Footsie shies away from 6,000 mark again

London shares are backtracking from the all-important 6,000 barrier again as technology and telecoms stocks move into the red.

Traders are hoping the Footsie index of 100 leading stocks will mount a rally later in the session.

It dropped 30 points in the first 30 minutes of trading, but has already recovered slightly to stand at 5961.2 after an hour's trading - down 15.4 points.

The fall mirrors a sluggish session overnight in the US, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost ground.

On the London markets, computer services group Dimension Data is down 10p to 370p; Logica has dropped 20p to £10.30; and CMG is down 7½p to 474½p.

Telecoms stocks are also down, with BT continuing to suffer in the first week of trading since its £5.9 billion rights issue, dropping 8p to 439p. Vodafone is down 4p to 197¼p; while Colt Telecom has dropped 16p to 839p.

On a busy day for corporate reporting, retailer group Kingfisher is faring best - up 7¾p to 449¾p - after unveiling a strong set of first quarter figures.

But Land Securities has dropped 7p to 880p after announcing a slight fall in full-year pre-tax profits.

Outside the Footsie 100, regional brewer Wolverhampton & Dudley is down 7½p to 465p after reporting good interim results but no further news of a possible bid from Hartlepool-based pubs group Pubmaster.