Thursday, October 22

Phil Collins at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson

FTSE has risen 500 points in the last fortnight, so it is understandable that investors should not want to chase it up any further. We ended the day 23 points up at 5,229.

This caution was reflected in the stocks and sectors that did well today.

The classic place to go when you're worried is water and food. The reasoning here is that we still need water whatever happens to GDP, and we still need to eat. Sometimes the stock market is pretty basic. Water stocks are up 1.7% and food retail up 1.6%.

The best sector of the lot was media, propelled by Reuters. The company issued a statement to suggest that its business will not be too badly affected by the maelstrom in financial markets. As it was, the market was reassured and Reuters rose over 10%.

The other companies to stick their heads above the parapet were Legal and General who offered a good statement today and were rewarded by a 5.5 % rise, and ICI, whose soothing comments, surprising as they were, led to a 1.5% stock price rise.