On a busy day for company news - including an unscheduled update from Barclays - credit information company Experian stood out among leading shares with an 11.5% decline.
The problem is of course the credit crunch. Experian - which runs consumer credit checks for banks and other businesses - saw its half year earnings rise 15%. But it warned that the current problems meant its customers were reluctant to lend money and therefore were less likely to need its services. So it warned of a slowdown in the second half.
Citigroup said it now expected 4% growth in the next six months, rather than its previous forecast of 6%.
And speaking of the credit crunch, over to Barclays. Despite maintaining last week it had no plans to issue an update ahead of its November 27 trading statement, lo and behold there came an announcement. (Incidently, the original trading update is still due to be announced at the end of this month.)
The bank unveiled a £1.3bn write down because of the credit problems, which was less than some of the figures being bandied about last week. The shares were all over the place as investors struggled to digest the news, and were briefly suspended at one point so trading positions could be sorted out.
So after touching 569.5p the shares pared their gains to sit at 535.5p, up 2.5p. Traders said this was because growth at Barclays Capital would continue to be constrained because of the current turmoil.
The news did little for other banks caught up in the current problems. Royal Bank of Scotland lost 5.25% while Alliance & Leicester, forced to deny yesterday it had a black hole in its accounts, fell nearly 5%.
Elsewhere Scottish & Newcastle added 21.5p to 762p as rivals Carlsberg and Heineken raised their offer to 750p a share. S&N is expected to reject the new bid.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes slumped 9% on concerns about weak UK trading, dragging rival William Hill down nearly 5%.
With Bank of England governor Mervyn King warning of possible further falls in stock markets, the FTSE 100 was 58.4 points lower at 6373.7. Weaker than expected retail sales figures showing a 0.1% dip in October did not help matters.
