London close: Footsie suffers reversal of fortunes

Stocks had looked like making a decent start to the week, but a dramatic and sudden sell-off on Wall Street quickly sent London into the red.The Dow Jones turned an early three-digit gain into a 100-point loss as US analyst Dick Bove downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp, SunTrust Banks and US Bancorp. Banks led the fallers over here. Lloyds Banking suffered as speculation about a huge rights issue rumbles on, joined in retreat by Royal Bank of Scotland.Barclays featured among the fallers. It agreed to pay £226m in cash for Standard Life Bank and said it will look at joint opportunities with Standard Life in the UK retail long-term savings and investments sector.Elsewhere, HSBC was easier after Citigroup cut its stance to 'hold' from 'buy'. Standard Chartered slipped despite a Morgan Stanley upgrade to 'equal weight' from 'underweight'.Airline British Airways hit turbulence. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'hold', but more of a worry is a decision by unions to ballot 14,000 members at BA on strike action. Travellers face disruption at Christmas if cabin crew vote in favour of a walk out. It's thought the ballot will take place next week.Insurer Prudential was another dented by broker comment. SG Securities has cut it from 'buy' to 'hold'.Shire avoided any damage though after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) affirmed its prior decision to grant five-year New Chemical Entity (NCE) exclusivity to lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, currently marketed by Shire US for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) under the name VYVANSE.Among the mid-caps, McBride, which makes personal care and household products for supermarkets to sell under their own name, has jumped ahead after it said revenues in the period between 1 July and 25 October rose by 7% rise from the same period the previous year as shoppers continued looking for higher value.Galliford Try the construction and housebuilding group, has won a contract for a road improvement scheme in Scotland. The company won the £31.5m contract to construct a new 5km section of the A96 to bypass the villages of Fochabers and Mossfodloch. Bookmaker Ladbrokes said it received a 95% acceptance rate for its recent rights issue.Pawnbroker H&T Group said it has been trading well ahead of expectations for the current year due to higher gold purchasing volumes.Video equipment group Scotty reported higher half year profits and revenues and said it is confident it can grow the group despite the uncertain economic climate.Red Leopard has responded to a jump in its share price by confirming speculation regarding the possible acquisition of a residential property-related business.Shares in Aurelian, the oil and gas explorer focused on eastern Europe, soared as the company announced a strategic overhaul. The company said it will focus future activities on two core areas: the Rotliegendes and Zechstein plays in Central and Western Poland and the Carpathian Thrust Fold belt in Southern Poland, Slovakia and Western Romania.FTSE 100 - RisersCable & Wireless (CW.) 145.60p +3.26%Fresnillo (FRES) 826.00p +1.72%Bunzl (BNZL) 661.50p +1.53%Hammerson (HMSO) 428.00p +1.28%Severn Trent (SVT) 966.00p +0.84%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,271.00p +0.79%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,082.00p +0.52%BAE Systems (BA.) 318.90p +0.50%Land Securities Group (LAND) 671.50p +0.37%BP (BP.) 567.10p +0.37%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 89.34p -7.16%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 44.42p -5.65%British Airways (BAY) 199.70p -4.81%Carnival (CCL) 1,994.00p -4.23%ICAP (IAP) 439.20p -3.37%Prudential (PRU) 613.50p -3.16%Wolseley (WOS) 1,400.00p -3.11%3i Group (III) 287.60p -2.94%Randgold Resources (RRS) 4,349.00p -2.82%Amec (AMEC) 840.00p -2.78%FTSE 250 - RisersMcbride (MCB) 219.90p +9.57%Bodycote (BOY) 165.50p +2.80%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 437.00p +2.13%F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT) 86.50p +1.76%Informa (INF) 299.40p +1.66%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 139.60p +1.53%SThree (STHR) 272.00p +1.42%Marston's (MARS) 92.80p +1.42%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 335.50p +1.36%Kier Group (KIE) 993.50p +1.17%FTSE 250 - FallersYell Group (YELL) 52.00p -10.27%Punch Taverns (PUB) 90.50p -7.37%Hunting (HTG) 545.50p -5.21%SIG (SHI) 120.00p -4.99%DS Smith (SMDS) 115.00p -4.96%ITV (ITV) 45.14p -4.95%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 282.90p -4.68%Shanks Group (SKS) 92.00p -4.37%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 144.70p -4.24%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 415.50p -4.17%