Yule Catto (LSE: YULC) falls badly, with Homeserve (LSE: HSV) losing, too.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) has remained resilient, putting on 35 points by early afternoon, despite big miners falling on the day -- Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT), Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) all fell a few pennies in morning trading.
But what fallers were there among the greater ranks of the FTSE? Here are three...
Chemical weakness
Yule Catto (LSE: YULC), the specialist chemicals supplier, suffered a blow today after its shares dropped a massive 37p (21%) to 140p, on the day of its pre-close trading statement -- when you read the words "The challenging trading conditions... have continued..." then you know things aren't good.
The problem is continuing weakness in demand for nitriles, a group of organic chemicals that are used in adhesives, polymers and pharmaceuticals, among other applications.
This, coupled with a currency conversion hit, is expected to knock £5m off full-year operating profit -- we should have the full details on 30 June.
But with some commentators suggesting the fall in demand for nitriles is only short term, is this a good chance to buy Yule Catto shares for the longer term? It just might be.
Insure your boiler?
The domestic emergency insurer HomeServe (LSE: HSV), which was badly hit last October when an investigation into its sales practices was revealed, had another bad day today, as investors watched the shares lose 9.6p for a 6% fall to 150p.
Although there was no specific news today, the markets seem to be dissatisfied with the levels of remuneration being paid out to boss Richard Harpin, who, despite having waived his bonus, still pocketed £6m last year in salary and dividends from his 12% holding in the company.
The FSA investigation continues into the firm, whose shares have now lost 70% of their value in the past year. Are they oversold? Maybe.
High street out of favour again?
Not a massive drop, but the biggest morning faller on the FTSE 100 was fashion chain Next (LSE: NXT), which saw its shares fall by 58p (1.8%) to 3,137.
This may presage an end to the recent optimism surrounding high-street retail, as Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) also fell by 3p (1%) to 318p this morning.
Still, this drop only puts Next shares back to the level they were at a week ago, and comes on top of an overall 40% rise in the share price over the past 12 months. But we have seen big falls from Supergroup (LSE: SGP) over the year, and upmarket rags retailer Burberry (LSE: BRBY) in the past few months. Fashion, coupled with the high street, makes for a volatile combination.
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> Alan Oscroft does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
