Upside moves negated by euro fears

Britain's top share index was little changed last night as persistent concerns over Europe's debt problems capped moves on the upside while BP slipped after the US government launched a lawsuit over the Gulf oil spill.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index ebbed away from an intra-day high of 5,907.10, closing at 5,881.12, down just over one point on the day, with analysts citing lingering doubts over eurozone debt helping to peg back London's blue chips.

Will Hedden, a trader at IG Index, said: "Having touched a new 'post-Lehman' high in early trading, it looks like traders have taken another extended Christmas lunch and the impetus has fizzled out of the day's trading.

"A meeting of European leaders in Brussels over the eurozone debt crisis is likely to be one of the last major talking points before the holidays, as pressure mounts on Spain after a lacklustre bond auction."

Miners Antofagasta and Fresnillo were the two biggest fallers in the top flight, down 32p at 1,528p and 30p at 1,525p respectively.

Their stocks fell as commodity prices wavered on talk that China might hike its interest rates, dampening demand for metals.

BP was also one of the day's biggest fallers. It slid 1.4 per cent as investor fears over the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill resurfaced in the wake of US legal action.

The energy giant, which faces penalties as high as $21 billion (13.4bn) if found fully liable for damages in the lawsuit, fell 6.5p to 470p, reversing strong gains seen earlier in the week.

With BP already committed to a separate compensation fund of $20bn, the City is concerned about the impact of higher costs on the likely restart of dividend payments at the start of next year.

The blue-chip risers board was topped by outsourcing firm Serco after it reassured investors that it remained on track to meet profits forecasts. With the company also confident in its medium to long-term prospects, shares rose 23.5p to 597p.

In a quiet session for corporate news, Sports Direct jumped 3.1 per cent in the FTSE 250 Index after it posted a sharp rise in half-year profits to just over 100 million and said it had cut debt by 25 per cent.

The performance, which was driven by a decent rise in revenues from its retail estate, was slightly better than City expectations and triggered a share price improvement of 4.5p to 150.5p.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, shares in Laura Ashley jumped 14.7 per cent as it said it was on track to beat forecasts after efforts to reshape its store portfolio offset slower sales growth in recent weeks.The stock was up 2.5p to 19.5p.

Other risers included Taylor Wimpey, which lifted 0.7p to 28.1p following the announcement earlier this week that the refinancing of its debt facilities had been completed ahead of schedule.

Shares in Johnston Press, publisher of The Scotsman, rose 0.25p to 12p after six non-executive directors at the company bought a total of more than 240,000 shares.

The pound was up against both the euro and the dollar after official figures revealed steady retail growth in November.