FTSE in negative territory

London’s leading shares spluttered to the end of the week today as jitters over UK interest rates met head-on with weak consumer sentiment figures from the US.

A quiet corporate diary meant there was little to stimulate buying interest and the Footsie finished up 23.1 points lower at 6208.4 by the close.

Pharmaceutical stocks continued to struggle amid fears about drug prices in the US Medicare sector after Democrats swept Republicans from power in the country’s mid-term elections.

GlaxoSmithKline slipped 26p to 1360p, while AstraZeneca took the bigger hit and fell 65p to 3010p.

The financial sector was also in decline following the Bank of England’s interest rate hike to 5% yesterday amid fears another one is on the cards in the New Year.

HSBC fell 12p to 1008p, Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 2p to 1875p, Barclays was off 4p to 709.5p and HBOS was down 5p to 1075p.

The energy sector sought to steady the market after oil prices rose to 61 US dollars a barrel in New York although they fell back below 61 US dollars later in the sessions.

Cairn Energy topped the leaderboard and was up 74p to 1963p while Royal Dutch Shell lifted 13p to 1933p, but BP stood 3.5p weaker at 598p after news it had settled a lawsuit relating to the Texas oil refinery blast.

Miners added weight to the market and Lonmin was among the frontrunners with a rise of more than 3%, or 94p to 3183p. It was followed up by Xstrata up 59p to 2295p and Rio Tinto bouncing 82p to 2880p, while Kazakhmys lifted 34p to 1200p.

Sainsbury’s was on the up with a gain of more than 1% – up 6p to 420p - following speculation a private equity firm was interested although analysts say this is unlikely.

It also attracted interest as anticipation built ahead of half-year results next week which are expected to show further recovery for the supermarket chain.

But interest in ITV seemed to have waned following yesterday’s news that cable company NTL was interested in a merger with broadcaster.

Shares were down a penny at 111p today, despite finishing the session last night on top of the pile, as analysts considered a tie-up was unlikely.

Outside the top flight, attention was focused on John Laing after the infrastructure group received an improved offer from fund manager Henderson, trumping Germany’s Allianz in the process.

Laing rose more than 3%, or 12.75p to 420.47p, while sentiment was boosted elsewhere in the sector with Balfour Beatty up 15.5p to 417.5p and Alfred McAlpine ahead 16p to 555.25p.

The day’s biggest blue-chip risers were Cairn Energy up 74p at 1963p, Lonmin up 94p at 3183p, Persimmon up 37p at 1382p and Enterprise Inns up 27p at 1145p.

The day’s biggest blue-chip fallers were Antofagasta down 26p at 494.75p, Vedanta Resources down 64p at 1433p, Shire down 29p at 964p and Rio Tinto down 82p at 2880p.