The UK’s benchmark index spent much of the day drifting sideways, leaving traders wondering whether they too should have taken the day off, like most of the US.
The US is celebrating Thanksgiving Day today, resulting in low trading volumes on this side of the pond.
Although the UK does not celebrate Thanksgiving, the odd turkey could still be identified on traders’ screens, notably Kingfisher (LON:KGF), the DIY retailer, which received a double-whammy in the form of underwhelming results and an announcement from the Bank of England regarding its Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS).
Shares of house builders also hit the skids as the central bank said the scheme, introduced in July 2012 to encourage banks to lend to house buyers and small to medium enterprises, would now focus entirely on increasing lending to small businesses.
Persimmon (LON:PSN) was the hardest hit of the house builders, down more than 6%. Kingfisher, which relies to some extent on house buyers spending money to spruce up their new homes, fell more than 5% as it flagged increasingly tough conditions in France.
The FTSE 100, however, eked out a small gain, rising 5 points (0.1%) to 6,654, led by Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), up 3.9%, after it said mine production capacity at its iron ore business in Western Australia will rapidly increase towards 360 million tonnes a year at a significantly lower capital cost per tonne than originally planned.
On the small caps front, ValiRx (LON:VAL) was one of the top risers after it revealed encouraging news from its lead compound, VAL201 for cancer.
The AIM-listed drug developer revealed that by using different biomarkers, it was possible to measure 201's impact on reducing both the proliferation and spread of the prostate cancer and tumour growth.
Shares jumped 4.6% to 0.34p.
Another strong gainer was Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) after remodelling at its Tuzon gold deposit at Dugbe in Liberia identified two new higher grade areas. Tuzon is one of the two main deposits identified so far at Dugbe, alongside Dugbe F.
The remodelling used three different gold price scenarios that confirmed it would underpin initial gold production at the Dugbe project, Hummingbird said.
Shares rose 2.1% to 35.75p.
Triple Plate Junction (LON:TPJ) shares advanced 8.1% to 0.34p as it confirmed it remained committed to finding new opportunities to develop the company. In the six months to end September, it spent £52,000 looking at possibilities.
Shares in Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) gained ground again as its 54%-owned subsidiary, Aussie listed Lemur Resources (ASX:LMR), outlined its strategic plans. The shares closed up 18,5% at 5.45p, having risen yesterday to 4.69p from 3.623p on Tuesday’s close after it unveiled plans to accelerate a potentially world-class vanadium resource at its iron ore project in South Africa.
Dragon Oil (LON:DGO) advanced 1.1% to 567.5p after it said its offer for Block 19 in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, has been initially accepted. The decision is still subject to approval by the appropriate government authorities.
Red Rock Resources (LON:RRR) is to raise up to £500,000 via the issue of a secured bond, arranged by the UK Bond Network Limited. The shares took a tumble, shedding 13% to 0.71p.
There have been a few comings and goings in the board rooms of Britain’s growth companies. Insurance firm Brightside (LON:BRT) has appointed Paul Williams as its new chief executive, replacing Martyn Holman, who steps down from the board after 11 years with the group.
Ronald Openshaw has resigned as chief executive and chief financial officer (CFO) of AIM-listed Plethora Solutions (LON:PLE) after opting to devote his time to his consulting firm Lucia Capital.
The board has asked Mike Collis to act as CFO on a part-time basis with effect from December 1, having been appointed to the board as a non-executive director in September.
Allocate Software (LON:ALL) has added a former NHS hospitals chief executive to its board. Dr Graham Rich, 52, will join as non-executive director on December 1 this year, the company revealed.
Elsewhere, low-cost African airline Fastjet (LON:FJET) has appointed four new directors to the board of its subsidiary, Fastjet Airlines.