The FTSE 100 closed the week at 5,962.90, down slightly on the day by 24.6 points. Persimmon, the only housebuilder in the FTSE 100 was the biggest casualty, closing 40 points lower at 749.5p. (more…)

The FTSE 100 ended the week below the psychological 5,500 level at 5,495.2, down 50.4 points on Friday, although this was above the early afternoon lows.

Falls in crude and gold prices meant that the oil and mining stocks lead the charge downwards. In the oil sector, Cairn Energy slipped 178p to 2,535p and BP was off 15.5p at 496p. As for the miners, share prices for all the big players fell. Anglo American was down 236p to 2,673p, Vedanta was down 108p to 1,902p, Rio Tinto was down 270p to 4,800p and BHP Billiton ended 80p lower at 1,361p. (more…)

The FTSE 100 closed on Friday at 5,631.7, down 60.7 points (1.1%) amid news the US’s fifth largest bank, Bear Stearns, was in trouble and had sought emergency funding from the Federal Reserve.  Unlike with the Northern Rock debacle the Americans have acted fast to try and stop a major bank collapsing. However, the funding to prop up Bear Stearns is only for an initial period of 28 days.

Not surprisingly the UK Banks bore the brunt of the losses with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) falling 8.5 points (2.48%) to 333.75p and Barclays (BARC.L) falling 17.75p (3.94%) to 433p. The biggest loser was HBOS (HBOS.L) , tumbling a significant 34p (6.05%) to 528p. Although this is also due to speculation of further writedowns at the Bank.

The FTSE 250 reflected the fortunes of the FTSE 100, losing 1% to 9,706.1.