Footsie drifts on last session before Easter

Market report Perry Gourley

The FTSE 100 struggled for direction as traders eyed up the long Easter weekend in a day of thin trading.

London’s top flight closed down 11.44 points, at 7,459.88.

“It has been a quiet session,” David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets, noted.

In stocks, Unilever shares were in the ascendancy after the Marmite maker reported rising sales driven by success in emerging markets during the first quarter of the year. The group reported a 1.6 per cent decline in overall turnover but on an underlying basis sales were up 3.1 p.er cent

Shares closed up 125.5p at 4,503.5p, propelling the firm to the top of the index.

Rentokil Initial also pushed higher after the pest control firm reiterated plans to spend millions on acquisitions this year. It got a boost from buying sprees during the first quarter. The group reported an 8.9 per cent increase in ongoing revenue to £603.6 million. Shares closed up 6.8p at 374.9p.

Meanwhile, FTSE 250-listed Intu was trading higher as the under-pressure shopping centre operator sold a 50 per cent stake in its Derby site to investment firm Cale Street for £186m. The Kuwait-backed retail investor will enter a joint venture with Intu for the site, which generated net rental income of £25.2m last year.

The group has had a challenging year amid a retail crisis and failed merger talks but shares closed up 3.7p at 101.7p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included CRH, up 58p at 2,620p and Experian, up 40p at 2,200p.