Miners and Banks Weigh on FTSE 100
Share prices on the London Stock Exchange fell during early trading on Wednesday, as lower commodity prices, nervousness ahead of US GDP figures, due to be released on Thursday and speculation surrounding the British banking sector conspired to undermine investor confidence.
Dominic Turner
shareprices.com - Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The FTSE 100 was down 65.93 points, or 1.3%, at 5,135.04, having closed up 0.2% at 5,200.97 on Tuesday.
Mining stocks were the worst affected, with Vedanta Resources, whose stock was also downgraded to "equal weight" from "overweight" by Barclays Capital, down 2.7% at £21.71, but BHP Billiton, Lonmin, Kazakhyms and Rio Tinto also down by 2.1% or more. Energy stocks also fell, mirroring a fall in crude oil prices, but BG Group was worse affected than most, down 2.1% at ££11.09, after it announced a 44% fall in third quarter profits, down to £484 million, compared with £857 million in the same period last year.
Speculation was rife in the press that the European Commission would approve plans for the breaking up and selling of Northern Rock, with pressure being applied to the Government, under European Union competition rules, to break up Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland over the next three to five years. The part-nationalised lenders – respectively 43% and 70% owned by the British taxpayer – fared badly on the news, with Lloyds Banking Group down 3.1% at 81.3p and Royal Bank of Scotland down 3.5% at 81.3p. A similar break-up of ING Bank, which received €10 billion (£9.1 billion) from the Dutch Government a year ago, had already caused its share price to fall by 26%.
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 steady as UK faces new recession
26 Apr 2012 - FTSE drops as Greek deal leaves long-term questions
22 Feb 2012 - 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
