LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie ended the day firmly in the red as banking concerns weighed on the index while an expected strong start on Wall Street failed to materialise.

Banks were down again as credit crisis fears continue to keep buyers away. Alliance & Leicester, Barclays, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland were all in the red.

Northern Rock was also down as it was expected to get up to eight rescue proposals today, deadline day, for buying all or some of the stricken bank, but it is whether another lender is in trouble that is also taxing investors.

National Grid, Centrica, Severn Trent and Scottish & Southern Energy were among the best performing blue chips as investors favoured their defensive qualities.

Insurer Resolution revealed just before close that it has agreed a £4.98bn takeover offer from private firm Pearl Assurance.

Reports said British Airways faces a multi-million-pound compensation bill after a deal in which it has agreed to pay some passengers £430 each for cancelling their flights. The Times said the deal opens the way for thousands of passengers — who were left stranded in February because of an industrial dispute — to make claims against the airline.

British Land fell to its lowest in around two years today after Lehman Brothers downgraded the real estate giant to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight' following Thursday’s interim figures. Land Securities slipped lower in sympathy.

Lonmin also took a step back Friday as Lehman Brothers cut the platinum miner to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight', with price target dropped to 3,100p from 3,400p.

A Citigroup downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' sent Twinings tea maker Associated British Foods into the red.

Tobacco groups Imperial and BAT were going well for a second day.

Elsewhere, insurer Beazley rose after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “neutral” and raised its price target to 220p per share from 200p each.

Oil and gas firm Venture Production also rode high after Deutsche Bank raised its recommendation to “buy” from “hold.''

Aero Inventory has signed a ten year exclusive contract with ACTS Aero Technical Support & Services Inc to supply aircraft parts. The contract is expected to generate revenues for Aero Inventory of some US$1.2bn over the initial ten-year contract period.

Surgical instruments specialist Gyrus has received a writ from ArthroCare alleging an infringement of one of ArthroCare's patents. Gyrus said the action related to a number of its products, including its jPlasmaKnife and Plasma Trissector.

Engineer 600 Group's interim operating profit before net financial income and tax was £0.6m (2006: loss of £0.5m). European markets, including the UK, experienced significant growth. North America has shown some softness in recent months reflecting current difficulties in financial markets, it said.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,060.00p +3.88%
3i Group (III) 1,044.00p +2.45%
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,625.00p +2.20%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 413.50p +2.04%
Centrica (CNA) 356.00p +2.01%
National Grid (NG.) 794.50p +1.73%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 283.50p +1.16%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,818.00p +0.94%
SABMiller (SAB) 1,344.00p +0.90%
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,787.00p +0.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 607.00p -6.33%
Kingfisher (KGF) 173.60p -5.19%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 426.50p -4.91%
Compass Group (CPG) 287.50p -4.56%
Friends Provident (FP.) 156.50p -4.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,086.00p -4.10%
Barclays (BARC) 509.00p -4.05%
British Airways (BAY) 345.50p -3.83%
Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 335.75p -3.73%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 150.20p -3.66%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Beazley Group (BEZ) 155.25p +6.70%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 512.50p +5.18%
Venture Production (VPC) 772.00p +4.47%
Candover Investments (CDI) 2,102.00p +3.34%
Premier Foods (PFD) 204.50p +3.28%
Talvivaara Mining (TALV) 312.25p +2.88%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 357.00p +2.59%
Pennon Group (PNN) 605.50p +2.45%
Axon Group (AXO) 742.00p +2.34%
Savills (SVS) 330.00p +2.17%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Invista Foundation Property Trust (IFD) 80.25p -8.55%
BSS Group (BTSM) 408.00p -7.69%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 134.75p -7.07%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 67.50p -5.92%
Minerva (MNR) 168.75p -5.73%
QXL Ricardo (QXL) 1,584.00p -5.71%
easyJet (EZJ) 595.50p -5.48%
Findel (FDL) 607.00p -5.45%
Michael Page International (MPI) 318.25p -5.35%
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 275.25p -5.25%

• News Channel