Market report: Friday close

SHARES in

The bank, which had previously tagged BT 'market performer', cited valuation grounds - it sees it as cheap - despite worries about BT's pensions deficit and the lack of a mobile phones arm to drive growth. Setting a price target of 240p helped lifted the BT shares 13p to 220 1/2p, boosting the telecoms sector and wider market.

Fresh worries about advertising volumes and ITV's poor audience figures sent broadcasters Granada down 6 1/4p 74 3/4p and Carlton Communications down 9p to 129p. Both now trade below their 11 September nadirs. Ad agency group WPP, ahead 1p to 461p, may throw more light on advertising demand when it reports next week.

The market set aside fears about the cost to Vodafone of its internet joint venture with ailing French media group Vivendi and its delay to the launch of the 3G service in Ireland, to take its shares through the magical 100p mark with a gain of 3 1/4p to 100 3/4p. The institutions were buying as volume went up to over 184m shares. Rival MmO2 added 3/4p at 44p.

Institutional support came in for Cookson, the engineer hoping to raise £277.5m by issuing new shares. The stock started the session still below the 25p rights issue price, but gained 3 1/2p to 25p as more than 17m shares changed hands. The rights issue is not underwritten and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein forecasts take-up of only 40%, leaving Cookson needing to sell some of the new equity at even lower prices.

The wider market dipped into the red by early afternoon. News that US consumer confidence has deteriorated again over the past month and early selling on Wall Street kept the pressure on. But the FTSE 100 pared its losses towards the close, in line with a US recovery. The Footsie ended ahead 2.5 points at 4330.

Online bank Egg fell 2 1/4p to 137 1/4p, despite chairman Roberto Mondoza buying 25,000 shares at 135p. Insurer Royal & SunAlliance slipped 2 1/2p to 105p amid talk of a downgrade by credit rating agency Moody's. Credit Suisse First Boston cut its price target to 166p from 284p.

Shares in telecoms equipment firm Marconi fell 1.08p to a new low of 2.52p on reports that shareholders will be left with just 1% following a debt-for-equity deal with its creditors.

Royal Bank of Scotland failed to hold early gains, ending off 2p at 1568p. But rival Lloyds TSB added 8 1/2p at 575 1/2p, even though ING lowered its target price to 660p from 775p.

Academic book publishing has always been a good niche market. With subscriptions remaining firm, Taylor & Francis gained 29p to 527 1/2p. But sportswear retailer JJB Sports suffered another setback, tumbling 15p to a three-year low of 166p. Matalan, the discount clothing company, rose 9p to 248p. Chairman John Hargreaves bought 435,000 shares to take his stake to 27%.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.

Stephanie Bentley of the Daily Mail on yesterday's trade
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