It was snakes and ladders in the markets this week, as miners continued their rally while banks were left to pick up the pieces. Read more about this week's movers and shakers...
It was a tale of two sectors this week.
As miners and other commodity companies struck gold, retailers and banks continued their downward slide.
Overall, the FTSE 100, 350 and All-Share indices remained robust, thanks partly to the continuing rally in the commodities sector.
By the end of the week, the FTSE 100 was up 1.5%, ending at 6296.60 at 9.30am on Friday.
Biggest Movers in the FTSE 350 (as at Friday 09.30)
BHP Billiton
(LSE: BLT)
and Rio Tinto
(LSE: RIO)
were top of the miners, after gossip that state-owned Chinese aluminium group Chinalco was stake building in BHP in an attempt to influence its takeover plans of Rio Tinto.
BHP was up 9% while Rio rose 9.5%.
Eurasian Natural Resources
(LSE: ENRC)
was another mining success story, up 12% after unveiling substantial growth in first quarter revenue.
Elsewhere, Vedanta Resources
(LSE: VED)
rose nearly 6%, while Kazakhmys
(LSE: KAZ)
and Anglo American
(LSE: AAL)
were both up 4.5%.
As oil prices continue to soar, Cairn Energy
(LSE: CNE)
surged 5.7%, Dana Petroleum
(LSE: DNX)
gushed up 6.6% and Tullow Oil
(LSE: TLW)
spurted up 2.5%.
On the other hand, banks continued to suffer as more financial turbulence hit the headlines.
Bradford and Bingley
(LSE: BB.)
was the hardest hit, falling to its lowest level since demutualisation in 2000, down 22% after following in the footsteps of its fellow banks and announcing a rights issue.
Alliance and Leicester
(LSE: AL.)
didn't fare much better, dropping 14.5% after revealing rising mortgage arrears and another asset writedown.
Other banks also felt the jitters. Barclays
(LSE: BARC)
fell 6.3% amid fears that it would be next in line to the rights issue throne.
RBS
(LSE: RBS)
and HBOS
(LSE: HBOS)
were both down 7%, while Lloyds TSB
(LSE: LLOY)
fell 4.7%.
Investors failed to tune into ITV
(LSE: ITV)
this week, as shares slumped 8% after predictions that ad sales would fall over the coming year.
Thomas Cook
(LSE: TCG)
, already battling against rising oil prices, was hit by more gloomy weather, down 4.4% as the tour operator said it would only meet forecasts if sterling stopped its downward slide against the euro. Fellow travel group TUI Travel
(LSE: TT.)
slid 0.6%.
DSG
(LSE: DSGI)
, the company which owns Currys and PC World slumped 10% after announcing it would slash its dividend by 50% and close nearly 80 stores.
Elsewhere on the retail front, doom and gloom prevailed as retail shares were left on the shelves.
Next
(LSE: NXT)
dropped 2% while Home Retail Group
(LSE: HOME)
shed 3%
Sainsbury's
(LSE: SBRY)
was down 7.3% despite a strong trading update and a 23% increase in its dividend.
Finally, shares in BT
(LSE: BT.A)
were ringing up this week, as the UK's largest phone company rose 5.9% after fourth quarter revenue and profits beat expectations.
Notable announcements next week:
Monday: Homeserve, Mitie Group, Care UK
Tuesday: British Land, Yell Group
Wednesday: EMI Group, Britvic
Thursday: Cable and Wireless, Mothercare, Daily Mail Group, Topps Tiles
Friday: ICAP
A Trading Announcement is expected from Big Yellow Group
