HOW BRITAIN'S BIGGEST HAVE PERFORMED

The best performing stock in the FT-SE 100 last week was Rolls- Royce, the jet-engine maker whose shares rose 7.8 per cent after the company announced that its Trent 892 engine was selected by Delta Air Lines to power the airline's future purchases of Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

British Gas also rose 7.8 per cent on the week. Analysts recommended the shares as a "buy" after the company issued its annual report and accounts a week ago.

The worst performer was Lasmo, the oil company which fell 10.8 per cent. The price of crude oil has fallen more than 5 per cent on reports of production running above targets and swollen inventories. This has hurt all the oil stocks. British Petroleum also registered one of the biggest declines of the week, falling 4.8 per cent.

SmithKline Beecham also fell 4.9 per cent. As one of the international drug stocks it was hard hit by the worries about the outlook for corporate profits in the US as investors judged that interest rates there are set to rise further. Copyright: IOS & Bloomberg