Banks and media stocks suffer

The FTSE-100 Index was down 31.3 points by lunchtime at 5182.8, with banking and media stocks coming under pressure.

Barclays is off 26p at £21.70; Lloyds TSB is down 3p at 731p; Royal Bank of Scotland has fallen by 42p to £16.98; and HBoS has slipped 20p to 822p.

Media stocks on the back foot include BSkyB, off 37p at 799½p; Pearson, down 37p at 839p; and Granada, 4¼p lower at 136¾p.

Computer services group Logica is down 27½p at 789½p; software group Sage has shed 6½p at 227½p; Cable & Wireless has lost 7½p at 323½p; and BT is down 5p at 338p.

Electrocomponents is bucking the trend, gaining 6% or 27¾p to 479¾p, after stressing its confidence about future growth despite a slip in first-half profits and increasing its interim dividend by 15%.

Rival supplier Premier Farnell also benefited, topping the FTSE-250 board with an jump of 8% or 18p to 236½p.

Other stocks on the up include British Airways, ahead 10p at 164p, as investors digest yesterday's results announcement.

Scottish Power is topping the Footsie risers' board with a gain of 7% or 26½p at 421½p after announcing a £1.9bn refinancing of Southern Water.

National Grid is up 7¼p to 488¼p; while Scottish and Southern Energy is 9½p ahead at 665½p; and British Energy is up 4% or 11p at 285p after saying it had cut half-year losses by £39m, despite lower electricity prices.

Shire Pharmaceuticals has fallen by 31½p to £10.30½p despite reporting third-quarter results ahead of market expectations. And Waterford Wedgwood is down 12% or 5p at 37p after announcing it's cutting 1,400 jobs in response to tough economic conditions.