FTSE closes on 6540.9

The London market has made a lacklustre start to the week with the FTSE 100 Index closing on 6540.9.

The figures come despite renewed hopes of a rescue bid for crisis-hit mortgage lender Northern Rock.

Speculation that Citigroup is considering offering the bank a £10 billion loan and rumours of fresh private equity interest in the company sent Northern Rock's shares up 14p to 172.5p - a gain of nearly 9 per cent.

But with economic and corporate data in short supply the wider FTSE 100 Index drifted 54.9 points lower at the close, as the previous session's attempt on the 6,600 mark proved short-lived.

Northern Rock's advances contrasted with others in the banking sector as Royal Bank of Scotland fell 9p to 560.5p as the company confirmed it had received backing from 86 per cent of ABN Amro shareholders in its bid for the Dutch bank.

Bid rival Barclays, which pulled out of the race for ABN on Friday, rose 2p to 662p, while Asian-facing bank Standard Chartered gained 23p to 1640p following positive broker comments.

Halifax Bank of Scotland was up 8.5p to 956.5p after paying out dividends, including more than £128 million for private shareholders.

Other risers included brewer SABMiller, as another broker upgrade saw its shares climb 15p to 1466p, on the strength of its Latin American business. Foster's brewer Scottish & Newcastle was 2 per cent higher, up 12.5p at 622p.

Mining group Kazakhmys topped the fallers - down nearly 6 per cent after it warned that copper production was likely to fall after a flood at one of its mines.

Property firm British Land continued its losing run after delaying the sale of a stake in its Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield last week. Shares fell nearly 3 per cent, or 32p, to 1092p.

Winners: Northern Rock up 14p at 172.5p, Scottish & Newcastle ahead 12.5p at 622p, Icap up 9p at 530p and InterContinental Hotels ahead 18p at 1073p.

Losers: Kazakhmys off 94p at 1502p, Vedanta Resources down 94p at 2086p, Xstrata off 108p at 3212p and British Land down 32p at 1092p.

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