BGC Voice and Electronic Brokerage

Banks and miners led Britain's top share index lower yesterday as nagging worries over the sustainability of the economic recovery and lighter-than-usual turnover weighed on the FTSE. The FTSE-100 closed down 16.01 points or 0.3% at 5195.28, its lowest close since July 20, having ended 1.7% lower on Thursday.

Banks fell as appetite for risk remained suppressed after Thursday's data showing new US jobless claims scaled a nine-month high dented confidence. Barclays dropped 0.6% and Royal Bank of Scotland was down 2.3%.

Building supplies group Wolseley, which gets a large proportion of its revenue from the US, was among the top fallers, down 3.3%.
London's blue chips, which have shed 1.3% this week – their second consecutive weekly fall – traded just 68% of their average 90-day volumes on Friday. Mining stocks were also mostly lower, dragged down by commodity prices. Eurasian Natural Resources slipped 2.0% after Citigroup cut the stock to "hold" from "buy" on valuation grounds.

Energy shares were higher, helped by BG Group, which rose 6.0%. Traders pointed to the Daily Mail's market report which reported speculation that Royal Dutch Shell is considering a takeover bid of the group.

"We are having one of the busiest M&A months of August for a very long time as companies have got a lot of cash that they don't know what to do with … as anything looks good value, people are looking to buy it up," said David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners.

David Buik Comments: Economic Worries From Banks And Miners Weigh on Footsie - The Herald

Recent Press Releases