Market report: Friday close

BLUE-CHIPS succumbed to a bout of profit-taking today as another set of poor economic figures in the US added to the subdued mood. A healthy rise following yesterday's interest rate cuts in the UK and Europe was partly washed away as the FTSE 100 Index fell 33.9 points to 5244.2.

There was little domestically to stimulate today's session and sentiment was not helped by a 1.5% fall in US producer prices during October. That was far greater than expected and means wholesale prices have sunk at the fastest pace on record.

Banking stocks were also putting pressure on the market as investors worried about lower earnings from lending after yesterday's interest rate cut. The financial fallers included Barclays down 88p at £21.12, Lloyds TSB off 17 1/2p at 713p, Royal Bank of Scotland 44p lower at £16.70 and Alliance & Leicester off 20 1/2p at 735p.

A number of media stocks were also losing their shine after a good run, with Financial Times publisher Pearson off 10p at 880p, music giant EMI down 7p at 282p and Reuters lower by 28p at 745p.

Cable & Wireless headed the Footsie fallers board, although analysts said the drop of 18 1/4p to 330p was more due to profit taking after a strong run.

British Telecom was having a better time, with conditional or 'grey' trading by institutional investors in its soon-to-be demerged mobile phone arm mmO2 beginning today. Shares in the new firm jumped from 68p to 75p, valuing the arm at around £6.5bn, while the remaining core BT business slipped slightly to 252p in the grey market. BT rose 1/2p to 325 1/2p.

Market giants BP and Shell were also ahead amid speculation Opec will cut production levels when it meets next week. BP was 9p stronger at 565p and Shell moved 6p ahead at 514 1/2p, while Enterprise Oil jumped 5%, rising 24p to 519p.

Among the smaller stocks, serviced office provider Regus shot up 87%, as the chief executive invested in shares and the firm announced a shake-up involving 800 job cuts. Shares rose 16 3/4p to 36p.

Online auction house QXL had a mixed session, initially rising 7% after announcing a change at the helm and trimmed losses. But shares fell back sharply and QXL closed down 0.4p to 3.80p

Business services group Brammer also slumped 19% - off 61 1/2p at 256p - after warning full-year profits would fall below expectations.

And leather manufacturer Pittards saw shares dive, off 15%, after saying it was axing 100 jobs after a sharp decline in demand following the September 11 attacks.

Although demand was beginning to improve, the group said it would not be enough to stop it reporting a trading loss at its year-end results. Shares fell 8p to 45 1/2p.

E-commerce firm Myratech.net was among other heavy fallers, off 33% - or 2 1/2p to 5p - after saying trading conditions and order intake had worsened materially.

The biggest Footsie risers were Invensys up 4 1/4p at 78 3/4p, Enterprise Oil ahead 24p at 519p, United Business Media up 14p at 499p, and Daily Mail and General Trust, ahead 20p at 720p.

The biggest fallers were Cable & Wireless down 18 1/4p at 330p, Shire Pharmaceuticals off 46p at 948p, British Airways down 8p at 172 1/4p, and Barclays off 88p at £21.12.

World markets, updated every 15 minutes
Every share, updated every 15 minutes
AIM, updated every 15 minutes
techMARK, updated every 15 minutes
Today's gainers and fallers