Lamprell contract wins respite for shares Overall, the benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 33.34 points to 5,629.09 and the FTSE 250 lost 56.03 to 11,019.23. Traders were left disappointed after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke failed to indicate the central bank was any nearer to bolstering the economy with further stimulus. Miners helped pull the FTSE 100 lower after Rio Tinto said iron ore sales lagged behind output, which sent the shares down 69½p - or 2.3pc - to £29.16½. ENRC also slipped 15½, or 3.85pc, to 387.4p and copper miner Kazakhmys fell 20½ to 707p. National Grid was also among the losers in the blue chip index as investors digested proposals from regulator Ofgem to curb electricity and gas infrastructure spending announced earlier in the week. The shares closed 20½ lower at 662p, having fallen 10½ on Monday. Concerns around the state of the advertising industry were also bothering broker Nomura, which clipped its price target for ITV and lowered its full-year forecast for advertising, despite the boost the broadcaster will have received from airing Euro 2012 football matches earlier in the summer. "Advertising trends appear to have weakened significantly from continued macro pressure, and the lack of Olympic rights (screened on the BBC) will put Q3 under pressure," analysts at the bank wrote in a client note. "Given the uncertain advertising environment, we retain our "neutral" rating, but lower our target price to 100p from 105p." ITV, which reports interim results on July 26, slipped 1 to 74p. There was no let-up in sight for G4S after chief executive Nick Buckles appeared before MPs, which continued to put pressure on the shares. They fell 14.6 to 240p, making it the biggest loser in the FTSE 100. While investors continued to punish G4S, there was some respite for Barclays, which has suffered a barrage of unflattering headlines over the Libor scandal. The shares rose 1.3 to 159p, the first time the bank has ended the day in positive territory since July 10. Meanwhile, BP was helped higher after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's lifted its outlook on the group to "positive" from "stable." The shares gained 2½ to 444p. Wolseley, however, was in the bad books after the building materials supplier announced it was exploring "strategic options" for its French businesses, which sent the shares down 45p to £22.83. Among the mid cap companies, investors were also looking less kindly upon Drax Group after The Daily Telegraph reported the Government had delayed a decision on subsidies for renewable energy generation. Drax was waiting for clarity on subsidies before deciding if it will increase biomass power production and the shares dropped 32½ to 540½. The disappointment does, however, present an opportunity to buy into the group, according to analysts at broker Deutsche Bank, who view the company as a "high-risk but attractive investment." "We do not think this delay signals a lack of support for biomass though, and would see any near-term weakness in the shares as a buying opportunity," they wrote in a note to clients. Online sports broadcaster Perform Group was also down 43, or 10.6pc, to 362p, with some traders speculating investors were profit-taking after the stock reached a high of 421p on July 11. At the other end of the table, however, CSR impressed with the news of the $310m sale of its handset operations to South Korean giant Samsung, surging 73.7, or 33.8pc, to 292p. Liberum liked the implications the deal has for CSR going forward and said "the sale of the handset business enables CSR to focus on areas where it controls the platform which drives margins." The announcement earlier in the week by ASOS that director Robert Bready had sold-off his holding of ordinary shares in the company may also have helped the shares down 47p to £18.25 although other retailers, including Debenhams, were also lower on the day. Even so, the share sale helped fuel press speculation Mr Bready may resign, which was denied by a spokesman for the group. Meanwhile, analysts at Canaccord Genuity were looking forward to Pace's interim results later this month with a mixture of optimism and trepidation. The broker said there was a "good chance" the maker of television set-top boxes will exceed market expectations when it releases its numbers on July 24, adding that the share valuation remains cheap. However, the broker warned: "our concern is that, with management focus very much on internal matters, the longer-term industry headwinds continue to strengthen and, aside from further cost reductions, there is little that Pace can do to address them." Even so, the analysts, who have a "hold" recommendation on the stock, have boosted their target price to 125p from 92p . The shares slipped 2¼ to 112p.