FTSE in the red again

The London market slipped further into the red today as investors nervously awaited the closely-watched decision on US interest rates.

Strong overnight rises on Wall Street failed to inspire trading in the Footsie, which was 47.5 points down at 5838 by mid-morning. This represented a further 20 point fall from the first hour of business.

Despite gains on Wall Street, London appeared to take its lead from Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down more than 1%.

Investors remain focused on the US Federal Reserve’s rates move, which is expected to be another drop after last week’s bold 0.75% chop. But markets are anxious over the size of today’s decrease.

In London, insurers were in the limelight after yesterday’s news that Standard Life UK boss Trevor Matthews had defected to rival Friends Provident.

The Edinburgh-based group today revealed a 20% drop in fourth quarter UK life and pensions sales figures, slightly below market expectations.

Standard Life saw shares fall 3%, or 7p to 221p, while Friends Provident was also down 3%, off 5.9p to 156.5p despite hopes that its new chief executive may breathe life into the firm.

Banks were also down as confidence was dented by Swiss giant UBS after it unveiled a full year loss of more than £2bn (€2.7bn). Royal Bank of Scotland was off 11p to 388.75p, while Barclays was down 7.75p to 483.5p.

Elsewhere, travel company Thomas Cook nudged up 0.75p to 260.75p after posting annual results today. The business said it was in good shape for the year ahead after consumers showed no sign of cutting back on major foreign trips. Thomson owner TUI Travel also rose 5.5p to 245.5p on the back of the positive statement.

Broadcaster ITV put on 0.7p to 74.2p after the Office of Fair Trading announced plans to review the broadcaster’s onerous advertising regime.