Banking and oil cause market to slip

Falls in banking and oil stocks weighed on the London market, keeping the FTSE 100 Index at three-month lows.

By the close of trading the Footsie was down 42 points at 3778.6, as dealers had a lacklustre start to the week.

A tumble on Wall Street on Friday, on increased concern about war with Iraq and sluggish outlooks from both Microsoft and IBM, weighed on the mood.

In addition, trading lacked direction today as US markets are closed for Martin Luther King Day.

Despite an early spurt, shares tumbled lower by the close of trading as banks and oil stocks took a battering.

Oil giant Shell slid 8p to 386p on a broker downgrade, while rival BP fell 8.5p to 395p.