Britain's top share index fell on Thursday, as worries over Northern Rock and other mortgage lenders returned, halting the previous session's euphoria that was triggered by an aggressive US rate cut. Britain's FTSE 100 index closed 0.48 percent lower at 6,429.0 having rallied 2.8 percent in the previous session after the Federal Reserve cut rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points earlier this week.
Northern Rock plunged to a record low on Thursday, closing down 27.9 percent, amid renewed concerns that the beleaguered bank may not find a buyer. Worries that the funding crisis would spread to its biggest rivals also spooked investors, forcing Britain's biggest lender HBOS to dismiss rumours it faced problems as "utter nonsense." Mortgage lenders remained under pressure with Alliance & Leicester falling 7.4 percent, Bradford & Bingley losing 8.6 percent and HBOS shedding 4.2 percent.
"If it's sold, it is going to be cheap, and that's the problem. All the potential predators know that it is thrashed and has no future as an ongoing business because the brand is tarnished," David Buik of Cantor Index said of Northern Rock.
In the banking sector, Barclays fell 1.8 percent, Lloyds lost 1.6 percent and RBS fell 3.2 percent. Analysts said stock markets' sharp gains in the previous session had been a knee-jerk reaction to the US central bank's aggressive rate cut and that investors were now focusing on its potential implications for inflation pressures.
"It was not a risk-free strategy at all and I think yesterday's market reaction made it look as though it was," said Roger Cursley, UK strategist at Investec. "I think there is pause for consideration today and the feeling that we are far from out of the woods yet." News from Wall Street was mixed with Bear Stearns' profit plunging 61 percent on bad bets on subprime mortgages and volatile fixed-income trading, while Goldman Sachs posted third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
The results rounded up a week of closely watched earnings from Wall Street banks as investors sought answers on the extent of the damage from the credit troubles that were sparked by a crisis in the US mortgage markets. Carnival was the top FTSE performer with gains of 7.1 percent after posting a better-than-expected 12 percent rise in quarterly profit.
M&A activity also underpinned some stocks. Sainsbury rose 2.8 percent after the UK's third-biggest supermarket group said it allowed Qatari-backed investment fund Delta Two access to its books, the latest stage in a 10.6 billion pound bid tussle.
Insurer Friends Provident rose 4.2 percent on fresh speculation of take-over interest from Zurich Financial, as doubts grow over the UK insurer's planned merger with rival Resolution. Both Zurich Financial and Friends Provident declined to comment.
UK insurer Resolution said it had held due diligence meetings with rivals Standard Life and Pearl, but said it had held no talks on proposals and had received no firm offers from the suitors. Resolution was up 0.1 percent, while Standard Life, slipped 1.1 percent. Mitchells & Butlers put on 1.2 percent as traders cited market talks that British financier Joseph Lewis had been building a stake in the company. Mitchells & Butlers declined to comment.