Wall Street fails to boost Footsie

The FTSE 100 Index closed up 30.4 points at 4417.9

The FTSE 100 Index was stuck in the red as investor nerves continued to weigh on sentiment.

A lacklustre day of trading saw losses for financial and property stocks as the market struggled to find direction.

Despite gains on Wall Street in early US trade, the Footsie closed down 28.7 points at 4387.5.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly as a surge in the wake of an offer of a deal with bondholders in General Motor's bankruptcy plans was knocked by disappointing housing data. Worries over the future of GM had sent the US market down 2% on Wednesday, causing a tremor across Europe.

Oil prices were boosted as the Opec oil cartel announced plans to keep production at present levels. The price of crude jumped to as much as 64.19 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange - the highest since November.

Oil giant BP was one of the London market's few risers, climbing 3.25p at 508.25p, with the higher oil prices adding support. Royal Dutch Shell also rose, up 17p at 1645p.

Financial services and hedge fund firm Man led the fallers, off 7% or 17.25p to 232.75p after it announced a 64% fall in full-year profits and said funds under management had declined since its last update in March. This raised fears about its 2010 performance, even though the results were ahead of hopes.

Other financial sector stocks under pressure included the banks, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 4% - or 1.8p - at 37.4p and Barclays, off 3p at 287p, as well as insurers led by Prudential, 14.25p lighter at 424p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Cairn Energy up 83p at 2456p, Fresnillo up 23p at 702p, Randgold Resources up 131p at 4388p and Tullow Oil up 24.5p at 1019p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were Man Group down 17.25p at 232.75p, Carnival off 100p to 1575p, British Land down 22.75p to 381.5p and Schroders down 39p at 716.5p.