FTSE sustains heavy losses; commodities and bankers tumble
The top share index in Britain nosedived on Wednesday as fears over the stability of Europe continued to dominate performance. By the end of the session, the FTSE 100 had plunged by 2.3 per cent, losing more than 123 points to reach 5366.
Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Thursday, December 15, 2011
Continuing uncertainty over the situation in Europe proved to be a real worry for investors as the lacklustre summit conclusion weighed heavily on the market. The sentiment was captured nowhere more accurately than in the Italian bond auction where rates reached a record high of 6.47 per cent, a level usually thought to be a precursor to a bailout package.
Integrated oil firms plus the mining sector were the two heaviest hit industries with some stocks moving lower over news that the FTSE Group was proposing to raise the minimum free float requirement up 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
The silver specialist mining firm Fresnillo was the worst performer on the day, down by 11.1 per cent hit with the double whammy of the FTSE change in ruling plus lack of market confidence. Also moving in the wrong direction was the copper mining Antofagasta who were lower by 5 per cent and the oil giant BP who were off the pace by 2.5 per cent.
The banks were also lower as fears about the future of the single currency continued to ripple through investors with state-backed Lloyds dropping by 2.6 per cent, despite announcing a preferred buyer for its enforced partial sell-off.
Retailers were once again feeling the pain as the sector took a pounding. Marks and Spencer, often a stalwart of the sector was lower by 2.3 per cent whilst Tesco was off by 0.8 per cent.
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