Investors continue to fret over the global economy

BLUE-CHIP shares were left teetering at the 4000 mark yesterday as nervy investors continued to fret over the global economy.

The London market has now closed in the red for four consecutive days, dashing any remaining hopes that equities were starting to stabilise.

The top flight index lost 15.9 points at 4011.0, falling to its lowest level for a month, although that was an improvement on an earlier 108-point slide.

A weak start on Wall Street added to the gloom by London's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped more than 50 points. Martin Dobson, head trader at NatWest Stockbrokers, said war rhetoric in the US towards Iraq had unsettled investors on both sides of the Atlantic. "There's a mood of complete uncertainty about the potential damage to the economy," he added.

Friends Provident dropped 4p to 130p, Aviva fell 9p to 454p and Prudential eased 6p to 464p. Royal & Sun Alliance gained 7p at 121p.

Smirnoff, Baileys and Guinness group Diageo matched City expectations with its yearly profits and recovered from earlier falls to edge up p at 765p.

Biggest risers: Royal & Sun Alliance, up 7p at 121p, EMI, up 6p at 171p, Corus, up 1p at 51p and Imperial Tobacco, up 37p at £11.21.

Heaviest fallers: Hays, down 6p at 119p, GKN, down 11p at 254p, Smith & Nephew, down 14p at 354p and Rolls-Royce, down 5p at 126p.