FTSE ends down as disappointing GE results weigh

By Dominic Lau

LONDON (Reuters) - Ttop share index fell for the fourth straight session on Friday, losing 1.2 percent, after U.S. conglomerate General Electric (GE.N) posted weaker quarterly results, adding to recession fears.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE closed down 69.6 points at 5,895.5, for a weekly loss of 0.9 percent. The blue-chip index rose nearly 1 percent earlier in the day before General Electric, a bellwether for the U.S. economy, announced its results.

"There is a reasonable chance the markets here and in the America will drift a little bit lower in the course of the next fortnight," said Tim Whitehead, head of portfolio services at Redmayne-Bentley.

"It's especially if you consider the FTSE 100 is back at the top of its trading range of between 5,500 and 6,000. We can see another 100, 200 points off the FTSE 100 over the next fortnight."

European shares also finished the day lower.

Banks were the standout losers on lingering concerns over the impact of the credit crisis. Barclays (BARC.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), HBOS HBOS.L, Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) and Alliance & Leicester ALLL.L dropped between 0.9 and 3 percent.

Index heavyweight Vodafone (VOD.L) shed 4.3 percent after Morgan Stanley analysts said the stock did not appeal to them compared with KPN (KPN.AS), TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) or France Telecom (FTE.PA), after meeting EU officials on routing crisis. The broker remained "underweight" on Vodafone.

General Electric, the second-largest U.S. company by market capitalisation, reported an unexpected 6 percent drop in profit, as the slumping U.S. economy and credit crunch drove down profits at its financial, industrial and healthcare units. It also lowered its earnings forecast for the year.