ICI tumbles on trading fears

NERVES are frayed ahead of full-year figures from speciality chemicals group

Unease grew after French chemicals group Rhodia plunged into the red. It supplies cyclical industries such as car makers and electronics firms. There are areas of overlap between ICI and Rhodia, and that prompted selling of the former UK industrial giant. Martin Evans, head of European research at Credit Lyonnais Securities, said: 'Investors are nervous of chemicals at the moment and are looking for an opportunity to get out.' He thinks worries about ICI are misplaced and is sticking to a price target of 450p, saying: 'They offer good value if you are prepared to weather the storm.'

The FTSE 100 ended down 92.2 points - its heaviest fall since early December - at 5131.4, hit by depressed oil and media stocks and a jittery Wall Street, where the Dow fell 2.5%. Investors are awaiting a ruling later today on US interest rates. The Fed is expected to peg rates at 1.75%.

Flat corporate profits hit share prices on both sides of the Atlantic. Satellite TV group BSkyB was the biggest faller in the Footsie, losing 45 1/2p at 673p ahead of interims next week. Some brokers, such as Credit Suisse, think Sky looks good value, while Morgan Stanley and Schroder Salomon are less optimistic.

Telewest shed 10 1/2p at 35 1/4p. Dealers are worried about its exposure to cable giant NTL. Alternative carriers such as Colt were also weaker, down 11 1/4p at 72 3/4p.

Music giant EMI rose 4p to 324p after Dresdner Kleinwort set a buy target of 430p. It also dismissed fears of rising interest charges after the company's debt rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's. EMI has been as high as 799p.

Some of the cream was skimmed off Express Dairies, which had rocketed on Monday on bid hopes. The price eased 3/4p to 23 1/2p. But there could still be plenty of action to come.

There was more gloom for Torotrak, which crashed after General Motors decided not to take up an option to develop its new gearbox. It dipped another 11p to 34p, a new low.

IT consultancy Anite gained 5 1/2p at 173 1/2p after winning contracts worth more than £12m. House broker UBS Warburg set a target of 206p and is forecasting full-year profits of £27m. But elsewhere Surfcontrol, which sells software enabling firms to stop employees from downloading porn, fell 25p to 610p. It has roller-coasted between 262p and 1242p in the last year.

Psion rose 3 3/4p to 75 3/4p after its Symbian mobile phone joint venture won extra funding on favourable terms.

The dotcom sector is not completely moribund. Lastminute.com gained 3p at 37p after creating a joint venture in Japan. Chief executive Brent Hoberman was upbeat about 'entering the second largest internet market in the world'.

AIM-listed Vitesse Media was steady at 18 1/2p after Lloyds TSB agreed to sponsor its online directory for small businesses, offering help from funding to employing staff. This is expected to become a useful profit generator.

Mortgage outfit Netwindfall fell 0.2p to 0.1p after resuming trading on the termination of talks, which might have led to a bid. It is looking at other options. Directors continue to go unpaid.

South African communications network installer Dimension Data eased 3p at 79 1/2p after Merrill Lynch cut its earnings forecasts.

Mortgage lender Kensington jumped 14p to 280p after Teather & Greenwood tipped it as a 'strong buy'. It believes that, if conditions get tougher, people who cannot get loans from mainstream lenders will flock to Kensington, which caters for what are quaintly called 'non-performing categories'.