ALY.L Share News (ALY)

After a steep decline after lunch - on the back of a poor start on Wall Street - the Footsie recovered to finish above water, albeit only by around 0.1%.US economic data fuelled a brief sell-off just before 2pm after some much weaker than expected jobs data. Just 54,000 new jobs were added in the world's biggest economy last month, against expectations of 165,000. The unwelcome figures come after ratings agency Moody's warning that it may downgrade the US debt rating if Congress fails to increase the US debt limit in the coming weeks and risks default.Back in London, gains were limited by the UK's own disappointing data. Growth in Britain's service sector, the powerhouse of the economy, slowed in May, adding to the impression that economic recovery is proceeding at a snail's pace.The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Business Activity Index came in at 53.8, down from the previous month's 54.3 and below expectations. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.In company movements, WPP, the advertising giant, did its best to lift the market higher after acquiring a 70% stake in Grïngo Publicidade, a leading digital agency in Brazil. Making moderate gains was satellite broadcaster BSkyB on reports that the £7.8bn takeover by Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate News Corp has taken one step nearer to the finish line after regulators "agreed in principle" to grant clearance. Sector peer ITV is among the worst performers. Mexican precious metals miner Fresnillo was a heavy faller, tracking silver futures lower. Oil firm Cairn Energy was off the mark despite commencing drilling on two wells in its West Greenland offshore drilling campaign. The demand for cloud computing stocks has fuelled gains for computing stocks. Autonomy's shares were boosted after it completed the $380m acquisition of assets from Iron Mountain. The purchase is seen to boost the group's cloud computing capability (cloud computing allows users to store and retrieve their data from remote locations). Sector peer Iomart, the cloud computing and managed services company, was also wanted after announcing earlier in the week that pre-tax profits for the year to 31 March surged from £0.4m to £2.8m. Toy train maker Hornby steamed ahead. It saw sales fall in the year to 31 March, but blamed this on supply issues rather than the tough economic outlook and said it the business is in "great shape." Sales slipped to £63.4m from £63.9m the previous year, while pre-tax profits fell to £4.1m from £5.7m. Turning to the real thing, there were some interesting movements in the rail and bus sector this morning. Go-Ahead and Stagecoach, which have been initiated with an "overweight" rating by JP Morgan, are posting gains, but National Express, slapped with an "underweight" tag by the broker, is firmly in the red. JP Morgan likes Stagecoach's exposure to buses and Go-Ahead's southeast England focus. Tantalum miner Noventa, whose shares dived yesterday when it reported that problems with funding and other issues mean it will not meet its production targets, says it will need to raise £15.3m to bring its Marropino mine in Mozambique into full production. Shares tumbled over 15% today. Fashion and homewares retailer Laura Ashley said UK sales fell 4.5% in the 17 weeks to 28 May 2011 as it closed more unprofitable stores and expects to post full year results in line with expectations. Shares edged higher.In contrast, other retailers were falling heavily on the FTSE 250, with ultra-trendy fashion group Supergroup posting losses of over 6%. The firm revealed last month that its sales growth rate was lower in the three months to 1 May compared with the preceding quarter. Shares have dropped by over a third during the last four weeks. Sports apparel retailer Sports Direct and electrical goods retailer Kesa Electricals were also among the worst performers. ---BC