THERE were small pockets of activity in a number of sectors, but overall it was another lacklustre day in London's stock market.

Hopes that economic news would ginger up the British and US bond markets, thereby enlivening equity markets on both sides of the Atlantic, were only partly fulfilled.

The British public sector borrowing requirement for May was just marginally above forecasts, while there were no problems for bonds after publication of the US data, which included housing starts for May and first quarter non farm productivity.

With no economic surprises, bonds made modest progress but gave no real lift to equities. When, dealing closed, the FTSE 100 had declined 5.1 points to 3,756.4. There was no joy either for the second liners, where the FTSE Mid-250 index ended 7.5 off at 4,454.7.

"It is very difficult to get too excited about the market when there are so many other distractions, principally the various sporting events this week," one dealer noted.

Racing at Royal Ascot, always a favourite event for stock market personnel, got under way yesterday, and many traders left early to watch the big football match between England and the Netherlands.

A placing of Johnson Matthey shares by SBC Warburg provided some much needed action for market makers. The broker bought 22 million Johnson Matthey shares, representing around 10 per cent of the issued capital, from Minorco at a discount to the market price, but was thought to have struggled to place all the stock by the close.

There were flurries of excitement, too, as Cowie Group, the diversified motor distributor, and Greene King, the East Anglian brewer, launched substantial rights issues to finance acquisitions.

Cowie's £186 million sterling cash call to help finance its purchase of British Bus initially saw the shares come under pressure before a subsequent strong rally. Greene King shares on the other hand, were always in demand, with analysts welcoming the brewer's purchase.

One of the factors behind the British market's uncertain performance over recent weeks has been fears that a number of big fund raising operations were imminent,

There has been a constant drip of cash calls but nothing of sufficient size to trouble the market.

Turnover at the 6 p.m. count was 747.2 million shares, boosted by the Johnson Matthey placing, although 75 million shares of the total represented trades in three "penny stocks".