Footsie clings on to key 5,000 mark

Glasgow-based Weir was back among the top five risers in the FTSE 100, up 1.9 per cent or 32p at 1,735p following heavy losses in the recent sell-off.

But Barr was down 92p or 8.2 per cent at 1,031p ahead of next month's interim results.

After a morning spent in positive territory, London's benchmark share index plunged after lunch, following the American markets lower as the Dow Jones plummeted 400 points in early trading.

The Footsie ended the day down 157.76 points or almost 3.1 per cent at 5,007.16, having touched an intra-session low of 4,990.79.

Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor, said: "Trading volumes are through the roof across both equities and derivatives, at double the level for the same period of August last year. Clearly, global woes are not putting off bargain hunters.

"While some investors hover with their finger over the 'buy' button, others are making the of a bumper crop of bargain shares right now."

Standard Life, the Edinburgh-based life insurance and pensions giant, was another stand-out performer among the Scottish stocks, finishing at the top of the Footsie risers' board after interim profits beat City expectations. The stock was up 5.7 per cent or 10p at 184.1p.

Fellow financial stock Aberdeen Asset Management closed up 0.5p at 179.9p, having hit 194.6p after new RBC Capital Markets analyst Sarah Spikes began coverage of the firm with a "sector perform" rating.

Market talk of a possible credit downgrade for France added to the unease with bank shares under pressure all over Europe.

The euro also suffered and fell to €1.14 against the pound, though sterling eased against the dollar to $1.61.

A downgrade from the Bank of England for the UK's growth prospects also unsettled the market. The Bank now says UK GDP is set to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2011, down from its estimate of 1.8 per cent in May. Governor Sir Mervyn King said the outlook for the global economy had deteriorated as a result of the eurozone and US debt crises.

Lloyds Banking Group, which has been badly affected by the recent sell-off, shed 1.3p to 30.8p, while Barclays was 15.6p lower at 163.7p and Royal Bank of Scotland down 1.9p at 24.3p.

The mining sector, which had led the gains early on, also turned down sharply with Vedanta Resources 23p lower at 1,294p and commodities trader Glencore 16p cheaper at 363p.

Confidence in the travel sector was boosted by a resilient update from Thomson holidays owner TUI Travel. The number of summer holidays booked by its UK customers was down 2 per cent since its last update in May, but the company said this was a "particularly pleasing" performance given the weak consumer sentiment. Shares dipped 3.2p to 164.3p. Troubled rival Thomas Cook was down 1.6p at 51.8p.Clothing retailer French Connection, up 6p to 64p, revealed half-year like-for-like sales in its UK stores were ahead of last year.