London markets experience sluggish opening
Shares on the FTSE 100 got off to a sluggish start on Tuesday.
London markets got off to a somewhat sluggish start on Tuesday (March 10th).
The FTSE 100 opened 14.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, down at 6861.81 before enjoying a gain around 09:00 GMT before then falling back as the morning progressed. It was a poor start to the day for engineering firm Weir Group which fell by 2.6 per cent after enjoying a promising four per cent rise on Monday.
Another company to perform below expectations was Prudential. The company was down 1.71 after it announced that its boss Tidjane Thiam would be leaving the insurance giant to join Credit Suisse as chief executive (CEO). It brings an end to a six-year tenure but Prudential stated that "we have identified a successor and expect to be able to announce a new CEO once the regulatory approval process has been completed".
Other fallers included energy firm Tullow Oil which was down 4.28 per cent, mining giant Antofagasta which fell by 2.39 per cent and BHP Billiton which revealed a 1.94 per cent decline.
Gainers in the market
While a number of companies had reported a poor start to Tuesday, it was a much different story for WM Morrisons. The fourth biggest grocer in the UK saw a 2.74 per cent rise after its partner Ocado posted a 15.2 per cent increase in gross retail sales. This allowed the parent company to boost its performance especially in the highly competitive supermarket sector.
Security firm G4S was another top performer and was up 1.6 per cent after announcing a return to profit. This had been driven by securing a number of high profile overseas contracts.