New six-year low for FTSE
The beleaguered London market took another hammering today as a late sell-off left the FTSE 100 Index down another 3% at a fresh six-year low.
Fears over financial stocks sent the Footsie sliding 5.3% on Monday and an initial rally fizzled out today to leave blue-chips firmly in the red.
The Footsie ended 113.7 points lower at 3512.1, even though Wall Street struck a more resilient tone - at the time of London's close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than 1%.
Banks remained in the spotlight with Asian-facing Standard Chartered reporting a 19% rise in pre-tax profits to £3.4bn (€3.9bn).
In a volatile session for the shares, Standard lost double-digit gains but later stood 7% or 43p ahead at 630p - the Footsie's leading riser.
Elsewhere HSBC fell another 1% or 4p to 395p after its 19% slide yesterday. Collins Stewart brokers downgraded the banking giant in the wake of its rights issue announcement and 62% fall in profits.
Lloyds Banking Group was down 3.9p to 45.5p and Barclays dropped 5.9p to 81.8p. Royal Bank of Scotland was 1p lighter at 21.6p.
Other fallers included power station operator Drax, down 2% or 12.75p to 491.75p after beating forecasts for annual results but warning of tighter margins this year. International Power and Centrica fell 17.25p to 199.5p and 13p to 248.75p respectively.
Many retailers however were on the front foot after brokers at Numis eased their cautious stance on the sector. B&Q owner Kingfisher cheered 5.2p to 123.9p, and Next gained 8p to 1140p.
In the second tier, Currys and PC World firm DSG was 3.5p better at 21.75p, a rise of 19% after it also released details of plans for more Currys megastores. Carpetright cheered 35.5p to 492.25p.
DSG was joined at the top of the FTSE 250 Index risers board by housebuilder Redrow, which jumped more than 11% after it emerged founder Steve Morgan had increased his interest in the business to just below 30%.
Shares in Redrow added 15p to 150p as markets took Mr Morgan's move as a sign of value in the beleaguered sector after a punishing 18 months.
The leading FTSE 250 faller however was sub-prime lender Cattles. The firm has suspended three directors after it emerged bad debt charges were likely to be higher than first thought, leaving shares 40% or 2.1p lower at 3.1p.
Back in the FTSE 100, motor insurer Admiral rose 2% after it posted an 11% profits rise and chief executive Henry Engelhardt described the industry as "recession resistant". With the company increasing its dividend by 20%, shares gained 20p to 895p.
The biggest Footsie risers were Standard Chartered up 43p at 630p, Kingfisher ahead 5.2p at 123.9p, Amlin up 14.5p at 365.25p and Old Mutual ahead 1p at 37.5p.
The biggest fallers were International Power down 17.25p at 199.5p, Lloyds Banking Group off 3.9p at 45.5p, Cairn Energy down 141p at 1757p and Liberty International off 23.75p at 302.75p.
