HOW BRITAIN'S BIGGEST HAVE PERFORMED

The biggest riser in the FT-SE 100 stocks was Railtrack, which jumped 15.8 per cent after the company promised to spend about pounds 16 billion over the next 10 years to modernise the rail network. The prospect of a Labour government which could change the regulatory structure does not seem to be dampening investor enthusiasm.

Centrica , the gas distributor created out of the break up of British Gas began trading this week and suffered the ignominy of registering the biggest decline in the week, falling 9.3 per cent. Income funds which received a steady dividend from British Gas sold the stock as the company will not pay a dividend in the foreseeable future. The stock had also been pushed up on takeover speculation in "grey market" trading which has now evaporated.

Barclays was the disappointing performer of the week, falling 7.4 per cent on the week as its 1996 annual earnings came in below expectations. Income from its investment bank BZW fell 29 per cent as the cost of hiring new management offset trading gains. Copyright: IOS & Bloomberg