Rough ride for rail repairers

SHARES in Britain's leading rail contractors were set to hit the buffers today after Network Rail's shock decision to take maintenance contracts back in-house.

Amec, Amey, Jarvis, Serco, Balfour Beatty, Peterhouse and Carillion were all expected to come under early pressure in another jittery day's trading for London's market-makers.

Dealers said Jarvis, which was attacked last year over the state of a set of points involved in the Potters Bar crash, was likely to open down 5p at 235 1/2p with Balfour Beatty off 7p at 200p.

David Buik of spread bookmaker Cantor Index said the one ray of the light for the seven was that investors may see Network Rail's move as a 'blessing in disguise'. He added: 'The earnings they made out of the railway have been pretty poor.'

The FTSE 100 Index was expected to open down 20 points at 4220.2 after more disappointment with the strength of quarterly earnings from the US. The Footsie has shed more than 100 points in two days.

Concerns about a stocks sell-off in the US and Japan pushed European currencies higher, with sterling rising a quarter cent to a five-year high of $1.70 against the dollar.