Banks lead FTSE down

Falling bank stocks helped drag the FTSE 100 index down 52.30 points to close at 4,118.40 points. The end of serious bidding for Abbey National by Bank of Ireland helped cut 61.5p from the stock, which closed at 623.5p. An analyst downgrade helped cut 5p off Alliance & Leicester, which closed at 872p. Poor results by telecoms equipment giant Ericsson put pressure on UK stocks too, helping MmO2 to shed 2.25p to 49p. However, Vodafone managed to hang on to gains made yesterday and today, closing up 0.75p at 99.25p. Good results reported by key US tech stock ...