WPP Group, owner of J Walter Thompson and the Burson-Marsteller PR network, saw another significant fall, down by 2.6% this afternoon to 446.5p, while Aegis Group, which owns the Carat media-buying network, fell by 4.6% to trade at 83.5p.
Even Cordiant Communications, usually the subject of takeover speculation once its share price reaches the low-70s mark, was only up by 0.7%, or 0.5p, trading at 74p.
Media shares were also down. Reuters, which today posted its first loss since it floated in 1984, saw its shares fall by 1.2% to 295.5p. Trinity Mirror, which has failed to make significant gains in circulation with its policy of slashing the cover price of the Daily Mirror, was down by 2.4% to trade at 360p. Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, was also down by 2.4% to trade at 537.5p this afternoon.
With the Dow Jones and Nasdaq indices both falling in New York when the market opened this morning, the US advertising companies also saw across-the-board declines. Grey Global was down by 0.57%, trading at $695, while the Interpublic Group of Companies fell by 0.65% to trade at $19.75.
Only Omnicom Group, owner of DDB Worldwide, managed to buck the trend, seeing its share price, already damaged by claims of irregular accounting practices, rise by 0.98% to $48.45.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .