FTSE struggles for direction

London’s leading shares struggled for direction today amid a lack of corporate and economic news.

The FTSE 100 Index slipped back 9.3 points to 6187.6, as reduced hopes for a rate cut in the United States caused a lacklustre finish on Wall Street

Financial stocks weakened after a strong run in recent days. Standard Chartered topped the Footsie fallers’ board, down 4% or 59p to 1512p, private equity group 3i slipped 23p to 1057p and Man Group fell 10p to 480p.

High street banks were also on the back foot with Royal Bank of Scotland off 9.5p at 574p and Barclays dipping 8.5p to 619p. Northern Rock was back in negative territory following a brief recovery yesterday amid renewed concerns over its exposure to tightened credit markets. The stock lost 12p to 745p.

Miners littered the risers board, with Lonmin up 6p at 3146p after an upgrade from HSBC on the belief that the recent sell off has been overdone. Xstrata was the biggest gainer of the session, up 34p at 2887p, while Rio Tinto also climbed 18p to 3280p.

Energy and utility stocks made gains. Oil giant BP rose 3p to 549.5p with Royal Dutch Shell up 10p at 1875p, while Scottish & Southern Energy was 12p higher at 1391p.

Software firm Sage lifted almost 2%, or 3.5p to 229.5p, as it benefited from a broker upgrade from Merrill Lynch.

Rentokil Initial fell for a second successive session, even though its chief executive yesterday forecast a return to profits growth in the second half of the financial year. Shares were down 3.4p at 167.9p.

On a quiet day for corporate news, fund manager Henderson slipped 3p to 135.75p, even after the group reported higher half-year profits and said it expected to withstand the current volatility in financial markets.

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