THE FTSE 100 failed to hold on to initial gains yesterday in a choppy session, despite a boost from blue-chip banks which came in the wake of interim results from Barclays.
A poor start to trading on Wall Street drove the index into the red aft
er US weekly unemployment claims figures jumped to a six-year high. London's top-flight index broke the 5,500 barrier briefly, but closed down 8.6 points at 5,477.5.
The Bank of England's widely expected decision to maintain interest rates at 5 per cent provided little direction, while wider progress was held back by some losses for the big insurers after disappointing results from Germany's Allianz.
"There is not much to talk about," said Chris Hossain, director of trading at Blue Index. "People were waiting for the rates decision and it came with no surprises."
Banks had accounted for much of the initial gains after half-year profits from heavyweight firm Barclays came in at the top end of expectations. The group's 33 per cent drop in profits was within estimates, with £2 billion of credit crunch write-downs also containing no surprises. Barclays shares rose 2 per cent as a result, up 6p to 375p, with rival Lloyds TSB also enjoying a gain, up 4.5p to 318.75p.
Royal Bank of Scotland was not doing so well as investors kept their powder dry ahead of the group's interims today. Shares closed down 1.25 to 233p. HBOS ended the day relatively level, up 1.75p at 334.75p.
Friends Provident shed 5 per cent, or 4.5p to 87.2p, after half-year profits fell 20 per cent and it failed to announce any disposals as part of its overhaul.
General insurer RSA also fell despite beating expectations with its half-year figures, with shares down 0.3p at 138.9p. However, Standard Life and Legal & General bucked the trend, up 4.75p at 248p and 3.2p at 110.8p, respectively.
Medical devices firm Smith & Nephew was near the top of the risers' board after beating forecasts with its second-quarter results. Shares jumped more than 5 per cent, or 29.5p to 597p. It was pipped to the top spot by metals producer Eurasian Natural Resources, which consolidated gains on Wednesday after strong ore production figures. The shares were up 100p to 1,117p.
International Power was among the top share fallers after it said its second-half performance would be hit by an extended outage at its Rugeley coal-fired power station. Shares were down 14p at 407p, despite a 19 per cent rise in half-year profits.
Elsewhere, oil prices creeping back up around the $120 a barrel level saw British Airways shares slip 13p to 255p. Low-cost carrier EasyJet also saw its stock fall 8p to 338p.
Retailers were off across the board, with supermarket declines led by Sainsbury's, down 10.25p at 341p, and B&Q parent Kingfisher also down, 3.6p at 131.2p.
In the FTSE 250, department store Debenhams dropped 1p to 56.5p as talk of an offer from Iceland's Baugur faded.
The full article contains 542 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
