FTSE ends day in the red

A raft of corporate activity failed to excite investors in London as the FTSE 100 Index gave up early gains to drift into the red.

The Footsie started the session in buoyant mood and was up more than 20 points in early trading but it slipped 7.6 points by the close of play to 6186.6.

Lower-than-expected inflation figures could not improve the mood as economists continued to ponder the chances of another hike in interest rates in the New Year.

Supermarkets Morrisons and Sainsbury's were in retreat after rival Asda said it gained market share in the last 12 weeks. Morrisons was down 4.75p to 264.25p while Sainsbury's lost 6.75p to 412.5p.

They were joined on the blue chip fallers' board by ITV which was off 1.5p to 112.75p after Coronation Street lost a major sponsorship deal with Cadbury.

Takeover target Scottish Power was down 5p to 738.5p after it reported a 77% hike in first half pre-tax profits to £483m (€714.5m) but remained quiet on developments following last week's revelation that it was in talks with Spanish energy group Iberdrola.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone also left investors disappointed after it admitted it was still feeling the pinch in a tight European market. The outlook for the Newbury-based company was more positive but shares fell half a penny to 135.5p.

But there was better news for InterContinental Hotels, which gained 17p to 1065.5p after third quarter results reassured the City that it was on course with its strategic plan.

It was beaten to the top of the leaderboard by credit checking firm Experian and Home Retail Group, which were separated during the recent demerger of GUS. Experian was up 15.5p to 615p on the back of renewed takeover speculation while Home Retail gained 8.75p to 415p.

And miners made some ground following Monday's sell-off with Kazakhmys up 20p to 1160p and Xstrata 22p higher at 2214p.