Footsie ends week in the red

London’s leading shares dropped almost 1% today as the market bore the brunt of heavy losses for mining stocks and banks suffered from fresh concerns over interest rates.

The FTSE 100 Index plunged 51.2 points to stand at 5719.7 by the end of the day – a fall of 0.89% – following on from yesterday’s 7.1 point loss.

It also felt the pinch from the US where the Dow Jones Industrial Average was under pressure following a profits warning from computer maker Dell.

Stronger-than-expected GDP numbers added to market worries, as it increased the chances of an interest rate rise in the UK next month.

The uncertainty over rate movements was a cause for concern for the banks, with many of the major players trading lower after the release of the numbers.

HSBC fell 9p to 947p, despite announcing the capture of 220 branches in Central America, while Lloyds TSB slumped 6.5p to stand at 524.5p.

It was a similar picture for Royal Bank of Scotland, which was down 21p at 1673p and Barclays failed to buck the trend dropping 11p to 597.5p.

Miners also acted as a weight on the market with Vedanta Resources off 56p at 1246p, Kazakhmys down 30p at 1143p and Antofagasta 19.5p lower at 389.5p as copper and gold prices declined.

Party Poker owner PartyGaming led the risers board after reporting 49% boost in revenues for the three months to June 30.

It also sought to ease concerns about US legislation by saying it would continue to expand aggressively overseas, including in Europe and South America.

Shares initially went into negative territory before recovering to stand 9.5p higher at 96.75p. Second-tier rival 888 Holdings was 9.75p lower at 151.25, a drop of 6%.

Other progress came from defensive stocks such as Imperial Tobacco, which lifted 24p to 1705p, while Yorkshire Water owner Kelda rose 2.5p to 850p and Severn Trent added 8p to 1232p.

Enterprise Inns was trading up 11.5p to 961.5p fter announcing a share buy back scheme.

Elsewhere, Whitbread rose 11p to 1172p after revealing a deal to sell 239 Brewers Fayre and Beefeater sites and a plan to focus on pub restaurants near its Premier Travel Inns. The buyer, Mitchells & Butlers, was also up - progressing 1.5p to 516p.

Meanwhile, Rank Group advanced 1.25p to 193.25p after saying it had completed the sale of its CD and DVD packaging business to New York-based EDC for £3 million.

Shares in Dairy Crest were also higher by 2p to 507p, despite yesterday’s news chief executive Drummond Hall is set to stand down in December in order to spend more time with his family.

The top risers were PartyGaming up 9.5p to 96.75p, Imperial Tobacco up 24p to 1705p, Associated British Foods up 12p to 854p and Tesco up 4.75p to 355.75p.

The biggest fallers were Wolseley down 5p at 1079p, Antofagasta down 19.5p at 389.5p, Vedanta down 56p at 1246p and ICAP down 18.75p at 459p.