FTSE down at morning trade

The FTSE began the week heading south again. There was very little corporate news to excite the city and weakness among telecom, software, media and selected financials held the index lower. At morning trade the FTSE 100 was down 24.6 points to 5512.4. Leading the FTSE gainers was Alliance & Leicester. The stock is up thanks to weekend speculation that Abbey National is considering a merger proposal. A bid is likely to be hostile and Abbey will be jostling with other interested parties including Bank of Ireland and Bank of Australia. A&L advanced 24p to 840p. Leading the f...