FTSE100 closes just short of 6,000

There was a dip over lunchtime, following worse than expected figures from the US, but the index rallied later in the afternoon. British Energy finished the day ahead of the pack, up 48.50 at 711.00 on bid rumours. Miners Rio Tinto and Antofagasta also made the top five up 252.00 and 29.00 respectively. However, Kingfisher was in the bottom five as investors were concerned about the housing sector. Marks & Spencer was also down by 6.75 to 385.75. Wall Street had a rocky start with the Dow Jones down 74 to 12,551 as concern mounted about a possible US recession following worse than exp...