Struggling miners dent FTSE
The FTSE 100 dipped this morning as political uncertainty sent shockwaves across the Eurozone while heavyweight commodity stock were dented.
A win by socialist Francois Hollande in the French presidential election and chaos in Greece – where no party gained enough seats to form a government – served to sap investor confidence.
In London the first trading session after the bank holiday was being closely watched for signs of the extent of the damage from the Eurozone fallout.
Three of the biggest losers were miners as fears over global growth took their toll. Vedanta was off by 3.3 per cent, making it the poorest performer. Randgold Resources dropped by 2.6 per cent and Xstrata 2.1 per cent.
Other significant stocked edging down were hedge fund manager Man Group off 3.2 per cent and drinks giant Diageo off 2.1 per cent.
Banks were also hit by the Eurozone chaos with some commentators predicting that Greece will fall out of the Euro. Lloyds nudged down by 1.3 per cent, Barclays 0.8 per cent and RBS 1.1 per cent.
However there was brighter news for HSBC which beat expectations with an underlying profit of almost $7bn (£4bn) in the first quarter thanks to a rebound in investment banking income and a fall in US bad debts. Its stock lifted just over one per cent.
Other companies on the rise included Tullow Oil, up 3.4 per cent, after the African-focused explorer said yesterday it had found more oil in a well it is drilling in Kenya after making the country’s first oil discovery in March.
Insurer Aviva rose four per cent as the company announced that chief executive Andrew Moss was standing down after a shareholders’ revolt over remuneration.
Also in the insurance sector RSA nudged up just over one per cent.
Telecoms giant Vodafone lifted by 1.7 per cent.
On the FTSE All-share travel company Thomas Cook surged by more than nine per cent after announcing a £1.4bn refinancing package which gives it three years to sort out its debt pile.
In Asia the Nikkei closed up 0.7 per cent and the Hang Seng down 0.2 per cent.