There has been a bit of nervousness among the mortgage banks again today. Rumours of someone seeking emergency funding from the Bank of England went round the City once more, and with the Bank's monetary policy committee deciding not to cut interest rates, the sector headed south. Even a continuing fall in the Libor rate did not help matters.
Bradford & Bingley seemed to suffer the brunt of the rumours, and shortly before the market closed it denied it had gone to the Bank for funding. Its shares still ended 9p lower at 249p, while Alliance & Leicester lost 30p to 724.5p and HBOS fell 29p to 647p.
Disappointment with the lack of a rate cut and a weak opening on Wall Street left the FTSE 100 50 points lower at 6222.7.
Supermarket group J Sainsbury defied its critics with some pleasing numbers and saw its shares climb more that 6% to 388p. But Marks & Spencer lost another 14.25p to 395p despite yesterday's share buying by directors. The market is in an unforgiving mood at the moment, and M&S's disappointing Christmas will not be quickly overcome.
Another of yesterday's disappointments, BP, dropped a further 5.5p to 605p as more analysts began to slash their forecasts for the oil group's fourth quarter figures.
But Wellstream, an equipment supplier for the oil and gas industry, was a star performer after a well received trading statement.
The company, which floated nearly a year ago, said profits would be well ahead of market expectations, and its shares jumped 115p to £12.55. Credit Suisse raised its target price from £11 to £14.60 and has upgraded its earnings estimate for 2007 by 17%.
