Closing Market: Shares extend losses ending gloomy month for FTSE

The FTSE 100 ended the week in better shape than it started despite losses Friday but it was down sharply on a monthly basis, shedding more than 5% of its value in total as a round of dismal corporate updates, housing market worries and rising unemployment eroded confidence.

At close on Friday, the last day of trading for the month, the FTSE 100 was 1% or 40.47 points weaker, at 4,149.64, 5.4% down from an opening level of 4434.47 at the start of January. The FTSE 250 shed 0.3% on the day, down 21.85 points to 6,250.76.

The losses come as US markets also fell back just prior to London closing despite oil groups Exxon and Chevron reporting multi-billion dollar profits.

Shares in the States were lower just prior to London closing as investors reacted to the fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter by 3.8% annually.

In reaction the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.4% off, while the S&P 500 had shrunk by 1.6%.

In the UK, the main loser on the day remained Xstrata, shares closing down 11.8% following its heavily discounted rights issue announcement yesterday.

Other miners were also lower, constituting the main fallers on the day, with BHP Billiton off 7.5% and Antofagasta 6% lower, while Anglo American and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation gave up 5.1%.

Airline BA shed 8.3% as concerns rose that its merger with Iberia could be delayed over valuation issues after a tough quarter for the airline industry.

Land Securities, the UK's largest Real Estate Investment Trust (reit), cheered investors after topping the risers, up 8.8% after an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, with the broker taking money out of Europe and into the UK.

Banks were also firmer, led by Barclays - up 5.8% - and Royal Bank of Scotland, ahead 4.8%, as investors continued to return to the battered sector following the recent sell-off in the hunt for value.