London close: Footsie falls for fourth week

London's blue-chip index fell for the fourth week in succession, with insurance and resource stocks the major fallers today.Aviva was the biggest casualty as fears resurfaced about the future of the company's dividend but its fellow life assurance stocks Prudential, Standard Life, Legal & General and Old Mutual fared little better.In the mining sector Rio Tinto was still under a cloud after four of its employees were arrested in China. Anglo American, meanwhile, confirmed the appointment of Sir John Parker as chairman from the end of the month succeeding Sir Mark Moody-Stuart who is to retire after seven years as chairman. He is expected to support the miner's rejection of merger approaches from Xstrata and help chief executive Cynthia Carroll in building a strong defence strategy.Other resource stocks such as Lonmin, Kazakhmys, BG Group and Tullow Oil as commodity prices softened. A mixed weekly trading update from John Lewis gave encouragement to other retailers. John Lewis's supermarket chain Waitrose reported a rise in sales last week, driven by demand for foodstuffs suitable for picnics and barbeques, and this prompted demand for supermarkets such as Tesco and Wm. Morrison.Sales at John Lewis department stores were lower overall, but fashion sales edged higher, which bodes well for Marks & Spencer and Next, while sales of electric fans went through the roof as Britons sweltered in temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius. Home Retail, owner of the Argo chain, is likely to have seen its fair share of electric fans sales this month.Publishing group Pearson was lifted by a broker upgrade. Credit Suisse upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "outperform".Bovis has scrapped its interim dividend but said the housing market has shown signs of stabilisation during the first half. Bodycote was downbeat Friday as the engineering firm said half-year revenue fell by a fifth and warned of a marginal operating loss before exceptional items. A weak automotive sector and continuing decline in demand from the oil and gas industry has cut revenue for the six months to 30 June 2009 by 20%, or 31% on a constant currency basis.Aircraft services group BBA Aviation said it has been outperforming the market during the first six months of the year and expects to continue doing so in the second half despite volatile markets. Building maintenance and services group Interserve is trading in line with expectations and ahead of last year's operating performance.Building products supplier SIG saw a 10% fall in sales in the half year to June 30 as it continued to feel the impact of the depressed construction market. In the second half of June sales were stable 'without exhibiting the level of seasonal pickup in activity, which typically manifests itself from late spring onwards,' the firm said.Support and maintenance services supplier Mitie has made a steady start to the year with revenues booked already at 78% of the expected total for the year. This time last year the total booked was 83%.Aim-listed property group London & Stamford is to raise £226m through a placing and open offer to fund recent acquisitions and give it the firepower to make more.Wireless technology provider Telit Communications said it is seeing a continued downward trend in revenues despite higher sales as selling prices of products for connecting mobile phones fall more than expected.Van and car rental business Northgate has finalised the details of the fund raising that was a condition of the renegotiation of its banking facilities. The company is to raise £30m through the issue of 50m shares at 60p per share, and £84.4m through a 10 for 1 fully underwritten rights issue of 1,205m shares at 7p.The spat between Neil Sinclair & Emma Sinclair and investment vehicle Mission Capital has been settled, leading to massive boost in Mission's share price. "All claims and allegations made by the parties arising out of, and in connection with, such litigation have been withdrawn," the company said.FTSE 100 - RisersTesco (TSCO) 357.40p +2.49%Schroders (SDR) 791.50p +2.19%Sage Group (SGE) 174.70p +2.04%United Utilities Group (UU.) 484.75p +2.00%FTSE 100 - FallersAviva (AV.) 276.75p -4.90%Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,901.50p -3.33%Wolseley (WOS) 1,031.00p -3.28%Standard Life (SL.) 173.00p -3.19%