HBOS/Lloyds pull on FTSE

At shortly before 3pm, London's blue-chip index had dipped almost 20 points, or 0.43%, to 4,542. At its highest point today, the FTSE scaled 4,600. Old Mutual tumbled almost 7% to 56.10, while HBOS, down 6.6% to 67.7, and Lloyds TSB, down 5.15% to 123.30, were both in the doldrums ahead of their merger. Energy and utilities companies were in the upper echelons of gainers. Coal bed methane developer Great Eastern Energy rose 6% to 220p, power generation firm International Power climbed 6.57% to 263.75, and global technology group Invensys increased 5% to 183.1. In New York, the Dow Jon...