Falls in the banking and insurance sectors led the FTSE 100 index to close 63.8 points down to 5412.8.

But the market avoided ending the week below the 5400 barrier after a rally in the mining sector and strong gains from retailers.

Barclays sunk 13p to 279p and Royal Bank of Scotland was off 6.75p at 206.25p.

A Citi downgrade for retail giant Marks & Spencer compounded its share misery, with the firm down nearly 4 per cent, or 9p to 227p, with poor sales figures from rival John Lewis adding to the gloom.

Friends Provident led the declines, down 7p at 94.5p after Swiss Re said it was no longer interested in bidding for the firm's Lombard Unit. Other insurers followed suit, with Legal & General among the worst hit, off 4.8p at 94.5p.

Supermarkets fared better after recent selling. Morrisons cheered 7p to 254.5p on a broker upgrade, while larger rival Tesco added 17.7p to 359.2p.

Sainsbury's failed to hold on to earlier gains, closing down 0.25p at 279.75p.

A turnaround in fortune for miners helped offset some of the falls for financial stocks, with Rio Tinto rising 140p to 5600p and Xstrata lifted 54p to 3764p.

Winners: Tesco up 17.7p at 359.2p, ITV ahead 1.5p at 42.6p, Morrisons up 7p at 254.5p and Rio Tinto up 140p at 5600p.

Losers: Friends Provident down 7p at 94.5p, British Airways off 12p at 197p, TUI Travel down 9.9p at 178.1p and ICAP down 24.5p at 470.5p.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.