FTSE 100 Slips Into The Red
The FTSE 100 staged a minor recovery late on Tuesday afternoon, but financial and energy stocks remained weak, on the whole. The leading share index closed down 29.57 points or 0.6% at 5,285.77, closed up 1% on Monday to record its highest closing level for over a week.
Dominic Turner
shareprices.com - Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The downgrade of Greece's sovereign debt last week, nationalisation of Austrian bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria yesterday and unconfirmed reports that another Austrian bank, Oesterreichische Volksbanken, was being watched by the country's central bank dented investor confidence in the financial sector. HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered were all down by between 0.8% and 2.5%.
The price of crude oil, which slipped below $70 a barrel on Monday, was up by a dollar but this failed to buoy energy stocks. Cairn Energy, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil were all down by between 0.3% and 2.7%.
Embattled airline British Airways (BA) also shed 2.2% after cabin crew announced a 12-day strike to run right through the Christmas period and concerns about its £3.7 billion pension deficit continued. BA was attempting to reschedule flights and considering an injunction to prevent strike action, which could affect as many as 1 million passengers over Christmas.
Another troubled company, National Express, which recently surrendered its East Coast railway line franchise, reported that over 90% of shares offered in its right issue had been taken up, although its share price was down 2.5% at 182.20p, overshadowed by the prospect of the sale of rump stocks.
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 Closes at Highest Level for a Week
15 Dec 2009 - Investors Await Pre-Budget Report
9 Dec 2009 - FTSE depressed over eurozone fears
30 Mar 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
