Investors might feel like turning to drink at the moment, but there is little good news there either.
Diageo, the Johnnie Walker, Baileys and Guinness group, has slipped 31.5p to 976.5p after a downbeat trading statement from rival Pernod Ricard. The French group, the world's number two after Diageo, said it had not received the boost to consumption it had expected from the Chinese Olympics.
Pernod said growth in China had slowed down, and elsewhere people decided to stay at home and watch the games rather than going out and spending money on food and drink. Investors believe there is a clear read-across for Diageo.
Back at the credit crunch, Lloyds TSB has recovered ground after its earlier falls. Its shares are now up 3.25p at 283p. That values the offer for HBOS, up 60.9p at 208p, at 234p. There are some doubts however about the rationale for the deal, not least for Lloyds investors.
Alex Potter at Collins Stewart commented: "Whilst Lloyds has created a clear leader in UK retail banking and bancassurance, we cannot escape the fact that funding issues have not been solved and the yield support has now disappeared."
Still, the market seems to have stabilised - at least until the next shock - with the FTSE 100 up 73.9 points at 4986.3.
