Banks and miners rebound from Greek status downgrade
The UK’s blue-chip index opened lower today following four consecutive days of strong growth but recovered by 10:00BST. The biggest accountable sector in this morning’s trading is banking after eurozone debt fears re-emerged due to a fresh downgrade to Greece’s debt. Investors concerns of a lack of demand caused by eurozone debt contagion also hit miners with metal prices losing ground, too. But pay television broadcaster BSkyB (LON:BSY) is soaring on the FTSE 100 risers charts after rejecting a proposal by major shareholder News Corp to buy the outstanding 61 per cent of share in the company that it doesn’t already own.
Rob Hull
shareprices.com - Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The FTSE 100 lost 53 points in the opening minutes of the market kicking off, a loss of one per cent. But by 10:00BST the index had recovered and gained 0.2 per cent – 10 points – after eurozone fear quickly subsided.
The UK’s top index followed the late activity on Wall Street in the last session after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Greek government bond ratings into junk territory.
The news caused the Dow Jones index to close with losses and the FTSE open lower as banks felt the brunt of re-ignited fears.
The banking sector is most susceptible to Europe’s debt problem but, with eurozone caution fading in recent sessions, it has been at the forefront of the recent rallying sessions.
However, eurozone industrial-production date released yesterday suggested factories were working at a record pace in April signalling strong economic recovery.
Mixed reaction to the two reports saw banking stock open down, but investor confidence grow as the morning progressed.
Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) shed 1.9 per cent in the opening minutes of the session but has rebounded by 10:00BST to gain 0.4 per cent.
And it was a similar story for RBS (LON:RBS) and Barclays (LON:BARC) which lost ground in the region of 1.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively, but have recovered to post gains of 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent by 10:00BST.
HSBC (LON:HSBA) hasn’t recovered as strongly yet, losing 1.6 per cent at its lowest share price today and at 10:00BST has cut the losses to 0.4 per cent.
The mining and energy sectors have reacted similarly to banks as investors steered clear of stock in the first hour due to fears of the eurozone debt escalating and hammering demand.
Both sectors have recovered as fears were short-lived and even BP (LON:BP) shares have been in demand with the group 0.6 per cent up at 10:00BST as bargain hunters scooped-up shares that declined nine per cent on Monday.
One group that has posted strong gains during the session is BSkyB which has been up 20 per cent this morning after rejecting a buy-out bid from News Corp in a deal that would value BSkyB at £12.3bn (read more...).
Latest News
- FTSE climbs as EU summit approaches
22 May 2012 - FTSE climbs as markets calm
22 May 2012 - FTSE falls further as ratings agency action worsens fears
20 May 2012
Related News
- FTSE depressed over eurozone fears
30 Mar 2012 - FTSE edges lower as bankers drop
19 Mar 2012 - FTSE soars after slow start
1 May 2012
FTSE 100 Latest
| Value | Change |
| 5,266.41 | 136.87  |
Create a Watch List 
Track your favourite stocks
Create & monitor portfolios
Daily portfolio value
News
- FTSE climbs as EU summit approaches
22 May 2012 - FTSE climbs as markets calm
22 May 2012 - FTSE falls further as ratings agency action worsens fears
20 May 2012 - FTSE plummets further as Greece dominates markets
17 May 2012 - Greek crisis continues to pressure markets
16 May 2012 - FTSE plunges further as Greece heads for the polls...again
15 May 2012 - FTSE nosedives over Greece concerns
15 May 2012 - Late surge for FTSE to finish in the blue
14 May 2012 - FTSE breaks losing streak; aid reached Greece
10 May 2012 - FTSE crashes further over Greek uncertainty
9 May 2012
