London close: Banks drag Footsie down
London's benchmark index remained in the same range and finished the day lower as banks took centre stage again.
Northern Rock was down on reports that Treasury and Bank of England officials are drawing up contingency plans to pay the troubled mortgage lender's depositors their money if the stricken lender has to be put into administration.
The plan would see the central bank buying Rock's deposits and swiftly paying the balances back to customers. They are also worried about possible problems with Virgin's rescue bid.
Royal Bank of Scotland was down ahead of a trading statement due Thursday. Morgan Stanley added to its woes, starting both it and Lloyds TSB with an 'underweight' rating and price targets of 420p and 390p respectively.
HBOS and Barclays joined the slide despite 'overweight' ratings and price targets set at 880p and 625p. Alliance & Leicester is 'equal-weight' with 715p target.
Housebuilders posted heavy losses with Taylor Wimpey leading the charge and Barratt Developments close behind.
Meanwhile, a Goldman Sachs target downgrade to 155p from 190p sent DIY retailer Kingfisher into the red.
Tesco was slightly weaker despite another strong sales performance. Sales growth for the thirteen weeks ending 24th November 2007 quickened to 11.8%, up from 9.2% in the first half.
Sanford Bernstein started publishing house Pearson with an 'outperform' rating and 875p target. Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier is also rated 'outperform' with 750p target.
Vodafone slipped despite Credit Suisse keeping its 'outperform' rating on the mobile telecoms titan and upgrading its price target to 200p from 185p.
Mitchells & Butlers was a major faller after rival Greene King said it expects the remainder of the year to be more challenging. The group also said plans to spin off some of its pub properties and return proceeds to shareholders was less attractive due to problems in the property and debt markets.
Sportswear retailer John David has predicted profit before tax and exceptional items for the current financial year will exceed current market expectations, even though sales have slowed recently.
Engineer Weir is predicting top of the range full year profits following better than expected revenue growth during the second half.
Highland Gold shot ahead on news that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has invested $400m for a 40% stake.
Public sector focused software group Civica reported a 13% increase in full year underlying profit and said it has traded in line with expectations since the year end.
Tersus Energy has slumped after bid talks ended. Forestry management group Fountains has also broken off discussions with a prospective bidder, while Access Intelligence issued a profit warning.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,515.00p +1.32%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,539.00p +1.16%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,770.00p +0.97%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,956.00p +0.93%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,221.00p +0.91%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,937.00p +0.78%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 439.25p +0.29%
Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY) 626.00p +0.16%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 652.50p +0.15%
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) 666.00p +0.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 187.50p -7.06%
British Airways (BAY) 322.50p -6.18%
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Barratt Developments (BDEV) 441.25p -5.92%
Northern Rock (NRK) 103.00p -5.50%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 439.25p -5.28%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 518.00p -5.22%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 689.00p -4.64%
Sage Group (SGE) 203.00p -4.58%
Kingfisher (KGF) 151.20p -4.49%
DSG International (DSGI) 108.90p -4.22%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 142.00p +7.17%
Benfield Group (BFD) 296.25p +5.24%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 475.00p +4.11%
Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 284.50p +3.55%
Shanks Group (SKS) 223.00p +2.53%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 207.00p +2.48%
Burren Energy (BUR) 1,255.00p +1.78%
PartyGaming (PRTY) 29.25p +1.74%
Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 59.25p +1.72%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 105.75p +0.95%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Brit Insurance Holding (BRE) 216.50p -10.07%
Michael Page International (MPI) 295.00p -8.88%
Collins Stewart (CLST) 156.00p -8.50%
Alfred McAlpine (MCA) 475.00p -8.48%
Greene King (GNK) 747.00p -8.46%
National Express Group (NEX) 1,070.00p -8.31%
Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC) 1,266.00p -8.19%
Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 163.00p -7.91%
Hays (HAS) 115.00p -7.82%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,468.00p -7.73%
