Market report: Thursday close

MOBILE stocks took the centre stage again in the City, with giant

Vodafone slumped to a four-year low before a late rally left the stock ahead 5 1/4p at 112 3/4p, as 826m shares changed hands. Latest subscriber numbers confirmed a big slowdown in customer growth. The group acquired 1.3m new subscribers in the three months to 31 March, stretching the figure to 101m globally.

WestLB Panmure appeared chuffed with the numbers, describing Vodafone a ' very strong player'. It was soon on the phone to clients repeating its 'buy' recommendation - one of few brokers in the Square Mile to do so.

MmO2 ended down 2 1/2p at 47 1/2p, after touching 43 1/2p, on turnover of 223m shares. Mustapha Omar at broker Collins Stewart has described my share of the year as 'worthless in its current form'. He used the firm's unique Quest valuation model, which measures the value of the company's cash flows, rather than its stated profits. 'If they decide to dump the loss-making German business Viag, then the shares would be worth 24p,' Omar said. Closure costs would be offset by flogging its 3.5m subscribers to a rival phone operator.

Omar caused a stir in July last year when he told clients to sell Marconi, then trading at 1070p. Today, its shares firmed 0.09p to 6.69p after reporting a collapse in fourth-quarter sales from £2.06bn to £948m. The telecoms equipment maker, with debts of almost £2.9bn, has a price tag of less than £200m. Other casualties in the telecoms sector included Orange, down 5p at 400p.

Hard-pressed City punters were also knocked sideways by the response given to AstraZeneca's first-quarter numbers. The price touched 3250p on news that the US Food & Drug Administration is delaying a verdict on its new drug Crestor. It later reduced the deficit to 187p at 3340p. Earlier this month US securities house Goldman Sachs raised its target price for AZ from 3600p to 4200p.

There was also a poor response to the new business numbers from CGNU, soon to be renamed Aviva, which saw it tumble 43 1/2p to 728p.

Opening falls for the Dow this afternoon only added the gloom, although prices traded above their worst levels. The FTSE 100 fell 20.7 points to 5197.5.

On the grey market, spread bookies have opened a book on music store HMV with the issue set to be priced at between 190p and 220p. Cantor Index has made a spread of 225p to 235p. Official dealings in the newcomer start next month.

Profit-taking saw shares in the London Stock Exchange fall 14p to 456p. They sprang to life on Wednesday on talk of a merger with US electronic market Nasdaq. The LSE has described the report as speculation and chief executive Clara Furse has said the exchange 'is not for sale'.

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.

Geoff Foster of the Daily Mail on yesterday's trade
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