Bookmakers were under pressure this morning after analysts at JPMorgan warned on the sector.

The broker downgraded William Hill, down 12.75p to 373.25p, to "underweight" from "overweight" and lowered its target price to 285p from 465p. It also cut Ladbrokes, down 12.5p to 224.75p, to "underweight" from "neutral", lowering its target price to 200p from 345p.

It said the downgrades were in light of UK consumer concerns, tighter gaming machine regulations from 2010 and limited catalysts for further growth.

The FTSE 100 fell 62.9 points to 5387.3, dragged lower by banks, hit by fears of a full-scale bail out for American mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and speculation over more losses from Lehman Brothers.

HBOS was the worst hit, down 15.75p to 283.75p, Royal Bank of Scotland fell 10p to 218.5p and Barclays was 13.75p lower at 329p.

The risers mainly consisted of commodity stocks as investors tried to find a safe haven. BP rose 2.25p to 516.75p and Rio Tinto gained 42p to £47.25.

Wellstream led the second tier, up 54p to £10.95, after signing a £600 million contract with Petrobras.

However, property group Brixton Estates fell 14.75p to 233p after reporting an 18 per cent decline in net asset value in the first half.

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