Britain's FTSE 100 index closed lower for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday as banks turned negative and Wall Street slipped amid fresh concerns about corporate earnings, countering gains for oil shares.
EMI Group fell 6.6 per cent on worries about a grim outlook for the music industry which outweighed the belief that things could only get better for the company after an appalling year of tumbling profits.
The FTSE 100 index ended down 10.9 points or 0.21 per cent at 5,197.2, closing at its lowest level since May 10th after drifting in the middle of its 5,000-5,400 point range.
But market watchers saw reason for encouragement.
Telecom shares turned mixed after the dip on Wall Street, with Vodafone giving up a threepercent gain and closing 0.7 per cent lower as analysts anticipated it writing down assets when it reports results next week.
BT Group ended up two percent and mmO2 closed flat, while IT services firm Logica climbed 5.2 per cent to top the list of FTSE 100 gainers.
Among weaker banks, which knocked nine points off the main index, HSBC fell 0.9 percent and Lloyds TSB shed 1.1 per cent.
Oil stocks added eight points to the FTSE, with BP rising 1.1 per cent and Shell up 0.7 per cent.
