FTSE finishes the week in the red

London’s leading shares finished a miserable week in the red today as stocks lost favour with investors.

A volatile few days for the market came to a disappointing end with the FTSE 100 Index down a further 22 points to 5142.1, almost 3% lower than on Monday morning.

Oil heavyweights proved a drag after a fall in the cost of oil, and there was bad sentiment from across the Atlantic where the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 56 points when the London market closed.

Concerns over the continued slowdown of the UK economy with no sign of a cut in interest rates added to the gloom, as investors held their breath ahead of Hurricane Wilma’s expected landfall in Florida.

Catering group Compass was the blue-chip stock under the most pressure. Shares fell nearly 6% or 10.75p to 175p after the firm suspended UK boss Peter Harris as it investigates how United Nations contracts were awarded.

The firm was followed into the red by a string of oil stocks after the cost of a barrel of crude slipped below the 60 US dollars level in New York.

Royal Dutch Shell was the hardest-hit in the sector, off 1% or 23p to 1727p, while BP weakened 3p to 606.5p.

The excitement for smaller companies triggered by a bid for Paladin Resources yesterday also petered out, with shares in Dana Petroleum and Burren Energy falling 18p and 21.5p to 804p and 730.5p respectively.

Cairn Energy, however, finished the day 22p up at 1654p amid speculation it could be the next target.

Pest control group Rentokil Initial dropped 3.5p to 151.75p after former Granada boss Sir Gerry Robinson abandoned his campaign to take over.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB was also 3.5p lower at 515.5p after a proposed £211 million takeover of telecoms firm Easynet sparked worries about how much it would spend on developing and marketing new products.

The move put BSkyB in head-to-head competition with BT, whose shares slipped 5p to 206p, although shares in Easynet surged 35% or 45p to 172p.

The negative momentum by the Footsie came despite PartyPoker.com owner PartyGaming soaring more than 10% after its decision to freeze rivals out of a new poker platform helped revenues to rise by a third over the summer.

Its trading update lifted rivals such as Sportingbet, which cheered 9% or 23.5p to 283.5p, and 888.com, up 12% or 16.75p to 154.5p.

And shares in drugs giant AstraZeneca rose 15p to 2596p after a study of its Seroquel schizophrenia treatment confirmed it could control both manic and depressive episodes of people with bipolar disorder.

Outside the top flight, furniture group MFI advanced 8% or 6.25p to 82.5p after broker UBS upgraded the stock.

The day’s biggest blue-chip risers were PartyGaming up 8p to 86p, Legal & General ahead 3p to 105.75p, Aviva up 13.5p to 650.5p and Alliance & Leicester up 16.5p at 831p.

The heaviest fallers were Compass down 10.75p to 175p, Hanson off 15p to 527p, RioTinto off 57p at 2073p and BT down 5p to 206p.