FTSE slips on Greece downgrade

The leading share index in the UK was down again on Thursday as concerns over the economic situation in Greece and the global recovery led to a drop in appetite in the market. Despite trading relatively flat for much of the afternoon, the FTSE 100 took a further tumble later on ending the day down by 1.4 per cent, reaching 5847, a fall of over 80 points.

Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Thursday, June 02, 2011

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Rio Tinto

As credit agency Moody's downgraded Greece's sovereign debt to junk status and placed warnings on three key US firms, traders were left wondering whether the recovery was in freefall. However, technical experts have been rather more upbeat suggesting there is no cause for concern unless the 200 day moving average of 5804 is breached.

Miners and energy firms were two of the key sectors hit by sentiment, taking more points jointly off the index than any other industry. Metal prices fell as risk appetite waned, leading to a joint share price slide for the miners. Rio Tinto was down by 2.64 per cent, Xstrata fell by 3.13 per cent whilst Antofagasta and Fresnillo were lower by 3.06 and 3.38 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere in the blue chips. Johnson Matthey was down by 3.38 per cent as investors seemed unimpressed with the chemical firm's full year profits, despite being ahead of predictions.

One of the few sectors on the up were the outsourcers, with Serco adding 4.37 per cent as it received an increase in its target price following its recent activity in the acquisition market. Peer Capita was also swept up in the sentiment rising by 1.86 per cent.

 

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