Santa Rally over as FTSE slips
The leading share index in the UK fell lower on the first day back after the Christmas break as appetite for risk faded leaving defensive stocks the only ones in positive territory. By the end of the session, the FTSE 100 was down by 0.1 per cent, a small drop of just over 5 points to close at 5507.
Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The seasonal upswing in the index, known as the santa rally, was brought to a close on Wednesday as whispers of downgrades continued to dog the market albeit in light trading volumes. Defensive stocks were the order of the day, a trend which has been seen throughout 2011, where the overall fall in the FTSE – around 6 per cent – has not been evident in shares seen as safe havens.
The mining sector was amongst the poorest performers on the day, with the price of copper falling as both the US and Japan released data causing concern over demand. Antofagasta tumbled by 2.28 per cent whilst peer Kazakhmys fell by 1.51 per cent. Vedanta Resources was also lower by 0.79 per cent whilst Rio Tinto shed 2.11 per cent.
Outside the mining industry, International Airlines Group fell by 2.3 per cent in anticipation of a planned walkout by Iberia pilots.
Ending the day higher were defensive stocks, with both Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco increasing, up by 1 and 2 per cent respectively. GlaxoSmithKline climbed by 0.6 per cent whilst telecoms specialist Vodafone was marginally higher by 0.1 per cent.
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