Banks drag on UK market
A sharp hike in oil prices, more fears over the financial sector and a bad start to trading on US markets saw the FTSE 100 fall 1.6 points to 5,370.2.
Banking stocks were hit hard. HBOS was down 8¼p at 272p. Lloyds TSB fell 10¼p to 280p and HSBC shed 22p to 805¾p.
Oil and mining giants were up as commodity prices rose. Tullow Oil was up 58p at 799½p. Miner Eurasian Natural Resources rose 35p to 1062p.
Marks & Spencer was 6p lower at 246p as fears grew over the high street chain's current sales performance in a difficult retail climate.
Oil-hungry stocks fell. British Airways shed 8p to 232¼p and cruise operator Carnival was 58p down at 1782p.
Mid-cap housebuilder Persimmon rose 28½p to 327p as analysts said half-year figures contained few surprises. Rival Taylor Wimpey was up 1p at 42¼p.
Shares on continental markets fell, with banks tumbling on fears of further credit-crunch related turmoil.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 99.48 points to 12,752.21 as a stronger yen hit Japanese exporters, while Hong Kong equities were sharply lower.
The Dow Jones index in the US rose 12.78 points to 11,430.21 as investors focused on bullish reports that eased worries about the financial sector.