Abbey National shares closed down at their lowest level in seven months while HBOS bounced in the other direction, after announcing it no longer plans to bid for the bank.
As a result of the gains made by HBOS which also hit a seven-month high - the FTSE 100 index closed almost flat at 4548.4 and would have fared much worse if it were not for the high street bank. The FTSE All-Share index also gained just 0.1% to 2261. HBOS added 23.5p or 3.3% to 738p after announcing it would no longer put in a bid for Abbey, effectively clearing the way for Banco Santander Hispano to buy Abbey for £8.7bn.Traders in Abbey shares didn’t take too kindly to this news as the industry word seems to be analysts think Santander should pay more. Abbey closed down 37.5p or 6.2% t...
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