Stock market close: US gloom brings Footsie down

 

Further gloomy economic news from the US sent the FTSE 100 index into negative territory today amid signs the word's biggest economy is far from recovery.

brokers on the trading floor

Paying dividends: The FTSE will suffer dividend factors today.

Figures revealed US consumer inflation dropped into negative territory for the first time for more than 50 years, while industrial production output was shown to have fallen sharply in March to leave output down 12.8% year-on-year.

The Footsie closed down 20.6 points at 3968 with the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street also struggling to lift above its opening mark.

Sentiment was also hit by poor corporate figures out in America, with Burger King's third-quarter revenues coming in below analyst estimates.

An announcement earlier today from Swiss banking giant UBS that it planned to cut 8,700 jobs and predicted first-quarter losses of almost 2bn Swiss francs (£1.18bn) had already knocked financial stocks.

Banks lost their shine in the wake of the UBS news, as did insurers. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group fell 1.5p to 27.7p and 3.8p at 84.1p respectively. HSBC was also off 4.75p at 476.5p.

But Barclays was up 1.3p at 196.8p after notching up double digit gains in the previous session inspired by Goldman Sachs' better-than-expected figures.

Legal & General was the Footsie's biggest faller, off 8% or 4.5p at 50p, after posting strong gains in the previous session. Aviva dropped 1.75p to 241p and Friends Provident eased 0.4p to 68.2p.

Miners were also in negative territory as US economic data caused concern over demand. Vedanta Resources led the way down 76p to 932p.

On the risers board, telecoms giant BT enjoyed a better session after yesterday's volatility on the back of newspaper reports that its annual results next month may include a £1.5bn write-down stemming from its global services division. Shares rose 1.1p to 82.2p, a gain of more than 1%.

Housebuilders experienced mixed fortunes in the FTSE 250 following data showing signs of life in the UK's beleaguered housing market last month, alongside separate price figures confirming heavy falls in February.

Taylor Wimpey lifted 1p to 51.5p, but Persimmon dropped 6% - or 23.75p - to 387.75p and Bovis Homes declined 1p to 464p.

Fellow second tier stock Carphone Warehouse saw its shares fall nearly 3% as internet provider Tiscali revealed its auditors had refused to sign off its accounts. Carphone's TalkTalk arm has previously been linked to a possible bid for the broadband firm's UK business. Shares lost 3.75p to 136.75p.

And pub groups were in favour after Marston's announced better than expected recent trading. Its shares rose 1.25p to 158p, while Enterprise Inns also received a fillip, ahead 12p at 125.75p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Reed Elsevier up 27p at 487.25p, British American Tobacco ahead 71p at 1566p, Reckitt Benckiser up 108p at 2612p and Centrica up 9.25p at 236.25p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were Legal & General down 4.5p at 50p, Vedanta Resources down 76p at 932p, Schroders down 59.5p at 812p and Xstrata down 40p at 573.5p.