LONDON (ShareCast) - - Miners, banks weigh on Footsie
- Money-market rates spike in China
- RSA up on bid speculation

techMARK 2,624.47 -0.41%
FTSE 100 6,674.48 -0.32%
FTSE 250 15,494.97 -0.11%

The FTSE 100 finished in negative territory for the first time in 10 trading sessions on Wednesday as traders took profits after the index hit a five-month high on the previous day.

Concerns over the economic outlook in China and weakness in the heavyweight mining and banking sectors weighed on London’s benchmark index today, which finished down 21.18 points at 6,674.48. The FTSE 100 was pulling back after hitting its highest closing levels since May 28th on Tuesday.

The bullish mood was dampened today by concerns over the Chinese economy after the news that debt write-offs at China’s biggest lenders had tripled in the first half. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China refrained from adding liquidity to the market through new reverse repurchase operations which led to a sharp increase in the country’s benchmark money-market rate.

Chief Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said that the reports have prompted “concerns that a fiscal tightening could well see a slowdown in the recent recovery in the Chinese economy”.

However, he said: “In reality we have been due a pullback for some time now given the recent run up, and given the fact that a lot of this week’s earnings reports have shown some worrying signs of weakness.”

Miners and banks fall, while RSA jumps

Mining stocks including Antofagasta and Anglo American were out of favour on concerns over China in addition to gloomy results from US bellwether Caterpillar, which makes heavy machinery for the mining and ground-moving industries. The firm disappointed Wall Street forecasts with its full-year guidance owing to weak mining orders, saying that “significant risks and uncertainties” could temper global economic growth next year.

Banks all over Europe were lower after the European Central Bank said it would start to review the balance sheets of 130 institutions across the continent. RBS, Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered were all registering losses in London.

Insurance firm RSA was a high riser on speculation that the firm could be the target of a takeover bid. Reuters cited traders as touting Italian group Generali, Swiss firm Zurich Financial and UK peer Aviva as potential bidders.

Chip designer ARM Holdings fell for the second straight day as investors gave a cool reaction to its third-quarter results. JPMorgan Cazenove said this morning that it sees "no reason to be building positions at this time and would take profits in the short term."

A number of stocks were also trading in the red after going ex-dividend, including Smiths Group, BAE System, Rolls-Royce, John Menzies, Senior, William Hill, Rank Group, Barratt Developments and JD Wetherspoon.

Banknote printer and ID services firm De La Rue was a big mover with shares sinking after the company warned that it would miss its full-year profit target by £10m owing to "challenging trading conditions".

Drugs group GlaxoSmithKline beat earnings growth expectations in the third quarter by cutting back office and drug research and development costs were amplified by a lower tax rate. However, shares fell after revenue growth of 1% to £6.51bn missed forecacts.


FTSE 100 - Risers
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 127.00p +2.50%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,256.00p +2.36%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 716.50p +1.63%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 364.80p +1.62%
ITV (ITV) 195.00p +1.51%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,171.00p +1.47%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 213.00p +1.43%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,260.00p +1.37%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,805.00p +1.29%
Shire Plc (SHP) 2,525.00p +1.28%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 953.50p -5.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 865.50p -4.26%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,397.00p -3.99%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,495.00p -3.92%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 352.10p -2.73%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,570.50p -1.91%
Sage Group (SGE) 327.00p -1.83%
CRH (CRH) 1,517.00p -1.81%
Barclays (BARC) 268.20p -1.61%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,500.00p -1.45%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Pace (PIC) 323.80p +11.66%
Laird (LRD) 243.90p +8.06%
IP Group (IPO) 149.00p +5.23%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 192.10p +4.23%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 918.00p +3.73%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,186.00p +3.31%
Dixons Retail (DXNS) 48.20p +3.26%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 336.60p +2.97%
BTG (BTG) 407.90p +2.85%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 22.39p +2.85%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
De La Rue (DLAR) 885.50p -9.73%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 623.00p -6.81%
Telecity Group (TCY) 779.50p -5.74%
Essar Energy (ESSR) 120.20p -5.43%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 184.70p -4.74%
Evraz (EVR) 128.40p -4.32%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 251.40p -4.05%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 49.76p -4.03%
Premier Oil (PMO) 328.50p -3.38%
AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 286.90p -3.07%

BC

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