LONDON (ShareCast) - London’s top stocks have ended the day in the red as a poor start in the US weighed on stocks.

Royal Bank of Scotland was sharply lower on speculation it will unveil a widely expected £10bn cash call tomorrow. Chancellor Alistair Darling wants banks to disclose the full extent of their sub-prime damage and take steps to repair their balance sheets.

Merrill Lynch had it in for Barclays Monday, lowering its rating to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’, saying the bank is likely to need additional funding.

The Bank of England has confirmed details of a £50bn plan to swap bank mortgage debt for government bonds to ease the impact of the credit crunch on the housing market. That figure could double to £100bn, if needed, reports suggest.

ITV remained the best performer on rumours that BSkyB has received expressions of interest in its stake in ITV from European broadcaster RTL.

Shares in Persimmon moved higher after Panmure Gordon upgraded its recommendation on the housebuilder to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ in an otherwise downbeat review of the UK sector.

Oil stocks continued to gush forward as crude prices continue to scale record highs. BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group surged ahead.

Rumours about British Energy continued with talks of several suitors currently undertaking due diligence, while Friends Provident was down after private equity group JC Flowers officially withdrew its interest late Friday.

Rentokil meanwhile has warned that trading at its City Link parcels business has got worse and it now expects the division to make a "significant full-year loss" for 2008.

Lloyds-based underwriter Beazley said it continues to deliver competitive results and performance is within expected business plans in the three months to March.

Babcock International has paid £65m in cash to Weir Group for Weir Strachan & Henshaw, an engineering design and project management business for the defence and nuclear industries.

Nightclub owner Luminar has played down weekend reports it may go private. "Luminar has noted the weekend media speculation regarding management buyout discussions with a third party.”

Financial services group WH Ireland surged ahead after it received an unsolicited preliminary bid approach.

Ukrainian real estate company XXI Century Investments reported a 723.7% jump in full-year pre-tax profit.

Drug group Vernalis is to get a cash injection of €18.4m from Paul Capital Healthcare in a financing agreement relating to frovatriptan, Vernalis' product for the treatment of migraine.

Coal development company Coal of Africa said the world’s largest steel company ArcelorMittal will take a 16% stake through a placement, while European Goldfields said it will take a 20% stake in the Turkey-focused gold explorer Ariana.

Shares in Entertainment Rights were lower after the Kids TV group said it is no longer in takeover talks.

The Serious Fraud Office has decided to continue its price fixing case against Goldshield, sending the drug distributor to a four-month low.

FTSE 100 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 67.90p +6.09%
Admiral Group (ADM) 781.00p +4.48%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,845.00p +3.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 802.00p +2.95%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,274.00p +2.83%
British Energy Group (BGY) 740.00p +2.35%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,402.00p +2.30%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,937.00p +2.00%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,237.00p +1.91%
Persimmon (PSN) 699.00p +1.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,019.00p -5.03%
British Airways (BAY) 214.75p -4.02%
Barclays (BARC) 478.50p -3.53%
British Land Co (BLND) 840.00p -3.50%
HBOS (HBOS) 540.00p -3.23%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 372.50p -2.99%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,510.00p -2.83%
Experian Group (EXPN) 384.00p -2.78%
Friends Provident (FP.) 117.50p -2.57%
ICAP (IAP) 560.50p -2.52%

FTSE 250 - Risers
BBA Aviation (BBA) 153.00p +4.97%
DSG International (DSGI) 68.00p +4.62%
BlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 354.25p +4.19%
CSR (CSR) 358.75p +3.46%
888 Holdings (888) 156.75p +2.96%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 97.50p +2.63%
Chemring Group (CHG) 2,429.00p +2.27%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 117.00p +1.96%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,079.00p +1.79%
Mondi (MNDI) 425.25p +1.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Assura Group (AGR) 103.50p -6.55%
Capital & Regional (CAL) 437.50p -5.81%
Real Estate Opportunities (REO) 101.50p -5.14%
Grainger (GRI) 383.50p -5.07%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 210.00p -4.87%
Findel (FDL) 285.00p -4.76%
Helical Bar (HLCL) 345.00p -4.76%
National Express Group (NEX) 907.00p -4.43%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 457.75p -4.14%
WSP Group (WSH) 565.00p -4.07%

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