Life insurance gains fail to keep London out of the red

The Edinburgh-based firm was up more than 3 per cent, or 67/8p to 2045/8p, after posting a smaller-than-expected 7 per cent decline in sales for 2009, helped by a stronger second half of the year as market conditions improved.

The Footsie, however, finished the session 30.16 points lower at 5253.15 after a decidedly sluggish opening on Wall Street, where slower than expected service sector growth and poorly-received results from US drugs giant Pfizer soured the mood.

The pace of job losses in the US private sector slowed in January as employers reported the smallest payroll decline in nearly two years.

A separate report showed demand for US home loans hit a six-week high last week as borrowers scrambled to lock in mortgage rates ahead of an expected increase this year.

A report by ADP Employer Services showed the United States lost 22,000 private sector jobs last month, smaller than the 61,000 jobs lost in December and below economists' forecasts of a 30,000 loss in January. December's decline was first reported at 84,000.

The pound found itself steady against the dollar at 1.59 and edged higher against the euro at 1.14 as the European Union approved fiscal bailout plans for the Greek economy.

In London, Standard's update provided a boost to other stocks in the sector, with Prudential up 151/2p to 6081/2p.

BP, meanwhile, picked up 21/4p to stand at 5741/4p after heavy falls on Tuesday following annual results, as its new chairman bought 750,000 shares.

Firmer metal prices meant miners were among the early risers, but slipped back later as the dollar gained strength against the euro.

Antofagasta and Lonmin were the sector's two biggest fallers, down 28p to 9011/2p and 56p to 1880p respectively.

Barclays set the pace in the banking sector after a gain of 53/4p to 2953/8p.

HSBC was 21/4p down to 6811/4p after Credit Suisse raised its forecast for pre-tax profits in 2009 and highlighted further improvement in US credit quality.

AstraZeneca was the biggest faller in the top flight after Swiss firm Roche's annual numbers disappointed analysts and the stock turned ex-dividend, meaning investors are not entitled to the latest payouts.

Astra lost 104p to 2827p, a fall of more than 3 per cent, while GlaxoSmithKline dipped 8p to 1217p ahead of its figures today.

Outside the FTSE 100, shares in Carpetright were down by more than 2 per cent after the floor coverings retailer reported a slowdown in recent sales growth.

The group said weather conditions meant like-for-like sales were ahead by 2.3 per cent in the 13 weeks to January 30, down from 3.9 per cent in the previous six months.

The stock gave back its recent gains to stand 29p lower at 943p.

Party Poker owner PartyGaming moved in the opposite direction, up 1/4p to stand at 2851/8p, after analysts praised a strong fourth quarter trading update and said the company's outlook appeared to be bullish.

It was joined on the FTSE 250 risers' board by a clutch of housebuilders as confidence in the sector continued to show some improvement.

Taylor Wimpey led the way with a gain of nearly 4 per cent, up 11/2p to 411/4p, while Redrow was ahead 43/4p to 1417/8p and Bellway lifted 141/2p to 7751/2p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Standard Life, Prudential, WPP up 141/2p to 5991/2p and Barclays. Biggest fallers were AstraZeneca, Antofagasta Lonmin and Xstrata down 301/2p to 10651/2p.