Market report: Monday close

FEARS over the future of its Alzheimer's treatment Reminyl left

Two trials showed 15 patients out of 2,000 had died from various causes after being given it, against five deaths for those groups administered with a placebo.

Brokers say Reminyl generates between $30m (£16m) and $40m a year in royalties. Johnson & Johnson is discussing the issues with regulatory authorities. Reminyl has been approved in 69 countries to treat mild-to-moderate cases of Alzheimer's.

Rival AstraZeneca, which reports this week, retreated 17p to 1861p. There is growing concern about prospects for its cholesterol treatment Crestor, which has come under fire of late. At one time, it was anticipated sales would top $5bn a year but it now looks as if the Anglo-Swedish group will have to scale back City expectations.

Share prices generally were on the slide. It followed a big sell-off in New York on Friday. Blizzards and three feet of snow in the North East of the US have jacked up oil prices and unnerved sentiment. In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 9.2 points to 4812.5.

Those strong oil prices boosted BP 7p to 519p and Shell 3½p to 459½p. But broker Credit Suisse First Boston has repeated its underperform 7m Shell shares went through at 459½p.

Smiths tumbled 27½p to 826½p after broker Merrill Lynch downgraded from buy to neutral, saying the shares were only worth 850p.

The bank reporting season gets under way this week with full-year numbers on Wednesday from Northern Rock, ½p firmer at 790p. Pre-tax profits are expected to come in 11% higher at £430m.

Brokers are forecasting collective pre-tax profits from all the banks of around £33bn. Last week, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs told clients they were confident of another strong performance by the sector, forecasting a 9% rise in the number of new loans made.

But Lehman Brothers reckons share values already match expectations and is sticking with its neutral rating on the sector. It prefers Barclays, 5½p lighter at 579½p, over Lloyds TSB, ¼p cheaper at 471½p.

With administrators expected to knock on the door at Allders any day, the difficulties of smaller department stores operators was underlined by dismal results from Beale. The group, which has a 12-strong chain from Kendal, Cumbria, to Ealing Broadway and Walton-on-Thames, saw profits tumble from £1m to £260,000 in the year to end-October.

Like-for-like sales for the 11 weeks to 15 January slithered 3.6% and directors warned the year ahead would be 'very challenging'. The shares fell 3½p to 66½p, having earlier touched 62½p.

Irish investors have teamed up with Alternative Investment Market-listed property company Halladale, up 6p to 122½p, to complete the £21.4m purchase of Sunbury Cross shopping centre near the junction of the M25 and M3.