Leading shares are now back below the lowly level they had reached before the weekend's dramatic £37bn UK bank bail-out, with the initial two-day euphoric rise now more than wiped out.

London's top shares continued to rally today but early hopes of another bumper rise petered out by the close of trading.

Miners are leading the way down as the two day rally in the market peters out.

The relentlessly downbeat news from the housing market continues to undermine Taylor Wimpey.

Insurance companies managed to miss out as the UK market staged a strong recovery at the end of what has proved another volatile week.

Insurers have slipped back after a cautious note from Deutsche Bank.