At last the stock market has called a halt to the progress of the "TMT" stocks - technology, media and telecommunications. So for once neither Pace Micro or Filtronic feature in our list of star performers, and in their place come three more traditional companies - Wm Morrison, Provident Financial and Kelda Group - whose shares have been depressed as fund managers have switched funds away to the fashionable sectors.

Overall the leading FTSE 100 index has moved within a narrow band of 6000 - 6700 so far this year, but there have been some marked movements up and down for different companies and sectors. This week's reversal of recent mood swings - initiated first by the US - suggests that markets generally are becoming more volatile.

Morrisons' results for the year to January were broadly in line with analysts' expectations of another impressive performance. Pre-tax profits were up 11.1 per cent to £189.2m on turnover up 17.2 per cent to £2,970m, boosted by petrol sales up by over 60 per cent.

With VAT and petrol duty, the company is now a major tax-gatherer for the Government, whose competition commission is currently investigating trading practices among the major supermarkets. Chairman Sir Kenneth Morrison said: "The Competition Commission will, I am sure, give the industry a clean bill of health. The consumer is getting a good deal. Food retailing is extremely competitive and this has never been more apparent than at present.''

Within a substantial store development programme, Morrisons plan to open a new store at Kirkstall in May, and a major new store is planned to replace one of their older stores in Bradford. Work has also started on the improvement of the Bradford produce packing facilities. Sir Ken also confirmed that 101 stores were open at the end of January - their centenary year.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.