DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS

The FTSE 100 ended slightly down on Monday, although it hit fresh record highs during the day before, falling back to close fractionally down 0.4% at 7,696.51.

The blue-chip index hit a new high of 7,733.39 in the morning and the midcap index also touched a new record of 20,984.76 in early trade.

On the corporate front, G4S topped the riser board, up 4.0%, after UBS upgraded it to “buy” from “neutral”.

However Micro Focus International, the software company, closed down 17% after it announced its merger with Hewlett Packard could delay its return to growth.

In early trade on Tuesday the FTSE 100 was up by 0.40%, with retailers reporting strong sales over Christmas.

The FTSE 100 ended last week at a record high of 7,724 as UK shares joined global stock markets in a New Year rally.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.4% on Friday, led by British Gas owner Centrica, which climbed 3.1% on positive broker comment.

But car insurer Admiral was among the blue-chip fallers, down 2.9% after a broker downgrade.

NMC Health led the risers on Thursday with a 5.5% advance after the hospital operator bought out minority investors in two clinics. The FTSE 100 was up 0.3%.

Retailers were off after a profit warning by Debenhams, which dropped 14.7%.

Major shareholder Sports Direct lost 3.8% while Marks & Spencer fell 3.7%.

However, Next jumped 6.7% last Wednesday as it reported betterthan-expected Christmas sales.

BP and Shell were also up by 1.3% and 1.4% respectively as the oil price rose, while the FTSE 100 added 0.3%.