London shares recorded their seventh consecutive day of losses yesterday following poor performances from a number of blue-chip stocks.

The FTSE 100 Index finished the session well below the 4400 mark, down 12.3 at 4358.4, its lowest level in three months.

Drugs groups were among stocks dragging the index down after a broker kept its sell recommendation on AstraZeneca, which fell 47p to 2387p. Rival GlaxoSmithKline was also in the red, falling 12p to 1083p.

Recent weaker than expected jobs figures in the US also continued to affect equities, with a survey showing analysts scaling back expectations for the US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 11 points shortly after London's close.

Marks & Spencer ended the day third in the list of Footsie risers, up more than two per cent, after tycoon Philip Green's improved offer, worth £9.1bn.

Despite the 8p rise to 368p, M&S shares were still below the 400p being offered by Mr Green, reflecting the view of analysts that he still has much to do to win the support of the M&S board for his bid.

The latest share price rally failed to put the retailer on top of the Footsie risers board, however, as financial services group Man surged eight per cent, or 109p, to 1465p, on the dual boost of a positive trading update and a broker note.

The mobile phone industry was also lifted by the views on the sector of broker CSFB, with Vodafone recovering some of its recent weakness to climb 1p to 119p and rival mm02 ahead p to 92p.

Apart from M&S, most of the retail sector was in negative territory, with Argos owner Gus leading the Footsie losers, down two per cent, or 19p, at 812p and Tesco - facing a fresh round of price cuts from rival Asda - down 1p at 257p.

FTSE 250 Index home shopping group N Brown said difficult retailing conditions caused turnover to fall 1.9 per cent in the first 18 weeks of the new financial year. Shares fell 3p to end the day at 107p.

Elsewhere, low-cost airline easyJet climbed 1p to 151p after revealing it carried 2.24 million passengers last month.

Motor dealer Reg Vardy failed to benefit from a record profits performance in the year to April 30 as shares slumped by ten per cent, down 60p to 472p, following indications of a slowdown in recent sales of new cars.

Financially-troubled Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel struggled to buoy shareholders after an update on the first 90 days of the reign of its new management team.

Despite pledging to cut costs and overhaul its pricing structure, Eurotunnel shares dipped p to 25p