At the time of writing, US stock futures were pointing to a flat to slightly higher opening on Wall Street following 3 days of losses. Headline UK shares continued to trade lower as lunch approached, as fears continued about European debt an investors were cautious over potential stricter financial regulation in the US. At time of writing the FTSE 100 was trading down 61.97 points at 5011.16.
LONDON MARKETS
On the economic front, lending to UK firms was reported as down in March. This was mirrored by fewer mortgages being issued in April by the big UK banks. Those shares on the main index which saw losses during the final morning session of the week included BP (LON:BP.), down 3.16% at 512.1p, National Grid (LON:NG.), down 2.6% at 561.5p, Shire (LON:SHP) Down 2.53% at 1348p. Smith & Nephew (LON:SN.)& down 1.96% at 625.5p and RBS down 1.9% at 43.97p
Meanwhile, those on the other side of the coin who saw gains included Fresnillo (LON:FRES) up 4.05% at 848p, Xstrata Plc (LON:XTA), up 3.96% at 928.6p, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), up 3.7% at 2916.0 and Vedanta up 3.16% at 2186p. Founder and largest shareholder of Easyjet (LON:EZJ), Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has written to shareholders saying that he is delighted that the rest of the board is now agreeing with his primary short term objective that "outgoing Easyjet (LON:EZJ), Chief Executive Andy Harrison will not be allowed to order any more aircraft from Airbus whilst clutching his golden parachute on the way out of the aeroplane hatch." He adds:
"At this stage, I anticipate there will be no further public action from the Board until the new Chief Executive and Finance Director have taken up their posts. The next scheduled announcement from the Company will be the third quarter results on 5 August 2010. Until then, I will continue my dialogue with other Shareholders on a one-on-one basis."
Tesco (LON:TSCO) has told the BBC that it would welcome a Government-proposed curb on the sale of cheap alcohol. The Supermarket chain goes on to say that it would support the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol if it was backed by the Government. In an interview with the BBC, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco's director for corporate affairs says that the retailer currently has to compete on price…
