Wall Street was rocked as a technical glitch appeared to send shares in some of America’s biggest firms down around 99 per cent.
In a dramatic session, the New York Stock Exchange said it was investigating a fault that led to trading in at least 60 companies to be halted.
Among them were Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffett’s giant conglomerate – restaurant chain Chipotle and mining group Barrick Gold.
At one point Berkshire Hathaway shares were shown to be down 99.9 per cent.
The issue was later resolved and trading resumed as normal with share prices back to previous levels.
IT glitch: In a dramatic session, the New York Stock Exchange said it was investigating a fault that led to trading in at least 60 companies to be halted.
It was an altogether calmer session in London despite another wave of takeover activity and a 3 per cent fall in the oil price below $80 a barrel.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.2 per cent, or 12.63 points, to 8262.75 and the FTSE 250 edged up 0.8 per cent, or 170.37 points, to 20900.49.
It came as the takeover frenzy gripping the City showed little signs of slowing.
In a statement to investors, Brookfield Asset Management said it is in the ‘early stages of assessing a possible cash offer’ for the distribution centre investor Tritax Eurobox.
Shares in the London-listed firm, which owns distribution centres in Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, soared 11.3 per cent, or 6.1p, to 59.9p.
At the same time, ad agency Brave Bison outlined a sweetened proposal for its rival Mission Group.
Having seen its £27million or 29p a share offer rejected in early May, the suitor returned with an improved bid of £32.3million or 35.1p.
Stock Watch – Marlowe
Marlowe, whose top shareholder is the former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, will pay a special £150million dividend next month.
The AIM-listed compliance services firm completed the sale of some assets within its Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) division to the private equity firm Inflexion for £430million at the end of May.
Marlowe will pay the special dividend on July 5 and then launch a £75million share buyback.
Shares rose 5p, or 28p, to 586p.
Brave Bison was flat at 2.45p and Mission Group shares rose 3.4 per cent, or 0.8p, to 24.5p.
Pets at Home surged 8.9 per cent, or 26.4p, to 322.6p after analysts at Liberum said it was the right time to ‘get off the fence’ and encourage its clients to buy its shares once again. The broker stuck a ‘hold’ rating on the stock in January last year.
Liberum gave five reasons why Pets should be optimistic about the future including its new digital platform and easing inflation.
Liberum warned there could be a ‘small impact’ from the probe the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced into the vets sector last month amid concerns over soaring bills.
Pets at Home last week insisted its vets growth strategy ‘is not threatened’ by the review.
JD Sports raced ahead after one of its investors raised its stake.
Fidelity increased its holding in the self-styled ‘King of Trainers’ from 4.93 per cent to 5.25 per cent, according to the latest stock market filing.
And a bullish note from Bank of America provided another boost for the retailer. Last week JD posted lower annual profits as it bemoaned ‘a very challenging market’.
Shares fell 5 per cent after the update on Friday but soared 5.1 per cent, or 6.45p, to 133.95p yesterday.
AstraZeneca’s drug Tagrisso used alongside chemotherapy has been recommended in the European Union to treat adult patients with an aggressive form of lung cancer. Shares rose 1.3 per cent, or 156p, to 12346p.
