Lacklustre trading leaves Footsie below average

British cinema might have impressed the Oscar judges but in the UK stock market it was more a case of "exit, pursued by a bear" than Shakespeare In Love. Neither the heralded flood of cash from private investors for the last personal equity plans, nor the prospect of lower interest rates could inject pep into equities. On a day when turnover ended well below the daily average, Footsie fizzled 10.4 lower to 6,152.8. The augury was never good. On Friday night, after UK trading stopped, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost its hold on the 10,000 level and dealers were expecting Footsie to open about 50 points lower yesterday morning.

With US valuations very much in mind, Footsie was eight points lower after the first few minutes. It received a boost shortly afterwards when the latest UK gross domestic product data came in slightly weaker than forecast. The year-on-year rise of 1.1 per cent was down from the previous figure and the consensus estimate, both of 1.3 per cent. The move added more weight to the argument that UK interest rates may fall when the Bank of England's monetary policy committee meets on April 7th. There is increasing confidence they will fall to at least 5 per cent but strategists will be waiting for today's key retail price inflation figures to get a better picture.