Experian, the credit information group, has soothed nerves about the effects of a US slowdown on its business. A bullish investor meeting yesterday showed the company was upbeat about its longer term growth prospects, and this was enough to send its shares higher today.
Indeed, the company is the biggest riser in the FTSE 100 index, climbing 23.5p to 432.5p.
Overall it has been a fairly nervy day, as traders await the Federal Reserve's decision on US interest rates, due at 7.15 UK time this evening. Whether a 50 basis point cut is a panacea for the current global economic problems or not is a matter for debate. But if the Fed does not live up to market expectations, shares seem certain to tank.
In the meantime, the FTSE 100 has closed 47.9 points lower at 5837.3, while Wall Street is currenly down a similar amount.
A bit of late bid excitement livened up pubs group Mitchells & Butlers, a day after it admitted to hedging losses of more than £400m. Its shares ended 72p higher at 473p as it revealed it had received a number of expressions of interest.
Elsewhere pharmaceuticals group Shire fell 36p to 899p on concerns about potential sales of its Vyvanse ADHD treatment.
