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The FTSE Small Cap index and junior-listed AIM shares drop0.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, mirroring falls on the wider market,with the blue chips off 0.1 percent.
Hill & Smith Holdings, a supplier of infrastructure products, isamong the top FTSE Small Cap fallers with a 5.7 percent decline after thecompany reported an 11 percent drop in first-half underlying pretax profit.
N+1 Singer says that it expects to reduce its forecast 2013 pretax profit byabout 5 percent.
"Clearly, it is disappointing that we are reducing forecasts this morningbut we would see any significant share price weakness as a buying opportunity,"the broker says in a note.
"The medium-term outlook is positive for HILS given the exposure to theU.S.(47 percent of profit), the expected improvement in UK Roads spend and anexpectation that Pipe Supports should improve."
Car dealer Pendragon, meanwhile, is a solid small cap gainer, ahead4.3 percent, after unveiling a 24 percent rise in first-half profit as new carsales continued to rise in Britain.
Reuters messaging rm://tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
