LONDON (ShareCast) - London finished lower for the first time in three days as weak housing data upset investors, although stocks were off their worst levels as Wall Street recovered much of its early losses.

House prices slid a bigger than expected 2.5% in March, the largest monthly fall since September 1992, according to the latest survey from the Halifax. The mortgage lender predicts there will be a "modest (low single digit) decline in UK house prices this year".

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown moved to calm nerves of a repeat of the wave of repossessions that swept Britain in the early nineties, reassuring the public that the government was keeping an eye on things.

There was also gloomy news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which said the number of home loans taken out to buy a new house slumped 3.5% to 49,000 in February, a 16-year low.

Halifax-owner HBOS was lower on the news along with other banks. Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments, Bellway and Taylor Wimpey slipped, as did DIY retailer Home Retail on worries about the impact on discretionary spending.

Storage group Big Yellow Storage and plumbers merchant Wolseley were among the casualties on the prospect of reduced business as the housing market deteriorates.

Water utility Severn Trent endured a day of shame and pain. It pleaded guilty to two fraud offences relating to leakage data supplied to Ofwat in 2001 and 2002. It has also been fined £35.8m by Ofwat for deliberately providing false information to the regulator and providing a poor service to customers. However, it is a case of “no pain, no gain” as the stock advances now that the threat of a big fine is no longer hanging over the company.

Meanwhile, energy regulator Ofgem has launched an investigation into Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power following a complaint alleging abuse of dominant market positions.

Eurasian Natural Resources (ENR) is lower after its potential bid target Kazakhmys said it would ask the Takeover Panel to issue ENR with a “put up or shut up” deadline.

Hotel and restaurant group Whitbread announced six new Premer Inn hotels in London, to be opened over the next three years, with an investment equivalent to £100m.

BT improved on news that Ian Livingston, currently chief executive of BT Retail, is to succeed Ben Verwaayen as chief executive of the telecoms giant on 1 June.

Unilever was another blue-chip on the up after it agreed to sell its financial shared services centres in Brazil and Chile to Cap Gemini.

Broker comment hit AstraZeneca and Tate & Lyle. The former has been downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” by Goldman Sachs, while sweetener firm Tate & Lyle has been cut to “neutral” from “outperform” by Credit Suisse.

Michael Page International is further punished today after suffering losses yesterday that were prompted by the recruitment firm’s cautious outlook for current trading. UBS has responded to the results by downgrading the stock to “sell” from “neutral”.

JP Morgan cut its price target on brewer SABMiller to 1525p from 1580p, although it still sees share price upside for the stock and advises long term investors to “buy into any dips” following the company’s results on 16 April.

Meanwhile, online gaming firm 888 hit forecasts for 2007 with ongoing profits of $46m, up from $22m. The group added 2008 had started well and it was confident about its prospects.

Wellstream dropped back on a placing of Candover's entire 13.83% stake; Candover is firmer after the announcement, however.

Soap maker PZ Cussons said the outlook for the full year remains positive and in line with expectations despite continued increases in commodity costs.

London-based residential property developer Telford Homes edges higher despite cautioning that a lack of available mortgage finance is hitting sales.

Interior fitter Havelock Europa saw profits for the year jump 24% and said order intake for the new year is higher than last time.

Magazine and newspaper distributor Dawson Holdings said it has continued to perform well and sees results for the six month to 29 March at the top end of management expectations.

Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals fell heavily after it said its cannabis-based pain-relief drug Sativex failed to significantly outperform a placebo in a recent study.


FTSE 100 - Risers
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,762.00p +4.57%
Xstrata (XTA) 3,954.00p +2.25%
Liberty International (LII) 1,027.00p +1.99%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,725.00p +1.65%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 359.50p +1.63%
BT Group (BT.A) 233.25p +1.52%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 531.50p +1.14%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,901.00p +1.04%
Carnival (CCL) 2,067.00p +0.88%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,837.00p +0.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sage Group (SGE) 196.60p -5.48%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,833.00p -5.00%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,321.00p -4.48%
Schroders NV (SDRC) 942.50p -3.68%
British Airways (BAY) 231.25p -3.65%
Wolseley (WOS) 526.00p -3.57%
Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 284.75p -3.39%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 406.00p -3.16%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 379.50p -3.13%
FirstGroup (FGP) 582.50p -3.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Melrose Resources (MRS) 350.00p +6.87%
Britvic (BVIC) 326.75p +4.23%
Drax Group (DRX) 578.50p +3.49%
International Ferro Metals (IFL) 151.00p +3.42%
eaga (EAGA) 188.25p +2.87%
Aricom (ORE) 77.00p +2.67%
Mouchel Group (MCHL) 435.00p +2.35%
Hardy Oil & Gas (HDY) 846.00p +2.30%
888 Holdings (888) 150.00p +2.21%
Beazley Group (BEZ) 167.00p +2.14%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Grainger (GRI) 404.25p -4.94%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 437.00p -4.79%
Hays (HAS) 106.50p -4.70%
Venture Production (VPC) 632.00p -4.60%
Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 1,258.00p -4.48%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 377.00p -4.44%
HMV Group (HMV) 130.75p -4.39%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.00p -4.23%
WH Smith (SMWH) 370.00p -4.15%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 59.25p -4.05%

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