Early rally fizzles to leave market negative at close

LONDON shares ended a rollercoaster session in negative territory yesterday after a knee-jerk rally fizzled out.

The FTSE 100 surged more than 100 points in early trading as fears of war with Iraq receded following Saddam Hussein’s decision on UN inspectors. Heavyweights such as insurers, banks and telecoms had helped buoy the market. But by close of trade the Footsie had lost all its gains to end down 19.2 points at 4025.1.

Of the banks, Lloyds TSB reversed an early gain to fall 6p to 521p, while Abbey National slipped 6p to 651p.

Among insurers, Aviva ended down 15p at 375p, Royal & Sun Alliance was down 3p at 107p, while Legal & General was up 2p at 101p, pulling back from a stronger gain.

Vodafone was down 1p at 90p, mmO2 was lower at 43p and BT Group down 4p at 193p. British Airways recovered some recent losses but the group, which leaves the Footsie at the end of the week, slipped back to stand up just 2p at 123p. Oil companies also turned tail and fell; BP ended off 8p at 459p and Shell was down 9p at 402p.

The biggest risers were Kingfisher up 8p at 215p, Scottish & Newcastle up 12p at 571p, P&O Princess up 9p at 463p, Legal & General up 2p at 101p and Smith & Nephew up 6p at 382p.

Fallers were BAE Systems down 16p at 218p, Tesco down 11p at 204p, Sage Group down 6p at 111p, International Power down 4p at 100p and Aviva down 15p at 375p.