It was another day of decline for leading shares, despite the Bank of England cutting interest rates by the expected 25 basis points.
Investors were put out a little by the tone of the Bank's accompanying comments, which painted a gloomy picture of the credit situation and the economic outlook. Still, it does now seem likely another cut will follow pretty sharpish, even if homeowners will probably not feel the benefit if mortgage banks fail to pass on the reduction.
But with an opening surge on Wall Street thanks to an upgrade to Apple and positive profit news from Wal-Mart, the London market came off its worst levels. The FTSE 100 closed 18.8 points lower at 5965.1.
British Energy ended 38p higher at 739.5p on hopes of a bid battle, with the likes of Centrica, RWE and EDF all said to be interested.
Enodis, which makes ovens and other kitchen equipment for the likes of McDonalds, jumped 78.5p to 230p after yesterday's late news of a possible 260p a share offer from US group Manitowoc.
Banks were weaker on credit crunch and financing worries, with Alliance & Leicester 30.5p lower at 495.5p.
Finally, a scary glimpse of a possible future!
