclays was down 4.79 per cent.

Publisher Pearson rose 4.44 per cent as it increased its full-year guidance – as its education business outperformed slumps for its newspaper division.

Man Group gained 1.94 per cent and Diageo rose 1.54 per cent. Software group Autonomy was down 8.65 per cent after a third quarter update fell short of market expectations.

Builders merchant Wolseley dropped 3.42 per cent and Cairn Energy lost 2.74 per cent. In New York, morning trading was also muted.

The Dow Jones was down 0.71 per cent to 10,020.32 at 11:52 BST, while the S&P 500 in Chicago lost 0.78 per cent. In Europe, the Dax was down 0.58 per cent and Cac40 lost 0.42 per cent.

Anthony Grech, at IG Index, explained traders were remaining cautious despite recent gains.

'Given the prospect of the GDP figures on Friday looking increasingly close run as to whether the UK will move out of recession, traders will doubtless remain mindful of the risks that lie to the downside,' he said.

'Expect the BoE meeting minutes and the CBI quarterly survey tomorrow to be closely watched for further clues as to just what degree of growth might be seen.

'Tomorrow's interim from Home Retail will offer some insight as to consumer demand but as Tuesday’s session winds up it seems evident that conservative themes are coming into play.'