* Energy stocks top-weighted losers
* Banks stay weak in a gloomy year
* AstraZeneca down as FDA requests Seroquel info
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on
Wednesday in a shortened Christmas Eve session, with soft crude
prices hurting energy stocks while AstraZeneca <AZN.L> fell
after U.S. authorities requested more data on its Seroquel drug.
The FTSE 100 <> closed 39.39 points lower, or 0.9
percent, at 4,216.59 for a weekly loss of 1.6 percent. Trading
will resume on Dec. 29.
Activity was thin, with just about 156 million shares
changing hands. That compared with Wednesday's 607 million and
last week's daily average of 1.12 billion.
"We see it getting worse before it gets better. I think
there will be recovery in the second half of 2009," said Chris
Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL Securities.
Oil producers took the most points off the index as crude
prices <CLc1> dipped below $39 a barrel, a far cry from their
peak of $147 in July. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> were down between 1.7 percent and 2.2
percent.
AstraZeneca <AZN.L> shed 3.1 percent after the drugmaker
said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had requested
further information relating to a supplemental new drug
application for its schizophrenia drug Seroquel.
"The announcement this morning ... represents another
setback for the company's pipeline," Panmure Gordon said in a
note.
Within the pharmaceutical sector, GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>
slipped 0.3 percent and Shire <SHP.L> dropped 1.9 percent.
Bank stocks were mixed, with HSBC <HSBA.L> and HBOS <HBOS.L>
up, while Standard Charatered <STAN.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Royal
Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> were down.
In Europe, Belgium-based financial services group Fortis
<FOR.BR> fell more than 8 percent when it unveiled a currency
loss of $413 million.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said UK house
price will fall about 10 percent in 2009 with risks skewed to
the downside, resulting in a peak-to-trough drop of at least 25
percent.
The UK benchmark has fallen more than 34 percent this year
on fears of a long and painful global recession, triggered by a
meltdown in the risky U.S. subprime mortgage market.
Retailers came under pressure on the final shopping day
before Christmas as worries about the survival of many high
street names remained, with three more chains, menswear group
The Officers Club, entertainment retailer Zavvi and tea
merchants Whittards of Chelsea having called in administrators.
Home Retail <HOME.L> sagged 2 percent and Kingfisher <KGF.L>
lost 2.5 percent.
BT Group <BT.L> fell after going ex-dividend.
Hedge fund Man Group <EMG.L> advanced 4.9 percent. The
company said late on Tuesday that the net asset value of its
main AHL fund gained 1.9 percent last week.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
