Market report: Tuesday close

IT is all sweetness and light these days at

Today, shares of the sugar producer were trading 9p dearer at 549½p following an upbeat trading statement showing the group is still firing on all cylinders. It has been spurred on by strong sales of its artificial sweetener Sucralose, or Splenda, as it is known.

Sucralose is used in all sorts of products ranging from soft drinks to food products. Production is running at full capacity, and the main plant in Alabama is being expanded while a new factory in Singapore is currently under construction. This has helped offset lower sweetener margins.

Brokers say T&L should post full-year, pre-tax profits in June of £223m, although Investec Securities reckons this may be on the low side, and has pencilled in £240m. But there is no pleasing some. Broker Panmure Gordon has repeated its sell recommendation on the shares, saying the statement contained 'nothing new' and feels that although demand for Splenda remains strong, the group is already operating at full capacity.

UBS was also bearish, sticking with its reduce recommendation and arguing that while the group's sweeteners and starches unit has performed well in the Americas, as expected, in Europe it has seen lower margins.

Share prices generally were on the slide again as investors slowly trickled back to work after the Easter weekend. This morning in the Far East prices fell sharply, reflecting futures-related selling and concern about the Japanese economy. Back in London, the leading blue-chip indicator, the FTSE 100 index, closed 3.5 points lower at 4919.0. Oil shares reacted to the weaker oil price overnight with BP closing 5p higher at 556p and Shell losing 2p at 480½p.

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline failed to respond to news that its osteoporosis treatment Boniva had been granted approval for use in the US by the Food and Drug Administration. The shares closed even at 1220p. Broker Williams de Broe is forecasting sales of between $500m (£268m) and $1bn, but warns the build up will be slow. It continues to rate the shares a buy.