J Sainsbury was one of the top gainers amid talk that Robert Tchenguiz had off-loaded some of his stake to the supermarket group’s Qatari suitors.

A big block changed hands late on Wednesday of some 40 million shares or 2 per cent of the company. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) holds 25 per cent of Sainsbury’s from the bid from which it eventually withdrew, and Mr Tchenguiz’s R20 vehicle holds about 10 per cent through a mixture of shares and contracts for difference. There is also talk that he or another holder may be transferring the shares to contracts for difference to release cash.

Sainsbury’s shares were up 9¾p at 380p, still a long way from the Qataris’ 600p offer. The QIA is unable to make another bid until May.

The FTSE 100 yo-yoed up and down before closing off 0.8 at 5,879.3 as fears over big bank writedowns – triggered by an $18 billion writedown by UBS and warnings from Ben Bernanke, the US Fed Chairman – outweighed rising commodity prices.

HBOS, owner of the mortgage lender Halifax, was the biggest victim, down 34p at 631p. Alliance & Leicester lost 15½p at 543½p, Barclays fell 10½p to 443p andRoyal Bank of Scotland shed 8¼p at 361p.

Property stocks were also crumbling after a downgrade of the sector by Goldman Sachs. British Land was off 39p at 969p, Hammerson fell 33p to £10.52 and Land Securities fell 44p to £15.53.Shaftesbury, the owner of shopping areas in London’s West End, was down 1½p at 557½p after in-line results. Paul Kemsley, the property entrepreneur, and Mike Ashley, founder of Sports Direct International, are said to have bought 10 per cent through contracts for difference. A third party is thought to have bought a further 2 per cent. Mr Kemsley has links to the retail entrepreneur Sir Philip Green.

Xstrata rose 72p to £38.52 on rumours that Brazil’s Vale had offered £48 a share to Glencore for its 34 per cent stake.

Punch Taverns gained another 9p to 644½p after QVT Financial, the US hedge fund, increased its stake from 7.4 per cent to 8.1 and again declared that it was opposed to Punch’s bid for Mitchells & Butlers, up 4¾p at 455¾p.

There was continued talk of a bid for Ladbrokes, which helped its shares rise 9p to 321¼p. However, Evolution, the broker, which has proposed a nil-premium merger withWilliam Hill, up 15¾p at 408¾p, cautioned that the next news from Ladbrokes would show a slowdown in trading and its shares would then trade down to 250p – at the multiple already applied to Hill.

Barratt Developments fell 15p to 383p even though it denied talk that it was planning a rights issue.

Rumours of a private equity bid continued to lift IMI, up 26p to 422p on high volume.

— New York: Shares retreated after Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, predicted the US economy will grow at a “sluggish” pace before recovering later this year. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 175.20 points at 12,377.00.

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